Sickness

Oct. 31- Nov. 6th

This past week has been pretty tough, I lost my cell phone (not that I'm a big fan of them) and got sick. The highlight was staying with a couple from warmshowers.org in Pensacola who treated me to some amazing home- baked bread and soup & let me stay with them for 2 nights. Thanks Ray & Donna!

Biking with a bad cold is a ton of fun. You can't see much because you are constantly tearing, you can't pedal because you're achy, and it's hard to breath since you're nose is stuffy and you're coughing. Recovery is slowed due to the constant stress on your body, and you're worried about getting sicker. I haven't really wanted to write about any of this as I hate complaining about such menial problems but I guess it's all a part of this trek. It was probably my fault that I got sick ( swimming in cold Gulf water on a relatively cold day is never a good idea) but I'm getting through it while still keeping a positive outlook and enjoying every second as I wheeze and puff down the road.

When crossing state lines you definitely feel a sense of accomplishment, especially after 2 weeks and some 900 miles in the same state ( Florida). Georgia had some nice bike lanes and friendly people, & while road condition deteriorated much in Mississippi the people stayed nice. I enjoyed being out on the 4 lane divided state highways, they pose no distraction to my peddling, offer a nice wide shoulder and usually have plenty of spots to camp out at along side them. Traffic is usually light and I don't have to think about turning left or right, I just go.

Nov. 7 on

Tuesday turned out to be a very interesting day. The plan was to make it over the Mississippi River at Vicksburg and continue west into Louisiana. Both google maps and my gps showed me two bridges; the I-20 interstate bridge and the old highway 80 bridge, and both routed me to take the highway 80 bridge. It turned out the old route 80 bridge has been closed for some time, and that it's only used for special events. I talked with the visitors center and they arranged for someone to take me over the bridge. After waiting a good hour it turned out they couldn't take me across after all. I was told I should "take my chances on the I-20 bridge". "And possibly die?" I asked. "nah, we had people do it before". How this state worker knew that people had crossed it before or why he was suggesting I break the law (bicycles/ pedestrians are prohibited on interstates) is beyond me. Since the next crossing was 60 miles south or 30 miles north via a ferry I decided to "take my chances". I took the onramp and was riding on a foot-wide shoulder that had metal water drains with cut outs parallel to my wheels. After successfully making it over about 30 of them my rear tire sunk in and immediately flatted. A couple of feet later I came to the bridge connection, two hair-comb ending interlocking plates that don't really come together all that well and leave a 3" wide by by 2' long gap. Surly my front tire fell in and I was stuck. Thankfully my fender didn't brake and my wheel stayed true, but a flat was a given. Trying to figure out what to do on the interstate shoulder I noticed my trailer tire flatted at some point to. The next exit of this damn interstate (it was elevated) was 4 miles west and all my wheels were flat. I walked for about 2 miles until I found a spot where the ground was low enough below me (some 12 feet), took out my paracord, tied it to a lamp post, and repelled my bike, trailer, & then myself down. My cord snapped and I fell, trapping my arm under a rock. I spent 126 hours trying to cut it off... Just kidding, but I did repel down the side of an interstate.

I had no spare tubes; just 2 patches and some glue left. I couldn't see any houses nor cars, just a dirt road and some railroad tracks. I was at least 15 miles from the nearest town and at least 80 from the nearest bike shop. It was starting to rain. I was screwed. I spent 3 hours using electrical tape, crazy glue and some old patches to fix the 10 or so punctures that I had acquired going over metal grates. It worked, and I made it some 15 miles west. I stopped at a gas station to ask where I could camp and was told the area I was in wasn't very nice, and that I will probably get robbed. The owner said I could stay behind the gas station, but as I was about to do that I heard I was currently in a tornado/ severe thunderstorm zone. I ended up getting a motel and stayed there trough the next day hoping to cure my cold a bit as it had moved down into my chest. I watched Hgtv all day and realized that I miss my tools and working.

Currently in Louisiana, can't understand a word the people say. Instead of rudely asking "what" 100 times I just end up nodding nowadays.
It should be another day before I make it to Texas. Hopefully the weather stays nice, my cold goes away, and I don't flat anymore; but even if it all goes to shit who cares, It'll still be a good ride.