We're back in Alabama for another day, and should be in Florida tomorrow.
This morning was a bit more interesting than is normally the case for us. It started out with me almost immediately missing a turn, which took me several miles off route. But with Alea's help, it was only a few miles ride down a connecting road before I was back on track. That was somewhat fortuitous, as it put me a short distance behind two cyclists heading east, whom we may never have met if I hadn't made that wrong turn. I pushed hard to catch them, and it turn out that they, too, were riding this stretch of the Southern Tier.
Their names were Russ and Steve, and they live in Bremerton, WA. They are being supported by Russ's twin brother. He drives their van and plays golf while they are cranking out 70 miles per day (that is because their time is limited, as Steve has to return to work at the end of the trip). It is probably the last that we'll see of them, as they'll stay well in front of us at the daily distance that they are traveling.
For them, this was actually the third leg of a coast-to-coast tour that they've done in segments over the past three years. The first year they did the western third of the Northern Tier, last year they did the middle third of the Trans Am Route and now they are completing the eastern third of the Southern Tier. Their starting point for Year 2 lined up longitudinally with their end point from Year 1. Likewise for Years 3 and 2. Steve carried a laminated map of their route in a jersey pocket, which helped to illustrate their scheme.
I had a small stroke of luck after I left them. I took a shortcut to bypass 6 miles of riding the main route along a stretch with more traffic than we've become accustomed to seeing. About 1.4 miles was supposed to be an oiled dirt road surface, but instead it was all freshly paved. And just as I turned onto the road I was overtaken by a farm tractor (I was wondering what was making all that noise behind me). Riding behind the tractor for about 4 miles I was able to maintain a pace of 21 to 22 mph with hardly any effort, so that was a welcome surprise. It also assured me that nobody would pass too closely, as they had to swing out into the oncoming lane to get around the tractor (and that was when part of the contraption that he was towing was riding on the grassy part of the road shoulder).
But then about a mile before we reached our campground for the night, I felt an impact on the left side of my back that knocked a bit of wind out of me. It seems someone driving a brown Nissan Pathfinder had either hit me on the back, threw something at me or hit me with his side view mirror. I didn't see a hand out the window as it passed me, but I also didn't hear anything hit the pavement behind me, so it was probably the latter. What ever it was, it hit my cell phone, and the main force of the impact was absorbed by that and the Adventure Cycling map that was in the same jersey pocket (a little body fat also helped, thanks to too many Twinkies lately). I'm hoping someone tried to slap me as they drove by, because if they did I suspect they got the stinky end of that stick. With luck he broke his hand on my cell phone (which didn't sustain any obvious damage and is working fine). He didn't stop and neither did I. I suspect we are both fortunate that I didn't catch up with him...
So we are camped at Grand Bay RV/MH Park ($25, full hook ups). It's not worth what we are paying because earlier in the day someone decided to leave the shower running in the only bathroom. The floor is soft in several places and it has been left to dry out on its own. The owner had put up an out of order sign, but told us we could use it at our own risk (I suspect it was obvious that I needed a shower when we spoke with him). We should be able to get by dealing with the soggy toilet for one night; at least that is our hope.
But for self-contained cyclists, the good news about this campground (provided that the bathroom is put back in decent working order) is that they can now camp here for FREE. It seems this is a very recent decision, after the owner realized that their park is located on the main route of the Southern Tier.
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