Columbus, Mississippi

Miles Today:  0  /  Total Trip Miles: 304.6

Today’s photos are here. 

Went to bed late, got up early: not a good combination on what’s supposed to be a rest day.  It was 62° this morning and never got much warmer. This is Mississippi in mid-May?  The next couple of days are supposed to be warmer - I’ll no doubt be back to griping about the heat & humidity. 

Cleaned my bike first thing then walked into Columbus.  The hotel we’re staying at is about 1-1½ miles from downtown, in the area of strip malls, box stores, and fast food restaurants that every town seems to have these days.  

Entering town there was a monument honoring those “who nobly dared life and fortune in defense of the Southern Confederacy.”  

On Main Street, you got the feeling that the city was trying hard to keep the downtown area from becoming a ghost town by sprucing up the buildings & encouraging specialty shops to move in.

The Welcome Center is in the house where Tennessee Williams was born.  Inside, the hostess was wonderfully welcoming, loading me up with information about things to do and see in town (there’s too much to do here - too much forone day!), and showed me a book with wonderful photographs of the interiors of the county’s restored nineteenth-century homes.  The town hosts an annual event called The Pilgrimage where many of the homes are open to the public. I would love to come back for that.

I took off, following the Pilgrimage tour route. Turned out to be a good way to explore the city.  There were 10,000 square foot antebellum homes, some in “Columbus Eclectic” style, a mishmash of architectural styles - Greek revivial, colonial, neoclassical, you name it - all thrown together on one house.  What I liked even more than the mansions were the (considerably more modest) homes & cottages built between WWI and WWII - I call their style “interbellum.”  

Columbus is home to Mississippi University for Women, founded in 1884, the first state-supported college for women in the country.

I’m writing this Saturday morning - will finish up later - got to go biking now….

Jackson, Alabama to Columbus, Mississippi

Today’s Miles: 10.7 / Total Trip Miles: 304.6

Some photos from today are here.

Got up this morning, peeked outside, and holy kamoly - rain was coming down in buckets.

It had started drizzling yesterday around dinner time - Chef Patty set up the serving table under the eaves of the motel roof & by squeezing up against the table while we filled our plates (salmon, potatoes mashed with their skins still on, carrots & snap peas, mixed green salad, apple crumble & ice cream for dessert), we managed to avoid getting a shower from the rain water dripping off the roof.

That was minor league compared to this morning’s downpour.

Laurie left it to each person to decide whether or not to ride. It’s not like I’d never ridden in heavy rain before - one afternoon on last year’s Mississippi ride, I rode through an afternoon thunderstorm, which was actually quite refreshing, and one time while training for this ride I got caught in a cloudburst heading home over the Ringling Bridge - one of those where the skies open up as if somebody turned on a faucet full blast and where drivers start going about 10 m.p.h. But I’d never started a ride in heavy rain. Who in their right mind would want to?

About half of the ladies on the UGRR tour, that’s who. I asked Marilyn, who has 20+ years of touring experience and who is a careful rider and not one to take unnecessary risks, what she was going to do. When she said “ride,” I asked if it’d be okay to tag along and off we went. It was really not too bad: the roads were deserted, there was no wind, it was neither too hot nor too cold, and we sure didn’t have to worry about sunburn! My only problem was that my rear view mirror kept getting fogged up. Like running outside in winter, after the first five minutes the weather pretty much ceased to be an issue.

What did turn out to be an issue, however, was Marilyn’s front tire. About eight miles out, it went flat. We pulled over and she had the tube changed in no time at all. I told you, the woman is experienced! But about half a mile down the road, the same tire was flat again. When she’d changed the tube the first time, she hadn’t been able to find what had caused the flat but, when that same tire went flat again we thought - we were hoping - that the tube she’d put in, which had previously been patched, had been the reason.

Rain was coming down really hard and there was some lightning in the area, so we spent a few minutes trying, unsuccessfully, to find shelter before tackling the tire. Barb Kassel rode up and then rode on to see if she could find some place up ahead where we could be out of the rain. She came back to report that there was a bridge that we could stand under. We walked our bikes to the bridge but there was too much undergrowth for us to be able to navigate our way underneath it. So, flat #3 was fixed right there, on the bridge, in teeming rain, this time with a brand new-out-of-the-box tube. Didn’t help though - the tire went soft again after another half mile.

The van carrying the people who’d opted not to ride pulled up just then and we hopped in - Marilyn because she couldn’t solve the recurrent flat problem and me because I was totally soaked and chilled to the bone. Very disappointing, but nothing could be done.

Actually there is something I can do: get better rain gear!

The van stopped in Aliceville, Alabama, about the halfway point of the ride, and we went into the charming Plantation House Restaurant to get warm drinks. Hot cocoa never tasted as good! And Rebecca, bless her heart, gave me her warm jacket to wear. Even so, it took until mid-afternoon before the chill was out of my bones.

Arriving in Columbus about noon, both the weather and my day started to improve. There were two packages waiting for me at the hotel: one from Siesta Key’s Mailboxes & More (thank you, Ashley, for organizing that!) and one with my new sunglasses that hadn’t arrived before I left Sarasota. Thank you so much, Gail at Gulf Coast Eye Center for getting them to me. You rock! And by dinner time there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

The thing about blogging is that there’s always so much more to tell - about how my cell phone drowned today, about Sue’s birthday, about Patty’s lasagne - but you’re probably getting bored and I need to do some research to find out what’s to see and to do here in Columbus tomorrow, which is a rest day. Although, you know me, I am seriously tempted to spend the day putting in the miles I missed out on today. There’s just not enough time to do everything I want to do. Nice problem to have, I’d say.

G’night.

P.S. Once at the hotel it took Marilyn all of thirty seconds to locate the tiny piece of glass embedded in her tire that was responsible for today’s problem.

Demopolis to Eutaw, Alabama

Miles Today: 60.3 / Total Trip Miles: 293.9

Today’s photos are here.

This morning, with “only” 59 miles to do, the group mood was relaxed: people dawdled in the motel breakfast room and then stood outside in the parking lot, chatting. Our destination, Eutaw, Alabama, didn’t seem to have much in the way of tourist attractions although, having escaped the burning that went on throughout the South during the Civil War, it does boast 24 antebellum homes.

Frankie & Sue & I pulled out of the Demopolis motel at the same time and rode most of the way together - each at her own speed, not in a tight group. In no rush to get to where we were going, we stopped frequently to take photos.

The route was pretty flat, with a touch of a headwind at times but nothing too bruising. Although thunderstorms had been forecast, the day stayed dry but it was overcast and middling humid - not my favorite riding conditions. I hate humidity and partly because of it, partly because of the lack of sunshine, and partly because of the stop-and-go riding we were doing, I wasn’t feeling “one with the bike”: each time we’d start up again, it’d take me a while to get back into a comfortable pedaling rhythm. But after the sag stop at 40 miles I did ride straight through to the Eutaw city limits, about 13 miles, and got into that calm, almost hypnotic state that cycling takes me to so magically.

Coming into Eutaw, I stopped to check out a bamboo craft shop and chatted with Wilt, the craftsman, who’d developed an interest in bamboo while serving in Vietnam. He was impressed & amazed, hearing about us old ladies on the UGRR. Very sweetly, he presented me with a handmade bamboo mixing spoon, which I, in turn, have donated to WT’s traveling galley.

Hoping to find some of the antebellum houses, I detoured down a side street and got lucky: four pre-Civil War homes, past-their-prime, but with a definite aura of southern gentility.

Following the route through town, I saw one of our riders sitting on the steps of the old Probate House, where the county kept its records. She said it was definitely worth a look inside - and indeed it was!

Across the street were a bunch of bikes parked against a wall: the ladies had found a barbecue restaurant and were inside having lunch. I joined them but, probably because of the humidity, didn’t feel like eating. However, I did sample the corn hush puppies - creamed sweet corn, deep fried - and they were delicious. Artery clogging, but delicious.

Interesting thing happened at lunch. Georgia, the day’s sag driver, came in to tell us there was heavy logging traffic on the road from town to our motel and the road didn’t have a shoulder. Everyone was getting very nervous about doing the last miles & I guess I caught their nervousness. Usually I don’t mind riding in traffic - I just pull over and let trucks pass if there isn’t enough room for both of us. But I found myself putting my bike on top of the sag vehicle & riding to the hotel. From what I could see, the road wasn’t so bad. Live and learn and don’t get caught up in other people’s shtick. When we got to the hotel I went out for a ten mile ride, to made up the miles.

Our hotel is one WT hasn’t used before and without a doubt won’t use again. I’ll spare you the details. No internet service (by no means the worst thing about it), which is why this won’t be posted until our next destination.

Tomorrow is a 70 mile ride to Columbus, Mississippi, our second State. Weather forecast is for rain. Not looking forward to that but que sera, sera.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Jackson to Demopolis, Alabama

Today’s Miles: 94.9 / Total Trip Miles: 233.6

Today’s photos are here.

Today was A Great Ride!  Almost a century but totally different from the day before yesterday’s, coming into Jackson.

What made it so great?

• It was wonderfully cool when we started out - probably in the mid-50’s - and stayed, for this time of year, relatively cool the whole ride;
• Humidity wasn’t an issue;
• We had cloud cover for most the whole day - our cores didn’t overheat, we didn’t get dehydrated, we didn’t sweat off our sunscreen & get sunburned;
• The climbs were both shorter and less steep than on the last day’s ride and there were fewer of them; 
• After the lunch stop at 60 miles, the route flattened out - a harder first half, easier second half - the opposite of the other day’s ride;
• The winds were negligible until mile 80 and for fifteen miles after that there was a tailwind (I know I’ve got the wind at my back when I find myself cruising at close to 20 m.p.h.);
• Until we got close to Demopolis, there was very little traffic and the few vehicles that did pass - logging trucks included - were super-considerate, going way over into the oncoming lane to give us wide berth; and
• The route had us on one road for the better part of 80 miles - no way for me to get lost!

And here’s what was absolutely The Best Part of the Day:   I stopped at a gas station/convenience store to use the loo & get a soda.  Chatted a bit with a woman, telling her about the tour, how we were biking from Mobile to Canada, that I was riding for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, etc.  When I left the store, she followed me outside and gave me a donation for Make-A-Wish!  

But wait: it gets better.  

Another woman who’d been a customer in the store & must’ve overheard us talking, gave me a donation too!  

I was - I still am - overwhelmed by these two women’s unexpected generosity and kindness!  If either of you is reading this, thank you so much - you made my day!

Lots more to tell - saw some great animals today - but I’m starting to fade.  More tomorrow.  Thanks for reading my blog!

Jackson, Alabama

Today’s Miles:  0 / Total Trip Miles: 138.7

Just a few photos today - they’re here.

Today is a rest day, which Woman Tours typically schedules after five or six riding days.  But today’s comes after just two days in the saddle because, with yesterday’s 100 mile ride and tomorrow’s ride being just a couple of miles shy of 100, they decided it wasn’t a great idea for us to do back-to-back centuries, at the beginning of the tour, in southern heat and humidity.

And with the way I felt when I climbed into bed last night, I would’ve said they’d made a wise decision:  I was seriously tired; my calves, knees, quads, hamstrings, everything ached. But each time I woke during the night, I could tell that the knots in my muscles were gradually untying themselves and my legs were getting back to normal.  By morning I felt good: I think I would’ve been okay with another long ride today.  I know, I know, that’s easy to say….

So, here we are in Jackson, Alabama, named for President Andrew Jackson and which 5,419 people currently call home.  A one main street town with the omnipresent Wal-Mart on the outskirts.  

This morning, after sitting & chatting with some of the other ladies over coffee in the motel breakfast room, I puttered away the rest of the morning:  wrote yesterday’s blog; put a new battery in my bike’s computer (miraculously, for some reason it held its settings and I didn’t have to input everything - wheel size, mileage, time - anew); wrote letters; cleaned my bike a bit & greased the chain; put a dab of lube on my cleats - they’d been really hard to get unclipped on yesterday’s ride but the lube, thank goodness, fixed that. 

In the afternoon, I walked the length of town to the post office to mail my letters.  Waiting in line was entertained by two local munchkins.  Walked another short block to Kimbell House and took a photo of its historical marker.  Hmmm, wonder how many markers I can photograph during the tour…?

A bunch of the ladies went to the local buffet restaurant for dinner.  Suffice to say, the company was better than the food.

Today’s weather was quite spectacular:  cool and crisp in the morning, no humidity, almost felt like there was a touch of autumn in the air.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the same - great biking weather!  What a treat and how totally unexpected in this part of the world at this time of year!

Will try to post after tomorrow, Tuesday’s, ride.  If it turns out to be a killer day and I’m totally whipped, it might be Wednesday before I can do it.

Meanwhile know that it brings a smile to my face, watching the number of hits on the “Blog Stats” climb.  Thank you for reading about my UGRR adventure!

Bay Minette to Jackson, Alabama

Today’s Miles: 100.2 / Total Trip Miles: 138.7

There are some photos mostly from the first part of today’s ride here.

Today’s ride was a 60/40 ride:  60 glorious miles followed by 40 miles that bore a strong resemblance to work.  

Because of the length of the day’s ride we were on the road early, before 7:00.  All morning Mother Nature smiled on us:  thunderstorms were in the forecast, but we only got a couple of drops of rain; the sky was overcast, so we didn’t have to deal with a burning sun; there was a steady breeze that cut the heavy humidity we’d had the day before - and it came from behind.  Let’s hear it for tailwinds!  The route was rolling hills - longer ones than yesterday’s but manageable, what with the tailwind pushing us along and  the adrenalin we had flowing with the excitement at the prospect of doing a century.  The terrain was like northern Florida - thick pine forests, low population density.

As you can see from today’s photos, I made good on my promise to stop at every roadside marker.  

The morning ride was touring at it’s best:  minimal traffic, pretty countryside, good weather.  We felt fresh and strong.  All was right in the world.

Patty had the van and trailer at the 60 mile mark and had lunch set out for us.  Usually we’re on our own for lunch but with route being “far from the madding crowd” there wouldn’t have been any place along the way for us to stop and get food.  By that point I was ready to be off the bike for a bit:  the rolling hills were getting to be not so much fun and my energy was definitely dwindling - when you catch yourself struggling uphill and look down to see that you’re on your big chain ring, having neglected to downshift, you know you’re getting tired and it’s time for a break.

After lunch Mother Nature got pissy.  First of all, the sun came out full force so we had higher temperatures to deal with.  Secondly, the route turned a corner and we found ourselves pedaling into a fierce headwind for 30 miles.  Third, we were no longer on car-free roads.  Not a nice thing for Mother Nature to do to a bunch of women on Mother’s Day.

It took me longer to do the second 40 miles than it had the first 60.  And that’s why I took only one photo today after lunch - from then on, all I did was focus on making it to the end of the ride!

But you know, hard days make for good stories afterwards and at dinner people had tales to tell.  A few had had mechanical problem:  Frankie couldn’t get her bike to shift into granny gear - something you definitely don’t want to happen when there are hills to climb; and Judy N snapped a cable and had to be sagged in.  But, you’ve got to love (and admire) their spirit: they had us laughing, describing how their days had gone.  One not good thing: Gloria has decided to, as they say in professional cycling circles, “abondonné le tour”:  she has knee problems that need to be taken care of.   The group is already, after two days’ riding, starting to bond and feel like family and she will be missed. I’m glad I got to meet her - she’s a neat lady, already talking about what tour she’d like to do next.  Love that attitude!

Turning the light off at 9:00.  Imagine I’ll sleep very well.  G’night! 

Mobile to Bay Minette, Alabama

Today’s Mileage: 34.7 / Trip Mileage: 38.5

Today’s photos are here.

No doubt about it: we were all raring to go this morning. I’d set the alarm for 6:30 but was wide awake way before then.

Patty, our “executive chef,” had breakfast ready for us in the driveway of the hotel at 7:30 (real Irish oatmeal - yum!) and had set up a table with the ingredients to make up our own gorp mixes (gorp = Good Old Raisins & Peanuts), fixings for pb&j sandwiches, energy bars, oatmeal cookies - everything necessary to give us the carbs and calories we’d need to do the day’s ride without bonking.

One of the great thing about bicycle touring is that you absolutely have to consume mega-amounts of food to offset energy burned. So, you get to indulge your love for food with no guilt and no bad aftereffects!

Before we loaded our bags into the trailer, we had to weigh them to make sure they were within the 50 pounds each of us is allowed. Reminded me of mandatory weight checks of my flight attendant days - only then it was me, not my suitcases, that was being weighed!

My bags were eight pounds under the limit but even so I brought way too much and will be sending stuff home on the first rest day.

That’s another thing I like about bicycle touring (at least the way Woman Tours does it): you really don’t need much in the way of clothing. Nobody cares - or even notices - if you wear the same biking jersey every day or if you show up for dinner every evening in the same tee shirt & shorts.

Before getting underway, the whole group walked a block from the hotel to a park for the traditional group send off picture. Two of the rider’s husbands and the friend of another rider who’d shown up to see her off took all our digital cameras and snapped picture after picture on camera after camera. Wish I had a picture of the photo-takers loaded down from wrist to elbow with cameras hanging from straps.

We sort of snaked our way from Mobile to Bay Minette - first heading north out of the city, then east across the Mobile River, then south and once again east over Mobile Bay to Spanish Fort, then north again to Bay Minette. The first half of the route from Mobile to Spanish Fort was flat, except for the humps of the bridges. The second half, from Spanish Fort to Bay Minette, had short rolling hills - none too steep, none too long. Being a Saturday, traffic in Mobile wasn’t bad and the further we got from the city, the fewer cars were on the road.

Today’s Points of Interest: Mobile’s Slave Market, Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad Terminal, Battleship Alabama Memorial Park, Saluda Hill Cemetery

I stopped at Historic Blakeley State Park where the last major battle of the Civil War was fought and had a nice chat with the ranger. Wish I’d spent time exploring there - will have to go back someday.

Lots more to tell but I’ve rambled on for too long already. More tomorrow. Or maybe not until the day after: tomorrow’s an 102 mile day.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Mobile, Alabama

Today’s Miles:  3.8               Trip Miles:  3.8  

Today’s photos are here.

Like a kid on Christmas morning, I was up early this morning, after a night of glorious, uninterrupted sleep.  Happiness in the small things.  You see, Rick & I are surrogate parents of Ebony, a 17 year old diabetic cat.  The diabetes gives her a fierce appetite & she, having figured out that I’m a total marshmallow when it comes to discipline, gets me up every two hours, regular as clockwork, all through the night, to feed her.   Much as I’m going to miss Her Royal HIghness The Princess Ebony while on the UGRR tour, the prospect of 40 nights of good sleep is delightful! 

It was only 6:00 a.m. when Rick dropped me off at The Battle House, the hotel where the tour is staying tonight.  I’ll say this for Woman Tours: they know how to get things off on the right foot by making a good first impression.  Check out the hotel lobby  - total elegance.

After checking in (happiness is a hotel that lets you check in before three o’clock in the afternoon!), I headed down the block to Serda’s Coffee Company for breakfast (happiness is finding a coffee shop that’s open at 6:00 a.m.!), worked on this blog (free wi-fi! yes!), and then heard the unmistakable chatter of excited lady cyclists - and there were Holly and Judi, whom I’d seen last night; Georgia, who’d been on the Mississippi tour; and Gloria, the founder of Woman Tours whom I hadn’t previously met.  I joined their table to hear Judi tell about the Elder Hostel trip she took earlier this year to Antartica - which she calls the trip of a lifetime.  Judi is a very good photographer: can’t wait to see the slide show of her trip.

Spent the morning at the Oakleigh House, a 19th century home in a lovely residential neighborhood.  The docent, Sister Strong, who showed me around was wonderfully enthusiastic & knowledgeable - quite a Southern character!

Saw a funny road sign:  ”Speed Lumps.”  ”Speed Bumps” I’ve seen before.  Even “Speed Tables.” Never “Speed Lumps.”

There’s a lot to do and see in Mobile - wish I had more time to go to the Museum of Art, the Carnival Museum, the Victorian Magnolia Cemetery.  I’d like to come back and explore some more.

This afternoon the group assembled for an orientation meeting.  Afterwards Laurie, our guide extraordinaire, held a “how to fix a flat” workshop.  Doesn’t hurt to see how the pros do it!  Then this evening the opening banquet dinner was held in one of the hotel’s ballrooms - good salad, chicken, cheesecake for dessert - but dinner tomorrow, served in the parking lot, after a day’s ride will taste much better, guaranteed. 

I think all the riders are antsy to get going.  I’m going down to Serda’s to post this and then to bed.

Go!

Rick and I pulled out of the driveway right on schedule at 7:00 this morning.  We stopped at Gainesville for coffee (f.y.i., Ben & Jerry’s now does gourmet organic coffees — their coffee is good and the shop was immaculately clean), had lunch a couple of hours further down the road at a Ruby Tuesday’s (we rely on their salad bar a lot when we travel — in Florida especially finding food to eat that’s not deep-fried can be a real challenge), and arrived in Mobile, Alabama around 4:00.  It wasn’t a bad day’s drive at all — mind you, easy for me to say with Rick doing 2/3’s of the driving.

The Prius turned out to be really comfortable for highway driving:  quiet, smooth, holds the road well, and averaged 41.3 mpg - one great automobile!

It’s nice, going north from Sarasota and watching the landscape transition from palm trees & tropical foliage to live oaks, other deciduous trees & pine forests.  The countryside around Gainesville is really pretty — rolling hills and horse farms.  Fields of wildflowers lined the road a good deal of the way.  

Coming into Mobile is very much like coming into Tampa/St Pete:  a long bridge over a wide body of open water leading to a sea-level city, totally flat.  Downtown Mobile, from what I’ve seen, has an unmistakably southern, sort of New Orleans flavor — century old buildings with filigreed wrought iron balconies.  

We went out for dinner and, at the recommendation of a man we stopped on the street to ask, ate at The Blind Mule - which looked like nothing much from the outside but where the food was good and the peach cobbler dessert way above average.

After dinner we ran into Laurie, who’ll be guiding the UGRR tour, who was the guide on both of the other Woman Tours rides that I’ve been on, and who is absolutely phenomenal; and Judi and Holly, who were on last year’s Mississippi ride.  Very excited to see them again and very much looking forward to tomorrow and to seeing the other ladies I already know and to meeting the rest of the group.

The plan is for us to get up & out early tomorrow so Rick can head down to Dauphin Island for birding before the day heats up too much.  I’ll do some sightseeing in the morning and then at 1:00 everyone on the tour assembles to go over tour logistics.  

There are some photos from today here.

Get Set…

I’ve been getting loose ends tied up this week & pretty much have my act together and am ready to drive to Mobile tomorrow and start the UGRR tour on Friday.  Yippee!

With all the last minute chores and errands I haven’t been able to ride much and I feel really sluggish - as if I’ve started to detrain.  One of the other women on the tour says on her blog that she’s happy to have time off the bike this week.  Me, I’m just the opposite - I need to do strenuous activity and have endorphins flowing to feel right.  Keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll feel strong again once we get going.  

I did manage to get out and try the new shoes and pedals.  Touch wood, I think they’re going to be okay.  May be my imagination but somehow with them my balance feels better, more steady.  It’s amazing how you really can feel any change you make to your bike.  

And I reached 10,000 miles on my bike’s odometer!

There are a few pictures from life in Sarasota here .