106
General Discussion / Re: bike tour
« on: October 24, 2024, 06:00:28 pm »
It is possible. Most nights I stealth camped.
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107
General Discussion / Re: bike tour
« on: October 23, 2024, 08:19:07 pm »
Yes, I pedaled the southern tier four times in winter. Generally, it is easily doable. You must have clothing and shelter adequate for low temperatures, and make no mistake about it, temperatures can drop to near zero degrees F that far south. I did it using only an 8-by-10-foot poly-tarp for shelter. Stay constantly continuously in contact with weather forecasts. Crazy unprecedented nasty changes in the air are storming up more and more these days.
108
General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads
« on: September 04, 2024, 10:49:42 pm »
Roads in Czech, Poland, Ukraine.in tunnels of gray and black poisonous fumes. No stop signs or traffic lights. Large trucks exploding across rough roads. A common sight was cars along the road beat all to hell by the road. There were very attractive women from Russia.
109
General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads
« on: August 27, 2024, 07:26:04 pm »David, why are they so bad? Amount of traffic, aggressive drivers, poor road surface, all the above??
All of the above.
Sometimes in India the roads between remote towns can be lightly traveled but as soon as you get near a town of most any size you are in chaotic traffic where everyone is going far too fast. Road surfaces can vary between pretty decent and horrible. Also many of the more remote roads can be very narrow.
That pattern of traffic, sparse in rural areas--increasing near cities, was one of my observations, also. It was the same when entering small towns from rural areas. It makes sense. It can vary. In many small towns there might not be any traffic on Sundays.
110
General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads
« on: August 26, 2024, 07:42:11 pm »
Cycling very close to loud, fast-moving cars and trucks can stress and sneak into your psyche and get up under your skin after a while. Its progression can be so gradual as to be unnoticeable, but cumulatively, over a long period of cycling, the affects cannot be ignored. It can be a serious stressor.
111
General Discussion / Re: How to pitch a tent in USA?
« on: August 25, 2024, 01:35:10 am »
Set the tent with the poles free-standing. Tie a sufficiently long length of strong line to each place where the pegs attach to the tent. Run the lines off the sides of the concrete slab, off the sides of the rock-hard designated tent-site, and peg them in the ground there.
112
General Discussion / Cycling FL to CA 2002
« on: August 19, 2024, 05:54:55 am »
Friday August 26th 2002: Started this tour yesterday from Pensacola, Florida. John Shaw and Robert Lee Dixon. Bicycled west on 90 after leaving my van in the storage area. I had stayed two and a half days in Pensacola with Ray and Verna Minshew before leaving. I was doing work on the bike and it was a major pain in the ass. New back wheel, chain, rear derailleur, and freewheel. Made about 33 miles yesterday to west of Loxley Alabama. We slept under a bridge.
This morning we left out around 6:45. We are now in a Waffle House in Daphne, Alabama it looks like. It's about 7 miles from the bridge. The road has a small shoulder. There are many trees. Sweet potatoes are growing along 90 West in this area.
Saturday August 24th 2002: 98 west is much too hilly. Robert is overloaded and has no gears for climbing. Yesterday we got off 98 and went south on a country road to Tanner Williams Road in Alabama. It is mostly gently rolling, with trees on both sides, rustic houses, yards, forests and green fields. We sat at a convenience store at Tanner Williams Road till past 1900 when the store closed. I drank a quart of milk and ate some pie. Then went to a field at tall grass to look for a sleep site. Immediately, a man pulled up in a truck and said, "This is private property." I said I was just leaving. He said there had been a lot of break-ins in that area. I told him I don't do that kind of thing. I reloaded the bike, went back to the store where Robert was sitting. We cycled a few miles more south on Tanner Williams Road till past dark looking for a campsite. Most areas were fenced. I checked a few areas with the flashlight. It was too damp or clumpy or too overgrown in most places. Finally I found a narrow ATV trail into the woods. We walked the bikes back into the trail, off the trail into the trees and set up a sleep site. There were hardly any mosquitoes whatsoever. According to the radio, 14 had been killed by mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus. And there I lay completely exposed under a poly-tarp suspended between some bushes.
On the road by 0645 this morning. We took country roads to 613 south to Pascagoula Mississippi on 90 West. It was a nice peaceful country road with shade and little traffic on the way there. We rested at Hardee's on 90 West and went west on 90 over the Pascagoula river. It is hotter than hell. We did make some stops at waffle house, and Circle K Now in Wendy's in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 1515. Robert dropped back again about an hour ago. I have not seen him pass here yet. I just had a side salad, chicken nuggets, with water. Here is Robert now at 1520. Robert disappeared again outside Biloxi. Here it is 0845 next morning. No sign of him anywhere. I cycle through Biloxi. Just stopped at Waffle House again and had a cheese and egg sandwich. I waited. No Robert. The usual problems cycling this area. Narrow roads, fast traffic, broken occluded sidewalks. Early morning was a welcome relief from the heat and sun. Around 1900 I sat and waited in front of the armed forces retirement community on 90 West just across from the beach and the gulf of Mexico. I got and drank water in a jug from a security guard in a shack. He had a water fountain inside. I was on the bench outside. Three homeless looking bums came walking slowly along. They sat at my bench, so I got up and left. I got to just east of the sign for Pass Christian corporate city limits. I saw a vacant lot grown over in some low bushes. I got off the bike there. I laid the bike on its side. I slept on the closed cell foam pad, shirtless. I did not use a blanket. It was sweltering all night. There was an early breeze from the Gulf but no relief tonight. Later still, no wind. The sky was clear. I had just thrown a gatorade bottle into the bush here. Later on I was awakened by the sound of raccoons tearing it apart.
Sunday August 25th 2002: 0855 at McDonald's next to St Paul Church on 90 west just west of Pass Christian. Just had a soda, bacon egg cheese biscuit, and yogurt parfait for $5.04. it is already quite warm for cycling. This is not going to be easy. I usually do this sort of thing in winter. Someone said New Orleans is about 65 MI away.
It is now hot as hell. I got into Waveland City corporation limits at 10:15 a.m., got on to 190 West at a roadside park with picnic tables where I got directions from some men and women. They have been riding these big motorcycles. 190 is level. Farther along it was narrow, two lanes, insane with traffic, and no side lane. In Slidell I ate a large salad at Taco Viva. I heard thunderstorms had moved into the area on the radio. There was no shelter for the bike at Taco Viva. I walked across the parking lot. It started to rain while I was crossing the lot. I sat under and overhang near a bush at a shopping mall while it rained half an hour.
I pedaled my fully loaded touring bicycle to Lacombs, Louisiana where I stopped to eat at a convenience store. A black man and woman told me of Tammany Trace. It is a bike path that goes from Slidell to Abido Springs, just behind the store. It is 12 ft wide, level, an asphalt path about 32 miles long. I got on it and stayed until the end past dark-- trees, small bridges, houses, interesting with many community side roads along the way. And then went south again to get on 190. First I went the wrong way going east. I found a side road and I got off into the pines about 30 ft from the road in among vines and dreadful bugs. I lit the coils mosquito coils and sprayed with off. I heard on the radio, 14 dead from West Nile virus.
Monday August 26th 2002: 75 MI. I ate breakfast at Waffle House. Cycled east on 190, backtracked and got West again. Stopped at another convenience store gas station for eats, power bars. Stopped around 11:00 a.m. at a store for drinks. This was a long day. 190 has four lanes and wide paths in some places. Basically, I stopped and ate and just kept cycling. I kind of miss Robert, but he had not a snowball's chance in hell of doing this even close to my style and pace. I don't mind hanging back a bit for someone, but if it's going to double the length of the tour, that is not acceptable. I kept getting pains in the ball of my right foot. There really isn't much to say basically. I got into Baton Rouge well past dark. Baton rouge is another big town, mostly black it seems, with the usual commercial establishments on the highway. Used side roads getting through the city. The neighborhood seem to be mostly black. There were guys standing on the street corner selling drugs. All the time I was looking for a safe place to sleep but found nothing. Back on 190 west I pedaled past a gambling casino and a large industrial complex, probably petroleum. Finally I went over a large bridge with dangerously large expansion cracks and leveled out on the other side into large areas of agriculture probably corn. Many mosquitoes in this place. I saw a blue flashing lights from a distance up 190. Went to see. Wheeled into the Cajun Crcus truck stop. I had an omelette, hash browns, toast. A young black man told me of a graveyard across 190. I cycled about 300 yards down a dark gravel road, and entered a large, neatly mowed field of grass on my left. I spread out the pad on a concrete slab beneath an overhang of a maintenance shed. I had a hard time getting to sleep. I was awake until 0200. The grass there was all soaked wet with dew.
Tuesday August 27th 2002. It was a night of fitful sleep. A black man was driving up on the grass and around the building. He says, "How do you do?" I got up a few minutes later, snuffed the mosquito coils, packed, wheeled away, back to the Cajun circus where I am right now, time 08:45. Here 190 west is four lanes, divided, with a wide smooth shoulder, and wake-up rumble strips every 40 ft or so. I'm not in any great hurry to get back on the road today, but I will. I'm wearing a broad brimmed straw hat during day to fend the sun, and I wear a cap at night to keep the headlights out of my eyes. This area is level with much agriculture, swamps, snakes, plenty of crickets everywhere, and mosquitoes. The West Nile virus mosquitoes are around. I am now drinking coffee and trying to recuperate from yesterday and last night. In the Cajun Circus restaurant now - - three black men visible, a young Cajun woman, waitress, two women behind the cash register, five red vinyl booths, four tables of four chairs each, a counter with seven or eight stools-all red, mirrors along the wall, a jukebox, smaller store attached, truckers lounge, parking for trucks out back, eight pump stations in front on 190, chords of firewood stacked out front.
More of 190 west with forests, swamps, crops, farms, houses and fields. The shoulder is kind of eaten up here but it is still passable for cycling. It was over 3 miles going over the Morganza spillway bridge, then over another bridge into Krotz Springs where I am now at the restaurant in the Exxon gas station. This is a very small place. Quite warm. Many copulating love bugs are in the air. A pair were stuck to my sunglasses for a while. Finally shook them off. I stopped at the top of the last bridge for a look at the river. A tug and two large barges passed beneath. A railroad trestle was to one side. I saw a large black dead otter on the roadside, also dogs, a raccoon and an armadillo. I suspect Robert is back in Biloxi or Pensacola. Only a moderate amount of traffic flowed by me today. It was like yesterday. I attached a Bell generator light set yesterday but it does not work yet. Maybe it is not properly grounded to the frame. I made my way on this touring bicycle to Appalouses Louisiana to Sunny Oaks motel 1/2 block off of 190 West. Time is now 17:15. $22.50 was the total per day cost of this cheap motel. It was a dump. Later I got a large drink, a cheese bacon and burger at Checkers near there. I slept off and on, and watch TV - - Rio bravo and other programs.
This morning we left out around 6:45. We are now in a Waffle House in Daphne, Alabama it looks like. It's about 7 miles from the bridge. The road has a small shoulder. There are many trees. Sweet potatoes are growing along 90 West in this area.
Saturday August 24th 2002: 98 west is much too hilly. Robert is overloaded and has no gears for climbing. Yesterday we got off 98 and went south on a country road to Tanner Williams Road in Alabama. It is mostly gently rolling, with trees on both sides, rustic houses, yards, forests and green fields. We sat at a convenience store at Tanner Williams Road till past 1900 when the store closed. I drank a quart of milk and ate some pie. Then went to a field at tall grass to look for a sleep site. Immediately, a man pulled up in a truck and said, "This is private property." I said I was just leaving. He said there had been a lot of break-ins in that area. I told him I don't do that kind of thing. I reloaded the bike, went back to the store where Robert was sitting. We cycled a few miles more south on Tanner Williams Road till past dark looking for a campsite. Most areas were fenced. I checked a few areas with the flashlight. It was too damp or clumpy or too overgrown in most places. Finally I found a narrow ATV trail into the woods. We walked the bikes back into the trail, off the trail into the trees and set up a sleep site. There were hardly any mosquitoes whatsoever. According to the radio, 14 had been killed by mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus. And there I lay completely exposed under a poly-tarp suspended between some bushes.
On the road by 0645 this morning. We took country roads to 613 south to Pascagoula Mississippi on 90 West. It was a nice peaceful country road with shade and little traffic on the way there. We rested at Hardee's on 90 West and went west on 90 over the Pascagoula river. It is hotter than hell. We did make some stops at waffle house, and Circle K Now in Wendy's in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 1515. Robert dropped back again about an hour ago. I have not seen him pass here yet. I just had a side salad, chicken nuggets, with water. Here is Robert now at 1520. Robert disappeared again outside Biloxi. Here it is 0845 next morning. No sign of him anywhere. I cycle through Biloxi. Just stopped at Waffle House again and had a cheese and egg sandwich. I waited. No Robert. The usual problems cycling this area. Narrow roads, fast traffic, broken occluded sidewalks. Early morning was a welcome relief from the heat and sun. Around 1900 I sat and waited in front of the armed forces retirement community on 90 West just across from the beach and the gulf of Mexico. I got and drank water in a jug from a security guard in a shack. He had a water fountain inside. I was on the bench outside. Three homeless looking bums came walking slowly along. They sat at my bench, so I got up and left. I got to just east of the sign for Pass Christian corporate city limits. I saw a vacant lot grown over in some low bushes. I got off the bike there. I laid the bike on its side. I slept on the closed cell foam pad, shirtless. I did not use a blanket. It was sweltering all night. There was an early breeze from the Gulf but no relief tonight. Later still, no wind. The sky was clear. I had just thrown a gatorade bottle into the bush here. Later on I was awakened by the sound of raccoons tearing it apart.
Sunday August 25th 2002: 0855 at McDonald's next to St Paul Church on 90 west just west of Pass Christian. Just had a soda, bacon egg cheese biscuit, and yogurt parfait for $5.04. it is already quite warm for cycling. This is not going to be easy. I usually do this sort of thing in winter. Someone said New Orleans is about 65 MI away.
It is now hot as hell. I got into Waveland City corporation limits at 10:15 a.m., got on to 190 West at a roadside park with picnic tables where I got directions from some men and women. They have been riding these big motorcycles. 190 is level. Farther along it was narrow, two lanes, insane with traffic, and no side lane. In Slidell I ate a large salad at Taco Viva. I heard thunderstorms had moved into the area on the radio. There was no shelter for the bike at Taco Viva. I walked across the parking lot. It started to rain while I was crossing the lot. I sat under and overhang near a bush at a shopping mall while it rained half an hour.
I pedaled my fully loaded touring bicycle to Lacombs, Louisiana where I stopped to eat at a convenience store. A black man and woman told me of Tammany Trace. It is a bike path that goes from Slidell to Abido Springs, just behind the store. It is 12 ft wide, level, an asphalt path about 32 miles long. I got on it and stayed until the end past dark-- trees, small bridges, houses, interesting with many community side roads along the way. And then went south again to get on 190. First I went the wrong way going east. I found a side road and I got off into the pines about 30 ft from the road in among vines and dreadful bugs. I lit the coils mosquito coils and sprayed with off. I heard on the radio, 14 dead from West Nile virus.
Monday August 26th 2002: 75 MI. I ate breakfast at Waffle House. Cycled east on 190, backtracked and got West again. Stopped at another convenience store gas station for eats, power bars. Stopped around 11:00 a.m. at a store for drinks. This was a long day. 190 has four lanes and wide paths in some places. Basically, I stopped and ate and just kept cycling. I kind of miss Robert, but he had not a snowball's chance in hell of doing this even close to my style and pace. I don't mind hanging back a bit for someone, but if it's going to double the length of the tour, that is not acceptable. I kept getting pains in the ball of my right foot. There really isn't much to say basically. I got into Baton Rouge well past dark. Baton rouge is another big town, mostly black it seems, with the usual commercial establishments on the highway. Used side roads getting through the city. The neighborhood seem to be mostly black. There were guys standing on the street corner selling drugs. All the time I was looking for a safe place to sleep but found nothing. Back on 190 west I pedaled past a gambling casino and a large industrial complex, probably petroleum. Finally I went over a large bridge with dangerously large expansion cracks and leveled out on the other side into large areas of agriculture probably corn. Many mosquitoes in this place. I saw a blue flashing lights from a distance up 190. Went to see. Wheeled into the Cajun Crcus truck stop. I had an omelette, hash browns, toast. A young black man told me of a graveyard across 190. I cycled about 300 yards down a dark gravel road, and entered a large, neatly mowed field of grass on my left. I spread out the pad on a concrete slab beneath an overhang of a maintenance shed. I had a hard time getting to sleep. I was awake until 0200. The grass there was all soaked wet with dew.
Tuesday August 27th 2002. It was a night of fitful sleep. A black man was driving up on the grass and around the building. He says, "How do you do?" I got up a few minutes later, snuffed the mosquito coils, packed, wheeled away, back to the Cajun circus where I am right now, time 08:45. Here 190 west is four lanes, divided, with a wide smooth shoulder, and wake-up rumble strips every 40 ft or so. I'm not in any great hurry to get back on the road today, but I will. I'm wearing a broad brimmed straw hat during day to fend the sun, and I wear a cap at night to keep the headlights out of my eyes. This area is level with much agriculture, swamps, snakes, plenty of crickets everywhere, and mosquitoes. The West Nile virus mosquitoes are around. I am now drinking coffee and trying to recuperate from yesterday and last night. In the Cajun Circus restaurant now - - three black men visible, a young Cajun woman, waitress, two women behind the cash register, five red vinyl booths, four tables of four chairs each, a counter with seven or eight stools-all red, mirrors along the wall, a jukebox, smaller store attached, truckers lounge, parking for trucks out back, eight pump stations in front on 190, chords of firewood stacked out front.
More of 190 west with forests, swamps, crops, farms, houses and fields. The shoulder is kind of eaten up here but it is still passable for cycling. It was over 3 miles going over the Morganza spillway bridge, then over another bridge into Krotz Springs where I am now at the restaurant in the Exxon gas station. This is a very small place. Quite warm. Many copulating love bugs are in the air. A pair were stuck to my sunglasses for a while. Finally shook them off. I stopped at the top of the last bridge for a look at the river. A tug and two large barges passed beneath. A railroad trestle was to one side. I saw a large black dead otter on the roadside, also dogs, a raccoon and an armadillo. I suspect Robert is back in Biloxi or Pensacola. Only a moderate amount of traffic flowed by me today. It was like yesterday. I attached a Bell generator light set yesterday but it does not work yet. Maybe it is not properly grounded to the frame. I made my way on this touring bicycle to Appalouses Louisiana to Sunny Oaks motel 1/2 block off of 190 West. Time is now 17:15. $22.50 was the total per day cost of this cheap motel. It was a dump. Later I got a large drink, a cheese bacon and burger at Checkers near there. I slept off and on, and watch TV - - Rio bravo and other programs.
113
General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.
« on: August 16, 2024, 01:18:35 am »
In reference to the murders, assaults, rapes and drug trafficking carried on by a certain small homeless population: They all live in a small wooded area in Stuart, Florida. One common denominator of them all is a social service agency named LAHIA--love and hope in action. LAHIA hand out free tents, three meals a day, clothing. They have shower rooms and laundry machines. This binds the bush dwellers to the area as long-term, permanent homeless. With the simply unsheltered people are also alcoholics, criminals, drug addicts, ex convicts registered sex offenders, predators and robbers and thieves.
Just today, another man was found shot dead very near LAHIA. It is being investigated. We are waiting to see whether or not this one,too, is connected with LAHIA.
Just today, another man was found shot dead very near LAHIA. It is being investigated. We are waiting to see whether or not this one,too, is connected with LAHIA.
114
General Discussion / 1999 Bicycling FL to CA: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi.
« on: August 15, 2024, 02:53:03 am »
February 7th 1999. 74 miles. I left the motel at 9:45 a.m. and headed north on highway 98. Got a bacon and egg sandwich and coffee at a Waffle House restaurant near Panama City beach. 98 took me through miles of woodland with no shoulder and traffic that was too heavy and inconsiderate for really enjoyable cycling. Got a refill of the water bottle at a forest management area that had a fire tower. A ranger there told me they were no longer required to be up in the tower as much as they used to be. I stopped at a convenience store and at a restaurant when it looked like the dark clouds over me would spill their contents, but they just kept blowing East and let loose only a few drops in my area. Got a double Sunday at Baskin-Robbins in Destin, Florida. It is now around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. I am in Wendy's restaurant in Destin Florida across from the Emerald Tower condominiums which are on the Gulf of Mexico Beach. Earlier in the day I had a slight tailwind. Later it turned to a side wind from the left from the south. Coming into Destin it was a quarter wind from the front left. I was going west.
It felt better getting started this morning after a full day of resting the muscles and getting away from the hectic rat-race highway. Cycling across the United States from east to west is a pain in the neck until you get to Texas where the law requires emergency stop lanes on both sides of the road. From Texas on West, cycling is much more comfortable. I know because I have been through all this before. At this point it looks like I've come about 48 miles so far today. Destin is on a sliver of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee intracoastal waterway. It looks like highway 98 will be a four-lane divided highway with paved shoulders to Pensacola from here. That Fairway Inn set me back $40. I just now ate a sour cream and chives potato, a side salad and drank a big diet Coke for $3.18.
I continued peddling my fully loaded bicycle to around Santa Rosa Beach. There I got a bacon and egg sandwich and a grilled cheese sandwich at a Waffle House restaurant. Went on over the bridge and just kept going into the night. About 8 Miles east of Navarre Florida I stopped for water at another convenience store. Three young men working there seemed amazed at my quest of cross country cycling. One very young fellow told me to cycle to Navarre and take the toll bridge to the barrier Island and follow the Beach Road to Pensacola. When I got that far I almost did that, but at the last moment opted for camping the night in a patch of woods near an Eckerd drug store.
The sky had completely clouded over and the wind was coming straight on from the West to the east and it looked like it might shower. I scratched my legs a bit getting the bike into the low-lying scrubs among the myrtle bushes and the pines. I set up the tarp like a lean-to and moved all the gear under it just in case of hard rain. As soon as the mosquitoes came buzzing around I fired up a mosquito coil and sprayed my vulnerable parts with repellent. The wind blew in gusts all night. The rain did not come.
Monday February 8th 1999 70 MI. Looks like I'll get into Alabama today. I was up by 9:15. Packed and got back on 98 west. Ate at a convenience store one pint of milk, tuna salad sandwich, chocolate muffin, cup of coffee. Now in Arby's in Gulf Breeze, Florida. I am drinking artificial lemonade and consulting a map. I have had a sea breeze side-wind from the south all day. There is no sign that it will stop.
It is now 6:40 p.m. in Eleanor, Alabama. That means I've come about 48 miles so far today. This place has a convenience store with a restaurant where I just had a four piece chicken dinner. It was easy getting through Pensacola when I switched from 98 West 290 West. The road has been getting a lot more rolling on the terrain than it has been so far. In Pensacola I stopped in an Army Navy store and bought two P38 type can openers, the large type. This area here is countryside where I am right now, and and the southern accent is thick, just as it has been for some time, actually since I left the east coast of Florida and got as far inland as Okeechobee Florida. I just had a conversation with a man named Ron Odell.
Crossing the four Mile bridge over Pensacola Bay was easy with the nice following wind blowing in from the gulf. Where I am now is Eleanor. 90 West does have a paved shoulder two or three feet wide, and there are signs saying bikes sharing the roadway. I think I'll cycle about 14 miles more tonight to around Loxley Alabama before calling it a day. I am not very exact on the mileage, but I think I've come 50 or 54 mi so far today.
Got to Waffle House in Loxley Alabama at interstate 10. I arrived around 10 minutes after 9:00 p.m. . I stayed there until about 10:30 and and ate a waffle with honey. After that I backtracked to a patch of woods with a sort of trail running beside it. I slept this night under a broad reach of oak boughs about 1,000 feet from the restaurant. The sky had clouded over and a foggy mist hung in the air. The mist collected on the leaves overhead and occasionally sprinkled a very light rain down upon me. Clearly audible were the big tractor trailer rigs speeding by on the highway about 250 ft away.
Tuesday February the 9th 1999. About 64 mi today. It was full light when I awoke. I rolled over to see if I would return to sleep, but I stayed awake. I lay there for I don't know how long listening to the sounds and looking at the sky through the twisted design of the limbs emanating from a giant oak tree, when an old pickup truck pulled up into the patch about 15 ft away from where I lay. A white-haired thin elderly man got out of the trunk. He was carrying a pick axe and a garden hoe. It seemed that he did not see me as he walked slowly over to a twisted clump of undergrowth and started rooting around in it with his tools. I watched for at least half a minute and then said hello. He turned with a start and looked at me. I told him exactly what it was I was doing there. He seemed friendly enough and we had a conversation for about 5 minutes. All the time I was packing my gear and getting ready to leave.
I pedaled my fully loaded bicycle across the highway to McDonald's where I had a deluxe breakfast. I remember seeing the clock on the wall when I left there. It was 11:05 a.m. . Highway 90 west was hilly to the town of Malbis about 10 miles away. There I stopped and had a Coke float. The causeway across Mobile Bay was flat as a board and about level with the water in some places. It must be one hell of a place during a hurricane. There was a nice following wind all the way across. I caught a ride in a pickup truck through the Bankhead tunnel.
The sidewalks through Mobile Alabama were really a cracked up mess, and 90 west, also known as Government Boulevard, leaves close quarters between traffic and bicycles. I ate bananas and yogurt at one food store, standing next to a parking lot entrance between an oak tree and a fence. There are numerous old mansion style houses along 90 in this area, and some historical plaques that go with them. Getting out the west end of the city, I have been pushing against a direct headwind and over large rolling hills. When possible I have been cycling on highway 90 and a frontage road running roughly parallel to 90 west, and lined with nice houses to the northwest. At that point 90 west is running southwest toward Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was time to stop at a Burger King in Tillmans Corner just outside the city limits of Mobile. Around mobile and in this region, 90 is known as the Old Spanish Trail. Time now 3:40 p.m. I've covered about 34 miles so far today.
Time now around 8:00 p.m. in Pascagoula, Mississippi. I meant to get a photo of the bicycle leaned against the state line sign going into Mississippi, but I did not. Either I missed it in the dark, or it was not there. There is a light mist in the area at ground level, but visibility is still very good. At least 90 has a nice wide paved shoulder in Mississippi. I am now at the eatery of the golden arches where I just now polished off a 6- piece chicken nuggets. People keep asking the same old questions. Where did you start from. To where are you going? How long did it take you to get here? How many miles do you ride each day? How many flat tires have you had? You have a long way to go. Or you have a long road ahead of you. Gee, I've never heard that before except for maybe 20 times. I might get to Gautier tonight or thereabouts before calling it a day. I will soon be moving out for that place in the dark. I have a feeling this part of the United States is mosquito haven. I will soon find out.
I did cycle on to Gautier with a lengthy stop on the way to patch a punctured tube in the front wheel. The air was permeated with a fog that became dense later. I went into a patch of woods behind a shopping center. It was alongside a dirt road. Stepping to get to the woods from the road, I sank ankle deep in quicksand and quickly pulled myself out and got back onto the road. The ground was soaked and much too clumpy to sleep comfortably. I cycled on to another Waffle House in Gautier and had a waffle for dinner. The cook there told me about a closed parking area a few miles west on 90. As I pulled away from the Waffle House, two police cars pulled into the parking lot. The fog got so thick I could not see 10 ft in front of me. Headlights became a round globular blinding glare. The eye-glasses kept fogging up blinding me completely. I turned left at a set of traffic lights and searched along its length of road. I finally found an old road going into the trees. I slept at the end of that road among numerous small trees. It must have been around 1:00 a.m. by the time I got there.
It felt better getting started this morning after a full day of resting the muscles and getting away from the hectic rat-race highway. Cycling across the United States from east to west is a pain in the neck until you get to Texas where the law requires emergency stop lanes on both sides of the road. From Texas on West, cycling is much more comfortable. I know because I have been through all this before. At this point it looks like I've come about 48 miles so far today. Destin is on a sliver of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee intracoastal waterway. It looks like highway 98 will be a four-lane divided highway with paved shoulders to Pensacola from here. That Fairway Inn set me back $40. I just now ate a sour cream and chives potato, a side salad and drank a big diet Coke for $3.18.
I continued peddling my fully loaded bicycle to around Santa Rosa Beach. There I got a bacon and egg sandwich and a grilled cheese sandwich at a Waffle House restaurant. Went on over the bridge and just kept going into the night. About 8 Miles east of Navarre Florida I stopped for water at another convenience store. Three young men working there seemed amazed at my quest of cross country cycling. One very young fellow told me to cycle to Navarre and take the toll bridge to the barrier Island and follow the Beach Road to Pensacola. When I got that far I almost did that, but at the last moment opted for camping the night in a patch of woods near an Eckerd drug store.
The sky had completely clouded over and the wind was coming straight on from the West to the east and it looked like it might shower. I scratched my legs a bit getting the bike into the low-lying scrubs among the myrtle bushes and the pines. I set up the tarp like a lean-to and moved all the gear under it just in case of hard rain. As soon as the mosquitoes came buzzing around I fired up a mosquito coil and sprayed my vulnerable parts with repellent. The wind blew in gusts all night. The rain did not come.
Monday February 8th 1999 70 MI. Looks like I'll get into Alabama today. I was up by 9:15. Packed and got back on 98 west. Ate at a convenience store one pint of milk, tuna salad sandwich, chocolate muffin, cup of coffee. Now in Arby's in Gulf Breeze, Florida. I am drinking artificial lemonade and consulting a map. I have had a sea breeze side-wind from the south all day. There is no sign that it will stop.
It is now 6:40 p.m. in Eleanor, Alabama. That means I've come about 48 miles so far today. This place has a convenience store with a restaurant where I just had a four piece chicken dinner. It was easy getting through Pensacola when I switched from 98 West 290 West. The road has been getting a lot more rolling on the terrain than it has been so far. In Pensacola I stopped in an Army Navy store and bought two P38 type can openers, the large type. This area here is countryside where I am right now, and and the southern accent is thick, just as it has been for some time, actually since I left the east coast of Florida and got as far inland as Okeechobee Florida. I just had a conversation with a man named Ron Odell.
Crossing the four Mile bridge over Pensacola Bay was easy with the nice following wind blowing in from the gulf. Where I am now is Eleanor. 90 West does have a paved shoulder two or three feet wide, and there are signs saying bikes sharing the roadway. I think I'll cycle about 14 miles more tonight to around Loxley Alabama before calling it a day. I am not very exact on the mileage, but I think I've come 50 or 54 mi so far today.
Got to Waffle House in Loxley Alabama at interstate 10. I arrived around 10 minutes after 9:00 p.m. . I stayed there until about 10:30 and and ate a waffle with honey. After that I backtracked to a patch of woods with a sort of trail running beside it. I slept this night under a broad reach of oak boughs about 1,000 feet from the restaurant. The sky had clouded over and a foggy mist hung in the air. The mist collected on the leaves overhead and occasionally sprinkled a very light rain down upon me. Clearly audible were the big tractor trailer rigs speeding by on the highway about 250 ft away.
Tuesday February the 9th 1999. About 64 mi today. It was full light when I awoke. I rolled over to see if I would return to sleep, but I stayed awake. I lay there for I don't know how long listening to the sounds and looking at the sky through the twisted design of the limbs emanating from a giant oak tree, when an old pickup truck pulled up into the patch about 15 ft away from where I lay. A white-haired thin elderly man got out of the trunk. He was carrying a pick axe and a garden hoe. It seemed that he did not see me as he walked slowly over to a twisted clump of undergrowth and started rooting around in it with his tools. I watched for at least half a minute and then said hello. He turned with a start and looked at me. I told him exactly what it was I was doing there. He seemed friendly enough and we had a conversation for about 5 minutes. All the time I was packing my gear and getting ready to leave.
I pedaled my fully loaded bicycle across the highway to McDonald's where I had a deluxe breakfast. I remember seeing the clock on the wall when I left there. It was 11:05 a.m. . Highway 90 west was hilly to the town of Malbis about 10 miles away. There I stopped and had a Coke float. The causeway across Mobile Bay was flat as a board and about level with the water in some places. It must be one hell of a place during a hurricane. There was a nice following wind all the way across. I caught a ride in a pickup truck through the Bankhead tunnel.
The sidewalks through Mobile Alabama were really a cracked up mess, and 90 west, also known as Government Boulevard, leaves close quarters between traffic and bicycles. I ate bananas and yogurt at one food store, standing next to a parking lot entrance between an oak tree and a fence. There are numerous old mansion style houses along 90 in this area, and some historical plaques that go with them. Getting out the west end of the city, I have been pushing against a direct headwind and over large rolling hills. When possible I have been cycling on highway 90 and a frontage road running roughly parallel to 90 west, and lined with nice houses to the northwest. At that point 90 west is running southwest toward Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was time to stop at a Burger King in Tillmans Corner just outside the city limits of Mobile. Around mobile and in this region, 90 is known as the Old Spanish Trail. Time now 3:40 p.m. I've covered about 34 miles so far today.
Time now around 8:00 p.m. in Pascagoula, Mississippi. I meant to get a photo of the bicycle leaned against the state line sign going into Mississippi, but I did not. Either I missed it in the dark, or it was not there. There is a light mist in the area at ground level, but visibility is still very good. At least 90 has a nice wide paved shoulder in Mississippi. I am now at the eatery of the golden arches where I just now polished off a 6- piece chicken nuggets. People keep asking the same old questions. Where did you start from. To where are you going? How long did it take you to get here? How many miles do you ride each day? How many flat tires have you had? You have a long way to go. Or you have a long road ahead of you. Gee, I've never heard that before except for maybe 20 times. I might get to Gautier tonight or thereabouts before calling it a day. I will soon be moving out for that place in the dark. I have a feeling this part of the United States is mosquito haven. I will soon find out.
I did cycle on to Gautier with a lengthy stop on the way to patch a punctured tube in the front wheel. The air was permeated with a fog that became dense later. I went into a patch of woods behind a shopping center. It was alongside a dirt road. Stepping to get to the woods from the road, I sank ankle deep in quicksand and quickly pulled myself out and got back onto the road. The ground was soaked and much too clumpy to sleep comfortably. I cycled on to another Waffle House in Gautier and had a waffle for dinner. The cook there told me about a closed parking area a few miles west on 90. As I pulled away from the Waffle House, two police cars pulled into the parking lot. The fog got so thick I could not see 10 ft in front of me. Headlights became a round globular blinding glare. The eye-glasses kept fogging up blinding me completely. I turned left at a set of traffic lights and searched along its length of road. I finally found an old road going into the trees. I slept at the end of that road among numerous small trees. It must have been around 1:00 a.m. by the time I got there.
115
General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads
« on: August 14, 2024, 12:50:18 am »My own personal scariest experiences were all on logging road in British Columbia. It seems that the guys hauling logs on those roads are paid by the mile and not by the hour. The roads are dusty, steep, rough, and often are narrow and have poor sight lines.
Sharing a road with something that weighs well north of 40 tons isn't fun at all.
Pro tip: many of those roads are radio controlled and if you want to cycle there I'd invest in a hand-held radio programmed for the appropriate frequency. You can find out what radio frequencies you'll need online:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource-use/resource-roads/radio-communications/channel-maps
Logging trucks can be unnerving on narrow roads. Motivating truckers with profits, they filled your world with loud irritating noise and pollution. Whatever it was, traffic in Ukraine in 1994 would make that seem like a gentle afternoon stroll in the park. The main problem with the loggers was the large pieces of bark on the road and pushed into the bike lane. The side lanes were covered with it. I had to keep focused on the road in front of the wheel to swerve and zig zag around the obstructions. Some were three feet across. I would not want to get hit by one of those flying 60 mph off a truck.
116
General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.
« on: August 14, 2024, 12:33:56 am »These days, it is not necessary to have access to a law library to read state statutes of law. Anyone can google statutes.
Unfortunately I've never had very good luck debating a fine point of the law with a police officer in a campsite or along a road. If they roust you out of a sound and well-earned sleep at 1am and tell you to move you won't be sleeping much that night, one way or the other.
You might win a "moral" victory in court at some future date, but your night's sleep and possibly your trip is still going to get badly messed up. And the costs and risks of going to court, even if you are one hundred percent in the right, are not zero and might be unacceptably large for you.
These people were semi-permanent, homeless and encamped within a small area. The only trip many of them experienced was in and out of jails and prisons. Where they camped was exactly the type of concealment needed by the free-traveling, stealth-camping bicycle tourist. Many times I have found good sleep sites in patches of bushes and stands of trees just like that place and in that place. A word of caution.
As for arguing a statute against a power monopolizer like police on the road side, in a camp. In all my worldwide cycling tours, there is no memory of that happening anywhere. You are out there adventuring. You are experiencing the world, all five senses engaged. You are traveling on your own steam. It is transcontinental, and everybody sees that. People respect that.
117
General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads
« on: August 11, 2024, 10:14:53 pm »
On one cross-country bicycling tour there were many, dangerous, close-calls. That had nothing to do with the roads in particular. It was deliberate, planned, timed, coordinated obviously.
118
General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.
« on: August 11, 2024, 06:37:56 pm »In 1985 I drove through Virginia pulling a small trailer. I exited 3 off ramps looking for gas and a hotel. Even back then I knew if an interstate sign says gas lodging next right the law requires these facilities to be open 24 hours. At the Third off ramp I pulled over and went to sleep. The police did not bother me. Nothing pisses me off more than some one who gets arrested because the government breaks the law. VDOT broke the law be failing to remove the signs. It is a basic principal of law you can not compel people to do the impossible. The supreme court ruling is in conflict with the constitution and territorial laws which the states do not have the authority to over rule. I have read all of the United States Code and the acts of congress before the United States Code and all of the territorial laws I could get my hands on concerning navigable waterways roads and rail roads. DeSantis is wrong and it is likely he knows he is wrong. I will not be punished because of the behavior of homeless drunks. Do not give up.
These days, it is not necessary to have access to a law library to read state statutes of law. Anyone can google statutes. This I have done in Florida. This state picks and chooses which laws to enforce, whom to enforce them for, and whom to enforce them against. The enforcements are not even remotely uniform and equal. The differences between the ways rich people are regarded and the ways poor people are regarded are huge. Obvious, open, annoying, harmful, public violations of state and federal laws are ignored. And who are the offenders? By name I do not know, but they obviously are well-off financially. Petty, non-harmful behaviors are sometimes prosecuted seriously. The people prosecuted are most always poor. It is open and public.
119
General Discussion / Bicycle tour AZ to CA, year 2002.
« on: August 10, 2024, 03:46:09 am »
September 29th 2002, bicycling Arizona and California. I had a drink of horchata at a convenience store, and tried to buy a tube at a house with bikes out in front of it. They did not have any. I found my way to the crossroads mission next to the railroad tracks. They had three or four buildings, one for detox. Some there were from the prison system, using the place as a halfway house. Breakfast was at 6:30 a.m., lunch at 11:30, dinner at 6:00 p.m. . I was too late for breakfast. I sat with others talking out front on picnic tables. One black dude, known for hopping trains all over the country, told the stories and it did tricks with playing cards. We ate lunch. I hung around and took it easy. I checked my gear into a locker and a locker room kept by Robert Bob Dole. I chained up my bicycle inside the locker room. Later, at 6:30, we went to chapel and heard a pretty damned good sermon by Roy Collins about the story of Daniel. We ate dinner. We had already showered at 3:00 p.m. . To check in to sleep I had to leave a picture ID and blow into a breathalyzer. What does that tell you about that place? I got pajamas and went to bed 25, top bunk in dorm room. They had at least 30 bunks in that room. And by the way, we had steak for dinner.
I slept only a few short hours, and those fitfully. I decided in the morning to leave the mission even though I could have stayed 10 days. This was a bicycling tour, not an extended layover at a flop house. Breakfast was eggs, potatoes, bacon, and bread. Leaving there I cycled uphill and went to Mr B's bicycle shop. All the way there I saw two men from the mission on their way to get an Arizona QUEST card for food, like food stamps. The bike shop was closed, it was too early, but a woman in the office sold me a tube anyway. I used the bathroom at the office of economic security. I told two men there what I thought of government. I cycled West out of town. I had a 44 Oz drink of horchata at a convenience store. I cycled over the bridge into California into Winter Haven just on the west side of the Colorado River. I bought a gallon of de salted water, a burrito and brownie. At first I used the side road. Interstate 8 had a sign prohibiting bicycles. I got back on 8 farther west. I had to exit interstate 8 at one point and went up a hilly road partially covered in tan sugar sand. Some linemen they're clued me into the fact that the road would soon end. I double back, this was imperial sand dunes recreation area, and got on interstate 8. I had to exit again, but the frontage road was like and occluded jigsaw puzzle. I got back on 8 again. I stopped in a restaurant with a large al fresco outside darning area covered over in camouflage webbing. A woman told me of a free mineral spring 20 miles up the road. I ate the burrito and Brownie and went on. Finally I got to the spring. I took a dip there too. I stayed an hour or so. A Korean vet, his wife and two grandchildren and another dude showed up. We talked a while. The older man told me some of his war experiences. I went on into holtville amidst low-lying agricultural fields, some growing and some just plowed up rich looking soil. I found some kind of mall and ate hamburgers and fries in holtville. I drank Gatorade in the town park. I cycled West to get into El Centro at dark. I went to the Shell station convenience store. I had a drink of RX memory drink and Coca-Cola. I called a Korean man who told me I could spend a night at his place in El Centro. As anticipated, I got a recording and it did not get through. I cycled South along dark roads and then East looking for a place to bed down. There was nothing much there. I found a newly built, unused industrial building and got in a small room under the stairwell at ground level. I looked around at the area at first. I slept okay and came about 59 miles.
I slept only a few short hours, and those fitfully. I decided in the morning to leave the mission even though I could have stayed 10 days. This was a bicycling tour, not an extended layover at a flop house. Breakfast was eggs, potatoes, bacon, and bread. Leaving there I cycled uphill and went to Mr B's bicycle shop. All the way there I saw two men from the mission on their way to get an Arizona QUEST card for food, like food stamps. The bike shop was closed, it was too early, but a woman in the office sold me a tube anyway. I used the bathroom at the office of economic security. I told two men there what I thought of government. I cycled West out of town. I had a 44 Oz drink of horchata at a convenience store. I cycled over the bridge into California into Winter Haven just on the west side of the Colorado River. I bought a gallon of de salted water, a burrito and brownie. At first I used the side road. Interstate 8 had a sign prohibiting bicycles. I got back on 8 farther west. I had to exit interstate 8 at one point and went up a hilly road partially covered in tan sugar sand. Some linemen they're clued me into the fact that the road would soon end. I double back, this was imperial sand dunes recreation area, and got on interstate 8. I had to exit again, but the frontage road was like and occluded jigsaw puzzle. I got back on 8 again. I stopped in a restaurant with a large al fresco outside darning area covered over in camouflage webbing. A woman told me of a free mineral spring 20 miles up the road. I ate the burrito and Brownie and went on. Finally I got to the spring. I took a dip there too. I stayed an hour or so. A Korean vet, his wife and two grandchildren and another dude showed up. We talked a while. The older man told me some of his war experiences. I went on into holtville amidst low-lying agricultural fields, some growing and some just plowed up rich looking soil. I found some kind of mall and ate hamburgers and fries in holtville. I drank Gatorade in the town park. I cycled West to get into El Centro at dark. I went to the Shell station convenience store. I had a drink of RX memory drink and Coca-Cola. I called a Korean man who told me I could spend a night at his place in El Centro. As anticipated, I got a recording and it did not get through. I cycled South along dark roads and then East looking for a place to bed down. There was nothing much there. I found a newly built, unused industrial building and got in a small room under the stairwell at ground level. I looked around at the area at first. I slept okay and came about 59 miles.
120
General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.
« on: August 08, 2024, 10:58:23 pm »
Following that story. I live in Florida. People were tenting all up and down public roads and sidewalks. The law says off the sidewalks, into a shelter. The shelters, however, are not there to take in all these unsheltered people. The idea then is to provide space for homeless tent-cities. The space must be provided by the cities and counties. Some cities and counties said they would not pay for that. The state attorney told them they can be sued for refusing.
There were four vicious, savage, brutal murders in one small area of trees in southeast coastal Florida. The trees were concealment for homeless camps. They were and still are behind Wal Mart in Stuart, FL, and across from WM looking west. That was a drug and alcohol fueled mad-house. Buying and selling of illegal drugs. Violence--One beating put a man for months in the hospital with damage to internal organs and broken bones. Another man was found with his skull completely smashed in and multiple broken bones. Another man beaten slowly to death for an hour. I was very near there when that happened. A helpless paralyzed old man beat to a bloody pulp and had to go to hospital. Another man stabbed through the aorta, his body weighted with dumb bells and sunk in a bog. All these and many more happened in that one small area among the so-called homeless people.
Getting them out of the woods, off the sidewalks, away from unwanted public interference--and into open tent cities makes sense. It would be easier to keep an eye on them that way. You can name a person homeless. That does not mean he is a saint in white robes. A highly disproportionate number of the homeless population there were engaged in some kind of criminal activity. These types have nearly zero integrity. When the police evict them from the woods, they scatter garbage and trash all over the grounds during the exit. All these and many more happened in that one small area among the so-called homeless people.
Some others simply have no shelter and that is all there is to it. They are not ex-convicts, addicts, alcoholics, felons or anything like that at all. The have nowhere to live.
There were four vicious, savage, brutal murders in one small area of trees in southeast coastal Florida. The trees were concealment for homeless camps. They were and still are behind Wal Mart in Stuart, FL, and across from WM looking west. That was a drug and alcohol fueled mad-house. Buying and selling of illegal drugs. Violence--One beating put a man for months in the hospital with damage to internal organs and broken bones. Another man was found with his skull completely smashed in and multiple broken bones. Another man beaten slowly to death for an hour. I was very near there when that happened. A helpless paralyzed old man beat to a bloody pulp and had to go to hospital. Another man stabbed through the aorta, his body weighted with dumb bells and sunk in a bog. All these and many more happened in that one small area among the so-called homeless people.
Getting them out of the woods, off the sidewalks, away from unwanted public interference--and into open tent cities makes sense. It would be easier to keep an eye on them that way. You can name a person homeless. That does not mean he is a saint in white robes. A highly disproportionate number of the homeless population there were engaged in some kind of criminal activity. These types have nearly zero integrity. When the police evict them from the woods, they scatter garbage and trash all over the grounds during the exit. All these and many more happened in that one small area among the so-called homeless people.
Some others simply have no shelter and that is all there is to it. They are not ex-convicts, addicts, alcoholics, felons or anything like that at all. The have nowhere to live.