Blazing Saddles: San Diego to (hopefully) St. Augustine: George: Sunday, 8OCT’17

I don’t suppose I have to tell you. Or do I?

It is surprising to me how we have thread the needle riding through the area while dodging the rain and wind. We are trying desperately to work in a rest day or two, but the weather keeps cooperating in one form or another. Here is our predicament. The forecast for today was for 25 mph west wind (we are heading east), no rain, and high of 80. How could we let this day slip by without being on the bike? Tomorrow presents us with a somewhat similar quandary.

Last evening we were in Nate’s crosshairs, so everything was closed and boarded up. In fact, we showed up at the Courtyard Marriott on the beach in Gulfport with the parking lot empty. Ours was the only car in the lot. By appearances, we were the only guests in this mammoth establishment. The host suggested we move to an inland location and she made arrangements for us to stay in a Hilton three miles away. After firming up a place to stay, we discussed dinner. The restaurants still opened were not to our liking, so we had another cooler dinner. Breakfast was much the same as Nate’s arrival at 1:00 am played havoc on area businesses.

When we left the hotel parking lot at 8:15, the roads had already dried from the 30 mph breeze blowing steadily from the west. We were heading east. The mathematical considerations for riding today are as follows: 2-20mph negative TX days + 6-10mph negative TX/LA days = (We are due for) 1-30mph positive MS/AL day. It was imperative that we ride with the wind.

The first 15 route miles took us through the residential streets of Gulfport and its neighbor, Biloxi. We reached the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge crossing the mouth of Biloxi Back Bay. The 2-mile span had a 12-foot bike path on its south side. We crossed the bay in relative comfort exiting onto Porter St. as it moved east through the quaint town of Ocean Springs. The evidence of Nate’s passing was strewn over the roads. Broken branches and pine needles were everywhere, particularly in the berms on which we rode. Free of charge, the trees themselves ended up with haircuts Asplundh would be proud to claim.

The next 30 miles were on the berm of US 90, a route we used from El Paso to Del Rio and beyond. We will return to it again through northern Florida. Just before exiting US 90 we crossed the MS-AL border. We came through the city streets of Grand Bay on our way to Bayou La Batre and then 17 miles to our final destination, Dauphin Island. The last miles offered us skimpy to nonexistent berms, so we were always dodging traffic that was heavy coming south. The hurricane chased people off the island a day earlier; likely, they were returning to their homes to survey the damage.

For our only Alabama evening we are again without a restaurant. It is expected that things will be back to normal in a day or two. Tomorrow we are to take the ferry from here to Ft. Morgan, AL and then pedal on to Pensacola, FL. Stay tuned.