Bike Touring This and That

As we near the final leg (ha,ha no pun intended) of this awesome journey, we keep trying to adjust gear, clothes and our selves to adapt to this ride. A few days ago my right Achilles started acting up, and Josh had some discomfort in one of his arches so we re-positioned the cleats on our sandal/riding shoes and so far this has worked. We've also tried many different combos of shorts, and it seems like the best combo is one that changes on a regular basis! We've done other tweaks to h-bars, etc. but not too much as we've had many days to dial most of our "systems" on. Anyway, great day that started with rising around Pensocala Bay, then up through pine forests and now we are in Crestview, FA.

More Pics

Random pictures...my apologies...

Hello Florida And The Gulf!

Crazy how quickly the countryside changed from rural Mississippi to Alabama and now to white sands and tourists! Like us! We rode across a massive bridge, took a ferry and rode along the Gulf Coast for 25 miles along high rise condos, public beaches and even Jimmy Buffet's old hang-out! Wow, great riding along the coast with a nice shoulder and bike lane the whole way! Watched for sea turtles and manatees but no luck. Josh scored with some new clothes though! Onward tomorrow through Pensicola and beyond.

Alabama Getaway

We crossed into Alabama today, tough going with 15-20 mph headwinds but we got a jump on the day and made it it not only past our 2500 mile mark but to the Gulf Coast too!
Also, we saw a small alligator too, it was my first one, if you look close you can see it in one of the pictures. I could go on about turtles too but I won't.
Still tough to ride hard all day in the heat and humidity. We find that laundry and a hotel room once in a while is sure nice.

Poplarville, Mississippi

We have enjoyed the last two days of riding through mostly tree farms and some light ranching and farming. We have been trying hard to understand the locals with their heavy accents, ours must be pretty wired to them too!
Some harrowing road surface/no shoulders/logging truck action makes me feel sometimes like I'm one of those free, without-a-rope climbers 1000 feet off the deck in Yosemite, one slight wrong adjustment of your balance and SEE YA! The roads generally have zero shoulders down here, heck you could fit 3 of these road widths in the same width as 400 west in Logan for sure! I guess that's why it's so nice riding a bike around Logan, there is SO MUCH ROOM!
Anyway, we are making good time, the weather has been very nice and we are looking forward!

Some Odds and Ends

Well, the green plastic spider I found on the side of the road and put on the front of my bike (back in Arizona I think) is still hanging in there, ha, ha, but I thought it could use some company. Today I kept seeing Mardi Gras beads on the side of the road, so I finally stopped and picked some up to give "Boris" some company.
Also, we have used "tell tales" on our panniers to determine wind speed and direction.
Finally, for the gear heads out there, we switched bags back on Austin, TX, and are now using sleeping bags rated to +60 degrees! They are more like liners than bags.
We are in New Roads, LA, right next to The Lost River, which is a very sizable abandon oxbow of the Mississippi river.

History Lessons Everywhere

From war history to settlement history we are seeing great historical markers and memorials...