Southern Hospitality Should Be a Class in School

It’s all downhill from here, right?

Our longest stretch of road between two stops. Houston and Tampa, separated by nearly 1,100 miles. On paper, our most grueling stretch. Through the South, crazy hot, dripping humidity and afternoon thunderstorms.

Many people “warned” us about riding in the south. Saying, “They don’t like cyclists” and “They’ll run you off the road.” It wasn’t just one person in one location either, it was different people in different cities and states, and fairly consistent. None of the B4B boys had spent much time at all in the south, so we were a bit nervous to say the least.

We left our host’s place in Houston, thank you Bulot family!, and NW and towards Burnet Bay. Today was not an actual scheduled riding day, but because we were fortunate enough to have our baseball clinic and attend the Astros game, all in the same day, it allowed us an “extra” day to begin our trek. Slept in until 8, and headed out of Houston and towards Tampa!

PICTURES – Texas to Louisiana!

We started with a lot of excitement. Fresh legs. Flat ride. Not TOO hot of a temperature. We were feeling fresh. Took a ferry over the bay and felt like we had a motor on us for the rest of the day as we knocked out 106 miles by nightfall. It was exciting to think about the challenge that we were starting on for an 1,100 mile journey and to finish in Tampa only 10 days later.

We were supposed to camp at Village Creek State Park just outside the town of Lumberton. However, we were hanging out around Houston (pick up a replacement computer for Rex) and at Jack in the Box (after receiving 15 coupons for free meals at the Astros game) that we missed the “closing” of the park. We arrived to the front gate by 10:30. Problem was, they closed the front gates at 10 PM. And by gates closed, they actually had a locked gate, which was not common. We instantly though, “What if someone wanted to LEAVE the park in the middle of the night? They come to a locked gate with an emergency and no way to get out? That seems safe…” We frantically tried to think of a new option to sleep in as we peaked around for a place around the park that might suit us for a night. There was a small row of houses that were tucked back in the woods on a single road just to the right of the park entrance. In between the road and the park, there was a small strip of grass was JUST big enough to park for the night and set up two small tents. We were only going to sleep for a few hours (rise ‘n shine at 5:30), so we thought we wouldn’t be disturbing anyone. Shortly after we put our tents down, blew up our sleeping pads and lay down to rest, a truck drove by as it headed home. Luckily, no stop, and we were safe for the night.

The next morning that Jack in the Box was still really close and we still had coupons for free meals in the Houston area, so we used those up to feed us. We steered into east Texas, less populated areas and thicker Texan accents as we headed towards the Louisiana border. But as we started the day, riders Steve and Adam had set their sights on finding a barber shop. Probably would have been easier had we done that in Houston, but it was so busy during our time there that we couldn’t find the time! So how about we find a nice local barber shop in a small Texan town for a trim? We liked the possibility.

We found just that at a barber shop in Kirbyville, Texas called Roy’s Barber Shop. We walk in and there is one guy getting his head shaved with one of those long blades that barbers use. Always wanted to have my face shaved by a meticulous barber with one of those blades as he has a towel slung over his shoulder and I have a plethora of shaving cream in a single area on my face. This was the scene we walked into. This was exactly what we were looking for.

As we sat down and waited our turn, we asked the barber if his name was Roy, cause that was the shop’s name.

He said, “No, my name is (can’t remember his name), and I bought the barber shop from Roy 15 years ago. Roy has retired.”

It was kind of funny that no one named Roy worked there, and the new owner had no interest in changing the name. Just buy it and keep calling it Roy’s. Done!

PICTURES – Texas to Louisiana!

As Steve started his haircut, which was right around the noon hour, many local boys started coming into the shop to get their haircut as well. We were getting the cuts as we were decked out in all of our cycling gear: jerseys, shoes and Spandex. So, instantly, people were inquisitive about why we were dressed as we were. But it was great.

As Steve and Adam took their turn in the chair, the fine townspeople of Kirbyville conversed with us about our journey, about Kirbyville and about the best route to get out of Kirbyville and towards Baton Rouge. And everyone had THICK Texas accents. There was this one kid, no more than 15 years old. He came in quiet and looking like a shy guy. As another local came in and sat next to him and got the kid talking, this little kid had the thickest Texas accent of anyone in there. Did NOT expect that out of him!

We left out of Kirbyville (after two flats from just leaving the town) with our sights set on the Louisiana border. Adam found an American flag on the side of the road as Steve fixed another flat, just outside of town. This was a momentous occasion for two reasons. One, it marked the beginning of Adam riding each and every day with the flag tucked in his backpack. He already has an American flag jersey and then when you add in the American flag to the repertoire, its all American all the time. It also provided more visibility for the riders. The flag sticking up in the air and waving as cyclists rode on the shoulder, was a nice addition. No one was going to hit a cyclist on the side of the road so proud to be an American, in the South. Right? We hoped so.

It also marked the beginning of many flats that we were to suffer throughout Louisiana. Some of Louisiana’s roads weren’t all that great as we headed from the Texas border towards Baton Rouge. As the roads wore, they developed these small little shards that were sharp and liked to stab through our tires and pop our tubes. We lost a lot of tubes out there on the roads of Louisiana. So many, that it actually cleared us out on our way to Baton Rouge. It would be time to restock for us when we got to Baton Rouge.

After fixing Steve’s flat, we eventually made it to Louisiana! Our 10^th state by bicycle! High-five!

As we stopped in the next gas station to fill up our water bottles that became empty very quick on our rides through east Texas, we saw a ride team that was going from California to Florida. They had a massive support vehicle. RV and trailer twice the size of ours. 8 people were riding. We thought how we get a lot of flats with 3 of us riding and how much it slows us down. But imagine if we had 8 riders! Way too many stops with that many riders, would be quite frustrating.

The towns we did stop in, weren’t that amazed to see a cyclist to be riding through them. Apparently, many cyclists have done and will do this route. We jumped on the Southern Tier Adventure Cycling Route as we made it into Louisiana, which was mostly along secondary highways and with nice roads. The flats weren’t really going to be a problem until the next day. We actually had some of the best roads as we first rode into Louisiana and towards our campsite in Deridder.

We posted up right on our route through town that would also be perfect for our route out of town. What a great spot for a campsite! The owner of the site was very nice as well and a lover of animals. He had miniature horses, fish, donkeys, alpaca, cats, ducks and cows. We fed the horses, played with the little kittens and ran away from the ducks.

Because of the excellent location of this hostel for us as cyclists, we had not been the only cyclists to stay at this campsite. Many had ridden this route before and many had stayed at this campsite before. The owner had a book of all cyclists that had stayed with him. He suggested that every attendee leave a picture and an anecdote on their journey. Very cool and humbling to read all of the stories of people that have been on these grandiose bike tours and happened to stop at this campsite. We weren’t the only ones. Great job everyone!

We woke up, covered in new bug bites from the previous night, and headed out of town and back on the Adventure Cycling Route. The first half of the day’s ride was fantastic. The road was well marked in many spots that suggested drivers to share the road with cyclists. And drivers abided, as they would merge an entire lane over as they passed on by us. Some would even give a couple honks as a salute to our team as we rode with our American flag. Ameri-CUH!

On our beautiful ride that was well paved with little traffic, we had a lot of time to relax and look around at our surroundings. We noticed one thing in particular that kept sticking out to us, and we had no idea what it was. It was a crop. We knew that. The entire field looked like a well-manicured grass all the same height. There was a distinctive boundary running through the grass fields that resembled a raised row of dirt. Why are they growing such nice grass and keeping it fenced in by dirt mounds? After riding by many of these, it was obvious that this was an important crop around these parts. We had to get a closer look to find out what it was.

We hopped off of our bikes at one point and moved closer to one of the fields. As we got a better look, we saw that it wasn’t just grass, there was a bulb that the “grass” grew out of. OK, so now it’s definitely a crop. Also, we noticed that in many of these, the lower portion of the crop, the bulb and a couple inches of the “grass,” would be under water. There was a small pool of water held in the field, which meant the raised row of dirt was quite strategic. They wanted to keep the crops submerged in water. Well, we had NO idea what crop this was. We stewed about it for the rest of our ride into Eunice, with no luck.  

As we stopped in Eunice and munched down on some tasty lunch, we had a fun happening. As we were walking back to our bikes that were parked next to our bright green trailer and support vehicle, a gentleman in a truck drove up right next to us and stopped.

“Are you the bikers?”

“Why yes, I suppose that would be us!”

“Well I’m tha Mayor!”, the Mayor exclaimed.

The Mayor was very welcoming of us into his town and very prideful of how great a town it was. He even gave us a town pin! Coincidentally, right before the Mayor drove up next to us, we were just saying how this was the nicest small town that we had seen, probably on the whole trip. And then this big boisterous happy man comes up and tops it off with his generosity. We loved Eunice!

Out of Eunice though and on into Baton Rouge, the roads became increasingly less-friendly and low-quality. Several flats slowed and nearly ruined the ride. We had no flats left. We were down to patch kits. Luckily we only had to ride on one patched tube as we hobbled into Baton Rouge for the night. And boy we were lucky in Baton Rouge!

Adam’s mother, Debbie, has a friend whom she golfs with, also named Debbie. Debbie # 2 used to live in Baton Rouge. Her neighbors in the state’s capital were a lovely couple who had played host to some medical students from Tulane after Hurricane Katrina struck. Through the grapevine, a connection was made, and the B4B team was welcomed with open arms into the home of Randy and Elaine! Cool!

This was very lucky for us. As soon as we reached Baton Rouge, a flash flood hit. We had it on our list to see Tiger Stadium, where the LSU Tigers play, but a flash flood dominated the campus. Unbelievably nice that we had a lovely home and a great host to stay dry with as a flood took over downtown Baton Rouge. No idea how we would have camped around here. As soon as we walked in, Elaine had jambalaya going and we were shuffled outside to view their deck on a lake right in their backyard. What a place!

PICTURES – Texas to Louisiana!

Randy and Elaine had grown up in Louisiana. It sounded as if many who live in Louisiana are born in Louisiana. There aren’t many imports of people into the state. Randy’s family had lived there for generations and had even recently been passed his daddy’s (as they call their fathers in the south) plantation house. He had great stories of being a marathoner (45 marathons!), the politics of the levy (the first rule of the levy is to never do anything on the levy), and of LSU athletics (Geaux Tigers!). They were incredibly generous with their home and provided a great taste of the southern lifestyle.

A portion of the night was spent looking at a book of old plantation homes and discussing our route down to New Orleans the next day. We had never been to New Orleans and really wanted to see the city. It was a bit out of our way, as we would have to go south and around Lake Ponchartrain. But no matter, we were in for it. We took off early so that we could even get a few couple hours in the Big Easy.

What a cool route! We rode down River Road and Highway 30, alongside the Mighty Mississippi and passing by sugar fields. We were lucky enough to stop at a couple plantations along the way as well. Le Bocage and the Houmas House. Le Bocage was much better. We were allowed to go in the house and check out the whole bottom portion of the plantation house. It was actually a Bed and Breakfast now at only $250 a night. Wow would it be incredible to stay here.

The greeter told us that Brad Pitt’s crew was actually going to be staying with them over the summer for a couple weeks as they shot some scenes on the grounds for a new movie.

One of the most impressive sights about a plantation is the entryways and the yards. Expansive and massive, they take up the majority of a plantation and are the most beautiful. Giant trees are well placed throughout the property and fountains usually decorate the walkway to the front door. Just entering the gate from the driveway you feel as if you are entering a magical place. I guess this is what you build if money is no object to you. These people were wealthy!

After avoiding the $20 tour and instead spending it on Oreo ice cream, Choco tacos and ice cream sandwiches, we headed a bit further inland and away from the Mississippi to make a bee line towards New Orleans. As we veered more directly south, we saw the impending doom we were about to run into. We seriously hadn’t seen a drop of rain since the NW and it had been a hot morning ride, a hot mid-western ride, a hot Colorado ride, a hot Arizona ride… well it had been hot for a while. This rain was overdue. We ate our words instantly.

As we biked to approach the storm, you could see where the storm started. It looked like a scene from a movie. Only 100 yards in front of us, there was a wall of rain. Where we were standing, there was sunny skies. As we biked towards the storm we said, “Are we doing this? No other choice! AHHHHHHH!” And we headed into the belly of the beast.

It was raining so hard that it was stinging when it hit your skin. It stung when it went through your rain jacket. We had to wear our sunglasses, even though it was dark and not sunny, just to protect our eyes and allow us to try and see the road that our eyes were too wet to see. We were instantly drenched. Usually it takes a little while to go from the point of “I don’t want to get wet”, avoiding all chances of getting rained on, to “I don’t care anymore” as if you actually would rather stay in the rain then head inside to dry off. We hit that point instantly. It’s not a conscious decision, just all of a sudden you feel OK with being wet. Part of it was that it was warm rain. But also part of it, was that it was really fun! We were riding through a crazy storm. Storms were cars driving by had to be thinking “Is that? Noooooo. Those are… CYCLISTS!” Screaming war cries as we battled the rain and wind we pounded out some of our best miles. And I say miles, because we went through, count em, THREE storms. We could tell because we would first go through a warm front and a strong headwind. As we struggled through the beginning, we would get to a very small “eye of the storm.” The wind would switch directions as we biked through the eye and we would have a strong tailwind. We’d cruise through the end of the storm and just as we were exiting it, completely, a giant cold front would sweep over us, chilling us to the bone.

As we entered the third storm, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, we didn’t make it. As we were passing through the front of the storm into the eye, we saw a lightning strike that encompassed our entire line of sight and that was followed by a resonating crack of lightning that hit as soon as we saw the lightning. We thought it better to wait out this third and final storm so we stopped at the next gas station, avoiding all chances of us getting struck by lightning from here on out. As the last cold front passed over us, and we actually felt cold for the first time since the NW, we decided we had waited out the storm and continued on. We made it through our first crazy storm! High-five!

The remaining ride into NOLA was through suburbs and less shoulder-heavy roads. As Steve got another flat just as we were entering the outskirts of NOLA, we stopped at a daiquiri drive-thru. We watched as many people drove up to this window, bought an alcoholic daiquiri, put it in their cup holder next to them in the driver’s seat, and drove off. We were flabbergasted. In NOLA, you can actually have an “open” container in your car, such as this daiquiri, as long as you keep the straw wrapping on the straw, showing that you aren’t drinking it as you are driving. These daiquiris must be really good if people buy them, put them in their car, don’t drink them, drive them all the way home, to enjoy them as they are walking from their garages into their houses. We wanted one!

PICTURES – Texas to Louisiana!

The last stretch of trail into NOLA was the best. A 22-mile trail ran on top of the levy separating the Mississippi from civilization. The levy is a big deal here in Louisiana. Lots of strange politics with it. There were many signs that said, “Federal property, do not pass this or you will be taken to jail immediately” and other places were you could walk on to the levy and on to the bank of the Mississippi. The levy is “owned” by the Army Corps of Engineers and is a very important piece to every walk of life in the Mississippi River Basin.

As we rode in to NOLA, we were welcomed with another interesting connection. Chases’ girlfriend’s sorority sister lived near downtown had offered us a place to crash for the evening. Allison took us around town to Ignatius (Alligator sausage, gumbo and jambalaya!), eat beignets at a local café and take in the sights, sounds and people of the French Quarter and Bourbon Street. Our tourist time was quick in New Orleans, but we were able to see a bit of it!

 We woke up early and headed off towards Mississippi!

Not too far into the ride, we really got our first great view of the Gulf Coast. It was actually a little too good, as the sand from the beaches alongside the coast overcame the road. This slowed down the ride tremendously.  Sand is difficult to ride in. Not much later, the rain came again. Up ahead we could see the cities of Biloxi and Pascaguola. We could also see a pretty enormous cumulonimbus cloud forming over the top of those cities. As we ate lunch, we watched the cities disappear from sight. Knowing that we were about to ride into another storm, we picked a campsite in Gautier for the night to try and set an attainable goal to match the weather conditions.

We finished the ride just in time as the heavy stuff really started to come down as the sun was setting. We packed into the support vehicle and headed to our campsite. It took some convincing of the park ranger (again the park closed, meaning gate locked, at 6 PM! That’s so early!) but eventually he let us camp at his park, Shepard State Park, for the night. One better, our campsite was fitted with a pavilion. Even though we set up our tents on the concrete, we were protected from the rain and could sleep cooler without our rain flies draped over our tents.

We woke up with our eyes set on a new goal: biking through three different states in one day! Starting in Mississippi, we were to ride through the border over to Alabama, cross horizontally through the entire state, and finish in Pensacola, Florida for the night. As we woke up, we got a pretty clear indication of how the day was going to be.

PICTURES – The ride along the Gulf Coast

After packing up our campsite and heading to the nearest gas station to fill up water, wrench on bikes and prepare for the day, it never stopped raining. There were periods of less rain, but then there were periods of “This is raining insanely hard and I don’t want to get out of this car.” We waited for the times when it was raining less hard to actually get started on our day. The whole day was unrelenting. Our perception of what rain was had changed.

• Not raining meant that you could still see while it was raining and could barely feel it.

• Manageable rain meant that you could put your head down, spit all of the water out as it dripped down your face, wear sunglasses as eye protection and pound through puddles of water.

• It’s raining meant that we weren’t biking. It was raining so hard that it stung as it hit through our clothes, the puddles had turned into small rivers, and we couldn’t see the our hands on the handlebars.

It never stopped, the entire day. There was a period where we stopped at a gas station before we headed over onto Highway 193 and towards the ferry across Mobile Bay. The kind lady at the gas station warned us of two spots on the upcoming road that were completely washed out. “Cars abandoned and under water and water moccasins swimming throughout” she said. We didn’t know what any of that looked like, even in our heads, and were pretty curious. We took her warnings with a grain of salt and were interested to see what all of this would look like. So we headed down 193 with our cleats disengaged ready to abandon our bicycles in the event of a flood and to kick away those dangerous water moccasins. 

None of us had ever seen a car under water before. We’d seen it on TV, but that doesn’t count. We have all grown up in the Midwest. It rains out there, but three of us now live in Denver, which is technically a desert. We don’t get rain like this. And if we did, people would welcome it. (Well not THIS much).

But as we rounded one bend of the road, we saw the first part of a washed out road. And sure enough, two cars were submerged right there at the fork in the road. Even stranger, there was a gentleman trying to push his car around in the flood and to safer and drier ground.

Adam got off his bike and tried to help him, but the man was chasing a pipe dream. The rain wasn’t stopping and wasn’t going to stop any time soon. The car would not be able to engage with any of the road that would touch and ultimately, we need a long tow out of the pool it was floating in. We were able to snag a couple quick pictures but there was way too much rain to take multiple pictures, which was quite unfortunate.

PICTURES – The ride along the Gulf Coast

To eventually make it over to Dauphin Island, “The Birdiest Island in America,” we had to go over a bridge. Seemed normal. Bridged the gap between America’s base land and Dauphin Island. OK, no big deal. Well, when we got to the top of this bridge, it felt as if we were going to be flung right off of it. Swirling winds that vigorous and unpredictable surrounded the three of us bikers. At any moment, the wind felt as if it had a mind of its own, and if it wanted to, it could use one swift gust and pick you and your bike up into the air and toss you into the gulf over a hundred feet below. What was crazy, was after we had crossed over the bridge, we all three had this same feeling of insecurity, independently, as we collected ourselves again on Dauphin Island. What a trip!

We took the 30 minute uncovered ferry (no relief from the rain!) across Mobile Bay and were ready for the second half of the ride into Pensacola. As we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for food, we learned that we were in a pretty crazy rainstorm and that was, if possible, even worse in Pensacola, which happened to be our final destination for the night. All campgrounds were already closed in Pensacola, so we would need to go to Plan B.

We reached out to people on Twitter asking if anyone knew of anyone in the Pensacola area that could allow the B4B team to crash on their floor for a night’s stay. Thankfully and graciously, we were offered a hotel night’s stay by one of the MLB Fan Cave dwellers, Lindsay Guentzel, a Twins fan. She paid for a hotel for us in Pensacola as we dried on the Gulf Shores and prepared for our last 50 miles towards a comfortable evening. Thanks Lindsay!

The ride rained all the way up until sunset. But the whole day, all 106 miles of it, was worth it because the sunset was gorgeous. And we had passed through two borders, Alabama AND Florida.

So were were taking in our first Florida sunset. These great storms bring great sunsets I tell you. We posted up in Pensacola for the night, excited to get out of the cold and into some drier clothes.

We thought that we had made it through the tough part. We were wrong. It still rained. And it rained all day again. What we had once welcomed, we now wished we could reject. But there was no reject, stop or turn off button. It was just to keep on through it. We did the whole day, once again, less many pictures due to the rain, and finished the day in Panama City. We spotted up for a hotel in Panama City as well, once again to go for a warm shower and drier clothes once again, hoping this was the last of our rainy rides.

The next day, we woke up to the sun! Da da duh dum! Sunny skies! We’re back!

We rode with speed and fluidity, without the rain, as we had flat roads, great shoulders, and a small tailwind. Our fastest 100 mile ride of the trip was great. The Apalachicola Forest and River Basin was very green. Surrounded and walled by trees on the entire ride, we had nothing else to focus on but the road. Our eyes continued to wander as we passed over small bridges, looking for alligators or other signs of wildlife. We still haven’t seen any! This actually turned out to be the rest of our ride all the way into Tampa. Walls of trees, flat, with great roads, no flats, and little traffic.

As we entered Florida, we ran into some of our best campsites we’d been graced with on the trip yet. Another unexpected surprise. Cheap ($20) with electrical hook-ups (so we could work) and plenty of space (we were the only ones there!). It was a perfect set-up for the B4B team.

We could really relax and enjoy our night’s stay at each campsite. We have a lot of camping left to do after Tampa, after Miami and before we hit Atlanta, so we are excited about the prospects of more great camping in Florida.

PICTURES – The ride along the Gulf Coast

We have upgraded to Continental GatorSkin tires, coincidentally, as we entered Gator territory in Florida. This has provided us with many less flat tires as we have many more miles left to on our journey this summer. Thanks to Andy and Andrew for their recommendation!

We were surprised by the amount of logging in the south. We knew about all of the logging in the NE and NW, but the south, we knew had many great trees, but the amount of pine trees was unexpected and the amount of logging as well. Their forests were well maintained. You could see the forests that were specifically used for logging purposes. Trees were placed perfectly in rows so that you could look down one row all the way to the end of time. And then there were still more trees.

We would like to make a very strong point. We heard that the South would be tough to ride through, that the people might not be all that friendly, and that we might not “make it” through. This is poppycock. The south, has been the friendliest! We’ve had perfect strangers welcome us into their homes, feed us hot meals, provide us with warm showers and beds and tell us of their cities. We’ve had more people ask about our trip and give us a high-five then we’ve had on all the other legs combined. Cars passing by provided thumbs up, smiles, waves, honks, and generous spacing as they saw our team pounding out the miles. The south is AWESOME! We love the people down here! We are really surprised why so many people “warned” us. The best roads, friendliest people and we even battled out our toughest weather elements. We’re excited we still have a lot of riding to go through in the south.

We stayed with one of Adam’s cousin’s family in north Tampa for Biking for Baseball’s time in the area. More posts to come on our game and event with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tampa! Thanks for reading!