Epilogue

One of the lessons I learned during my 42 day cross country ride is that the only way to fully explore this country – any country – is to experience it on a bicycle.

There is simply no other way to take in the terrain of the land, the smells, sounds and sights so absolutely complete than exploring it on a bike. It became clear to me that the direct exposure to many of the essential fabrics and observations that help to understand the make up of a country, are lost in a car on any other motorized vehicle – above all, the sounds and smells.

Snakes slithering away from you in the grass on the roadside, the different melodies of birds, the sounds of leaves and tree trunks in the wind, smells of different grasses and wildflowers – even the creaking sound of metal guardrails warming up on a sunny morning, were pieces of a puzzle, each of which providing me with essential input to complete the new picture of this beautiful country I was able to see at the end of the ride.

Sure, crossing the country on a bicycle can be hard at times, some rough roads can be a real pain in the butt (pun definitely intended), crossing mountain passes on a loaded touring bike can be very challenging, and some smells and sounds I came across on this journey have to be filed in the “unpleasant” category. Most cars just stink, and there is nothing more disturbing than the loud exhaust pipes of motorcycles disrupting the peace of a beautiful and serene countryside – I also learned to identify the species of road kill by the smell it emanates – most interestingly the coffee smell of dead vultures, which actually was quite pleasant.

Here is what also became clear to me – crossing the country in a car usually limits the experience to the sights immediately surrounding the Interstate. When stopping at a gas station most people use a credit card on the pump to pay for gas, which prevents direct interaction with the folks running the place. I learned that gas stations, especially those on back roads are often meeting points and hangouts for locals, and most of my interactions with people happened during my “refueling” stops at these gas stations. Conversations usually started the moment I walked in with my helmet and cycling clothes, or dismounting my loaded bike in front of the building – most people were curious and asked questions. Not only were my answers frequently a reason to draw more people into the conversation, they also lead to other topics that provided me with a lot of insight to understand the make up of the local communities. A positive side effect of these interactions was the opportunity to educate people about the nature and symptoms of lymphedema and its treatment, which helped to make this mission of the ride really easy to accomplish.

I can’t say enough about how refreshing it was to experience that almost all people I met were genuinely friendly and helpful. In this time and age we are exposed to many things that make us believe that the goodness in people is getting lost, and I feel very fortunate that I was able to confidently push my personal restart button on this issue. There are still many good people out there who offer help without being asked, especially when they are approached with a friendly smile, which always goes a long way and makes live so much easier.

A few of the countless individuals that attest to this experience were Angela, the owner of the Barbershop Hotel in Hillsboro (Day 12), who made me one of the most delicious sandwiches I ever ate driving miles to and from her home to bring it to me, Dalip, the owner of the hotel in Sanderson (Day 19), whose mother prepared a delicious, but spicy Indian sandwich for me, and who left me numerous concerned messages to see if I made it safely to my next destination in Del Rio, the little lady who owns the Copper Mountain Hotel in Superior (Day 7) who, long time after I left, drove her car all the way up the mountain passes, just to check if I was safe……the list could go on, but I think these examples perfectly convey the lesson I learned.

Sure, there were a few grumpy people I met along the way, and there will always be some bozos behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle who seem to enjoy demonstrating their superiority over a bicycle. The key to handle these exceptions, as with all unpleasant and negative life experiences, is to not allow these few negative impressions to stick and cast a shadow over the countless great events I was fortunate to experience during this ride.

Now that I completed the ride, I can admit to the fact that there were times I seriously contemplated quitting. The relentless headwinds on days 10 and 11 and the hot day in El Paso when my chain broke are two of these examples.

However, being a realist I expected moments like this even before I started, and decided that I would deal with these situations when they arise – one way or another.

The realization that it can be difficult to stay motivated every day, and that there would be always a better day tomorrow, helped me overcome these moments.

But what really kept me going were all the people following me along from a distance during this ride – above all my wife and number one fan Susanne. We know each other for a very long time and it is not new to her that I tend to follow through with some of my crazy ideas, and it always surprises me that she lets me do whatever I want, as long as it is not too crazy.

Without her support, I wouldn’t have been able to do this ride. It was difficult to be away from the family for such a long time, but thanks to Skype, definitely the best that happened to humankind since the invention of the bicycle, we were able to chat and see each other almost on a daily basis, which helped to stay in the loop of things at home.

My friend Sara Clarke set up the fan page on Facebook, which allowed hundreds of friends, as well as people I have never met, to follow and encourage me. I am an author for LIVESTRONG Health, the online portion of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and many members of the LIVESTRONG community followed my progress as well. Knowing that I was able to share so many of my experiences with all these individuals who were with me on a daily basis, provided me with a lot of motivation that made it easy to overcome these few low points in my journey.

I received the biggest reward when I arrived on my final destination, Wabasso Beach. To see so many friends waiting and cheering for me was much more than I expected, and I will be forever grateful to all of the people who welcomed me home that day, and those who threw a big welcome party at my local drop zone, especially my friend Rebecca, who made the most amazing “Cross Country Bicycle” cake I have ever seen.

I couldn’t have wished for a better conclusion to my cross country ride – Thank you all very, very much!

　

　

Day 42 – 78 miles (total 3262)

Titusville, FL to Wabasso Beach, FL

I was so ready for the final stretch home, and my arrival in Wabasso Beach on a beautiful and sunny Florida afternoon provided the perfect conclusion for this journey across the United States. Family and many friends were awaiting me – and it was great to have Susanne and my friends Uwe and Renee riding the final 25 miles from Melbourne Beach down to Wabasso with me.
When I left Titusville the weather was perfect, and I was even rewarded with some tailwind on my ride to Cocoa Beach, the first town I passed through. Cocoa is a typical Florida beach town, which attracts a large number of tourists throughout the year.
It was established in 1925, however, the origin of the city’s name is uncertain. Some accounts credited Captain May with recommending the name at a town meeting in 1884 for its association with the Cocoa Tree. Another story suggests that along the bank of the Indian River lived an old woman who supplied sailors with hot cocoa as they traveled down the Indian River, and as they passed they would call out “cocoa, cocoa” until the woman supplied them with refreshment.
I left Cocoa to continue riding down along the Atlantic shoreline to Melbourne Beach. The sights were awesome and so fitting for my last day on the road, that I took it really easy today, stopping many times along the way to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
Of course there is always something that has the potential of making an otherwise flawless day less perfect. Today, this something were love bugs. During spring and summer love bug flights can number in the hundreds of thousands, and the slow, drifting movement of these bugs is almost reminiscent of black snowfall. The lovebugs’ reputation as a nuisance is not because of bites or stings, but caused by its acidic body chemistry. Enormous numbers of these bugs end up on cars’ windshields, radiator grills and hoods, and if left more than a day or so, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove. I rode through thick clouds of lovebugs today, and I can certainly attest to the acidity of these bugs, they taste extremely bitter and acidic. If they don’t end up in the mouth, they find their way into nostrils and ear canals….. I don’t think I have to explain further why these bugs put a damper on today’s ride.
When I arrived in Melbourne, Susanne, my friend Uwe and his girlfriend Renee were already waiting for me on their bikes to keep me company for the last stretch to Wabasso. I enjoyed their company, and seeing family and friends greeting us along the road with “Welcome Home” signs made this one of the most memorable experiences of my life. More friends on bikes and cars joined our ride back to the finish line in the Sebastian Inlet area – it was a great experience.
Our arrival in Wabasso was awesome, family and friends greeted me with cheers, balloons, more signs, and champagne, and I felt like a rock star when I passed through the finish line ribbon.
Words can not express the happiness I felt seeing so many people waiting for me – this beautiful welcome provided me and my journey with the perfect and most memorable completion – the local gym even posted “Welcome Home Joe, Congratulations” on its outside business sign.
Thank you all for coming out to greet me, you made my journey complete!

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog

Day 41 – 73 miles (total 3184)

Flagler Beach, FL to Titusville, FL

Today I finally had a chance to sport my rain jacket – and boy did I need it! The forecast called for a fifty-fifty percent chance of rain. However, when I left Flagler Beach to very cloudy skies at 8am this morning I already heard the thunder rumbling down south. It took only 30 minutes until the rain came in – and from then on it rained pretty much all day, sometimes so hard that I had no choice but to pull over and wait for the worst to pass. But I really can’t complain, this was the first all day rain day I had since my start in San Diego 41 days ago. It was coming down in buckets and after a while even my fancy rain jacket could not keep the water out anymore – it was coming in everywhere and by the time I reached Daytona Beach I was soaked. Honestly, I started to enjoy it – after all, this is Florida in mid-May and the rain is warm, so there was no issue with hypothermia and my bike needed a good cleaning anyway.
Like with everything else in life – it is only as bad as you allow it to be – I saw it as another challenge and propped up my spirits by thinking of songs appropriate for the occasion, like Billy Ocean’s “When the going gets tough, the tough get going….”, Prince’s “Purple Rain”, and the “Rain Song” by Led Zeppelin – “upon us all a little rain must fall….”
The only downside to the weather was the fact that I couldn’t take any pictures of the nice scenery along US A1A, which runs along the Atlantic coastline and brought me through the towns of Ormond-by-the-Sea, Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach.
This was my first time in downtown Daytona, and I was surprised how pretty the town actually is – lots of historic buildings, nice stores and very clean. Daytona, named for its founder Matthias Day, is best known as a mecca for motor sports – NASCAR has its headquarters in the city, and the world famous Bike Week is held here annually – well, today was my day to ride my hog through the city…..
The beach sand here is so hard packed that the Daytona Beach Road Course was held on the city’s beaches for over 50 years – in 1959 the beach races were relocated to the newly built Daytona Beach International Speedway, located outside the city. In some designated areas the city still allows motorized traffic on it’s beaches.
Daytona received it’s nickname “The World’s Most Famous Beach” after the merger of the separate towns of Daytona, Daytona Beach and Seabreeze back in 1926. I have to make sure to come back and visit this town on a dry day.
The wet ride continued to Port Orange, where I crossed over to Highway US 1 and New Smyrna Beach, or NSB as the locals call it, to Edgewater, Oakhill, and Mims and ended in Titusville, where I will spend my last night away from home.
Titusville’s name was originally Sand Point until Colonel Henry Titus arrived in the city in 1867. His wife owned large parcels of land in the area, and Titus intended to build a town on this land to have it eventually designated as the county seat. He laid out roads and donated land for civic use, four churches and a courthouse and attracted business people and farmers to the area. His plan succeeded and Titusville became the seat of Brevard County in 1880.
The areas population and tourism grew considerably with the growth of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in the late 1950’s. Tourism remains the main economy in the area; the beaches are beautiful and the association with the space program led to the city’ nickname “Space City“ in the 1960‘s.
I was completely soaked by the time I arrived in Titusville and looked like I just swam through the Indian River. The receptionist in the hotel looked at me somewhat skeptical when I marched into the lobby with squeaking shoes and water dripping from me, forming small puddles everywhere I stopped for a moment.
It was obvious that he tried to feel me out a little, so he asked what had brought me to the area. I replied that I was a day away from returning home after my bicycle from San Diego back to Sebastian. He looked at me and asked “bicycle?” After assuring him that he heard right, he asked me the obvious questions, like why, how long, was it hard, etc. He was so impressed that he called the rest of the staff from a room behind the reception, and after he told them about the trip, they all gave me a standing ovation and followed me outside to take a look at the bike.
This was a great feeling, and somehow these people made me realize for the first time really that I am just about to complete something very special.

Tomorrow is the big day – I can’t wait to get home…….

 

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

 Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog

Day 40 – 95 miles (total 3111)

Gainesville, FL to Flagler Beach, FL

Mission accomplished – well, almost! Today I reached my goal of riding from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean – it took a little over 3000 miles, 35 riding days and five rest days, and was one of the greatest experiences in my life.
I still have about 160 miles to ride home, and I had to muster some willpower to resist the urge to dip the rear wheel of my bike into the Atlantic – a tradition in cross country cycling. I will wait to share this moment with family and friends on Wabasso Beach, one of our local beaches at home, on Tuesday.
Today was hard, and I wasn’t sure if I would make it to Flagler Beach . Even though I left Gainesville early this morning, the 95 mile ride took me about 10 hours The wind in the afternoon was blowing hard and relentless from the southeast again, which surprised me because the forecast only called for relatively light wind speeds today. Apparently there is a weather front coming from the south, which may have been responsible for the high winds this afternoon.
The city was deserted when I left Gainesville on this Sunday morning, and I enjoyed the empty streets on my ride out on US 26 towards Newnan’s Lake, located between Gainesville and the city of Orange Heights, about 15 miles east. This protected lake was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places when a drought in the summer of 2000 revealed Indian canoe remnants dating from between 2300 and 5000 B.C.
On my way further east, the terrain gradually flattened out and pine forests gave way to open farmland.
There were a number of towns I passed through on my way to the Atlantic Coast – Melrose, Putnam Hall, Grandin, Baywood, Carraway and Palatka. When I arrived in Palatka, about 60 miles into the ride, the wind picked up considerably and I considered spending the night here. But since this would add about 30 miles to my ride tomorrow, I decided to continue riding and crossed the St. Johns River on Highway 100 for the final stretch toward the Atlantic.
The river probably was the reason why the Seminole Indians called the area “Pilo-taikita“, which means “crossing over”. The second Seminole war originated here when the arrival of American settlers created confrontations with the resident Seminole tribe. The government attempted to relocate the tribe to west of the Mississippi in 1833, resulting in the outbreak of the war during which the Seminole attacked and burned Pilatka, as it was then called, in 1835. St. Johns River was the main artery into central Florida, and in order to protect this strategic location, the US Army established Fort Shannon in 1838. During 1842 the Seminole were driven from the area, and consequently Fort Shannon was abandoned in 1843. Settlers made use of the military buildings to develop the town, which quickly gained a reputation as a haven for northerners escaping cold winters. Today, Palatka is home to the St. Johns River Community College, a number of historic buildings, to include the Putnam County Court House and “Angels Diner”, apparently Florida’s oldest diner.
The decision to continue my ride was made easier by the number 100 of the highway I was using to reach the ocean – I thought it was fitting to complete my cross country ride, so I battled the winds and after passing through the towns of Andalusia, Espanola and Bunnell, I reached the small village of Flagler Beach and was rewarded by the beautiful sight of the Atlantic Ocean!

After a refreshing dip in the ocean I went to the local Italian restaurant to celebrate this day with some good food and a couple cold ones.

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog

Day 39 – 98 miles (total 3016)

Madison, FL to Gainesville, FL

There is nothing better than to leave early in the morning for a bike ride on a beautiful day! The sun was just rising, the light was awesome, and fog was hanging over the fields outside Madison when I left the town for my trip to Gainesville this morning around 7am.
Florida is amazing up here and very different from where I live, just 300 miles further southeast. It is hilly, there are abundant wildflowers on the fields, and the grass is so green that I was not surprised to see so many dairy farms up here with the cows roaming freely on the meadows along the roads – the milk must taste great!
I used US 53 to cycle south through the small town of Day – and what a beautiful day it was to ride through Day! The number of goats I saw on the fields in and around Day certainly outnumbered the people living in this town, and after passing through, I switched to US 27, which brought me to Mayo. This small town has a population of less than one thousand people, but a number of historic buildings and structures, such as the impressive Lafayette County Court House and the Seven Gables Building.
About 15 miles further east came Branford, where I crossed the Suwannee River, one of Florida’s major rivers. It is about 300 miles long, emerging in Georgia and the only whitewater river in Florida. There were quite a few people in kayaks, canoes and tubes floating on this beautiful river this Saturday morning. The whitewater rapids are generated by the drop in elevation of the Suwannee through the limestone layers in this area on it’s way to the Gulf of Mexico.
The ride went on along awesome natural scenery through the towns of Hildreth and Fort White, so named for a military fort that was built there in the 1830’s to protect the local settlements during the Seminole War.
After High Springs, about 10 miles further east, I crossed I 75 and arrived in Gainesville about nine hours after my start this morning.
Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, is a nice and hilly town. It was founded in 1853 on the location where the proposed Florida railroad was expected to pass the area, and was named for General Edmund Gaines, who was the commander of the U.S. Army in Florida early during the Seminole War. The railroad provided access to ports located on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and Gainesville prospered into Florida’s citrus growing center, exporting it crops over the entire country. The great freezes of 1894–95 and 1899 destroyed the entire crops, which ended the towns prosperity and prompted citrus growers to move permanently further south.
Gainesville’s economic downturn ended when the city was chosen by the Florida legislature as the site for the University of Florida in 1905. I will spend the night here and ride through the city tomorrow morning. It will be Sunday and traffic should not be a problem.
Today definitely counts for one of the nicest riding days on this trip. Everything was just perfect, the weather, as well as the towns I passed through and general scenery – the wind blew only mild from the southeast today.

If all goes well, I will reach my goal of riding from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow – I plan to arrive on the East Coast of Florida in the Flagler Beach area. Oh, I also broke 3000 miles today…….

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog

Day 38 – 78 miles (total 2908)

Tallahassee, FL to Madison, FL

The ride through Tallahassee was much less of an issue than expected and I was surprised how hilly the city was. The traffic was fairly light, and US 90 brought me straight through Tallahassee, passing Florida State University on the way; the downside of using US 90 was that I did not see much of the downtown area.
The state’s capital has a long history – Native Americans lived in the hills of Tallahassee as long ago as 10,000 B.C, where they constructed temple mounds on the shores of what is now Lake Jackson. Remains of the community of the Apalachee Indians, who lived here from about 500 B.C. through the 1600s, are displayed in the city’s Museum of Florida History.
The reason why Tallahassee became the capital of Florida resulted basically out of convenience. It was impractical for the territorial government to meet alternately in St. Augustine and Pensacola, the two largest cities in the territory at the time. Tallahassee is located roughly midway between the two cities and was therefore selected as a suitable place for the government.
Leaving Tallahassee, I originally planned to use the more rural county roads southeast of the city on my way to Monticello, but decided to stay on US 90 for a more direct connection with less miles. Monticello is located about 20 miles east of Tallahassee and has a very nice downtown area with a historic 19^th century opera house, which still features regular musical performances.
East of Monticello the terrain flattened out somewhat, but was still fairly hilly with large pine tree forests along both sides of the road. The scene did not change on my way to Greenville, after which I passed the Hixtown Swamp on my way to Madison. In the center of Madison is the Wardlaw-Smith-Goza House, a stately mansion that dates from 1860 and served as a Confederate hospital during the War between the States.

Today was very uneventful, with almost no changes in scenery – pretty much the only excitement was a bee getting stuck in the vents of my helmet, and then finding its way to my scalp where it left its stinger. Fortunately I am not allergic to bee stings, but the lump on my scalp was quite painful for a while and prevented me from wearing my helmet for the remainder of today’s ride.

 

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog　

　

 

　

　

 

Day 37 – 96 miles (total 2830)

 

Bonifay, FL to Tallahassee, FL

I am definitely getting closer to home, today I crossed the line from Central to Eastern Time in Chattahoochee, Florida – but there is always a downside, I lot an hour and the day was markedly shorter.
Florida is really nice up here, it is very rural, hilly and green, with lots of rivers, creeks and fresh-water lakes, which made for a really nice day of cruising through the countryside.
When I left Bonifay this morning it was foggy and humid, with temperatures in the mid 70’s – it warmed up to the lower 90’s during the day. It went along US 90 to Chipley, Cottondale and Marianna, where I left the highway to use the really nice and quite Country Road 164 to reach the Florida Caverns State Park, home to the only air-filled caves in Florida. Unfortunately, the park was closed when I passed through – I love caves, as long as they are not filled with water, and I planned a stop to visit them.
Caves always bring back an unpleasant memory in me – a coupe years back I visited the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico with Susanne, and I had the idea to go for some cave diving. It turned out that this was a real bad idea, and I can honestly say that I never was that scared in my life before – it was absolute horror. Susanne and I got the red carpet treatment from the local guide, since we were the only visitors – he took us to a remote cave, where we were outfitted with goggles snorkels and fins, in addition, I had an oxygen tank strapped on my back for emergency back-up. About 10 feet into the dive, the cave went pitch black, and the only source for light were our flashlights. The guide was leading, Susanne was in the middle, and I was last. The water was about 60” deep, and there were about six to ten inches of airspace between the water level and the roof of the cave, which inevitably caused me sucking some water through the snorkel at times.. This, combined with the darkness and the confined space in the cave creeped me out. I am a big guy, about 5’11”, 220 pounds, and many times the oxygen tank on my back caused me to get stuck between the stalagmites, stalactites and the roof of the cave. After about 30 minutes we reached a little opening in the cave, just big enough for the three of us to sit and get some air. It was apparent that our guide was totally into caves, and he asked us to switch off the flashlights to experience the complete darkness. Well, all I can say that the darkness was really complete, but inside of me, all alarm lights were lit up and my system was going completely nuts – I was always claustrophobic, and the combination of the cool water, confined space and darkness absolutely freaked me out. The problem was I couldn’t say anything, after all, my wife seemed to be fine, and I did not want to look like a scared fool. My logic also told me to stay calm, I knew that if I would allow the panic inside me to take control, it would make things worse. I can tell you, I was convinced that I would not make it out of this cave alive, and probably for the first time in my life I was absolutely horrified. The guide kept on musing about the beauty of caves forever and did not stop talking about the fact how much he loves them – all I could think of was to get the hell out of there. Finally we started to make our way out, and it seemed to take forever to get back to the entrance. When I saw daylight again, I knew that it was absolutely impossible that there would be any other human being on this planet happier than I was right at this moment. I was so glad to be out of this water-filled hole of horror.
Later on I told Susanne about the feelings I had in the cave, and to my surprise she told me that I seemed to be completely fine…… All I know is that I will never again enter a water-filled cave in my life – for sure.
I left the area and in Grand Ridge joined US 90 again to ride through Sneads to reach Chattahoochee, where the time changed. Just outside this town is the Seminole Lake, a fresh water reservoir on the border between Georgia and Florida. The reservoir is created by the Woodruff Dam, which catches the waters coming from the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. The lake is big and beautiful with a shoreline of almost 400 miles; it is surrounded by natural forest land. I saw a big gator right on the dam wall, actually it looked like a crocodile, but after researching online, I learned that Florida crocodiles are not found in this part of Florida, so it had to be an alligator.
The name Chattahoochee is an Indian term for “painted rock”, likely referring to the colorful rocks in the Apalachicola River, which leaves the Seminole Lake through the dam.
I spent about 30 minutes on the lake and went on riding on Country Road 268 to Gretna, Quincy and Midway to the outskirts of Tallahassee, where my ride ended today.
Tallahassee actually means “Old Fields” – the Creek Indians, who moved from today’s Georgia and Alabama to this area called it that because large portions of the land were cleared by the Apalachee Indians, who occupied this land previously.

It was late afternoon when I arrived at the western outskirts of Tallahassee, and I was too tired to deal with urban traffic. So I decided to stay right here, about five miles outside Florida’s capital and wait until tomorrow morning to ride through the city on my way back to the East Coast of Florida.

Did I mention that the wind was coming from the east again?

Spot the gator!

 

Maybe here…..?

 

　

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

 Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog　

　

 

Day 36 – 98 miles (total 2734)

Minton, FL to Bonifay, FL

My kite was flying pretty high today, in other words, today’s ride was not exactly a “breeze” – are you catching my drift? Well, once again it was windy with the air blowing from the southeast – I had a quartering headwind, what else is new?
The wind Gods are definitely not behind my back on this ride. The relationship between with the wind and riding a bicycle is that in order to make some headway, one needs to overcome the force of the wind first, which significantly increases pedaling effort and performance.
Based on its direction, wind speed can be added or subtracted – this is how it works: Say that in each of the following cases I am riding my bike at 20mph. If the wind is not blowing at all, I would feel a 20mph headwind. However, if a 20mph wind is blowing directly against me, I would feel a 40mph headwind, and if there would be a 20mph wind blowing directly from behind, I would feel no wind at all – at least theoretically. Crosswinds can either work against me or push me along, depending on how their direction is aligned with my direction of travel – for example, a 20mph wind coming directly from the side will not slow me down at all. Now, in the example of today’s ride, I was traveling east and had a southeast wind of let’s say 20mph. Theoretically I should have only had a 10mph headwind, but unfortunately, this is not how it works in reality – it’s a vector that can be calculated, and in the example of today I would have had about a 14mph increase to my headwind and a 14mph crosswind force – unfair, isn’t it?
Well, the bottom line is that if the wind is coming from any direction ahead of me, it makes my riding day harder – so what’s my secret to dealing with a headwind? There’s only one – a good attitude, and the realization that there is nothing that can be done about it until the road turns. To make a headwind day easier for me, I actually welcome it as an aid to make me a stronger rider. Problem is, this works only so long, and only if the headwind is not too strong. When the winds blow like on day 10 (Safford, AZ to Lordsburg, NM), the ride becomes depressing, even a good attitude.
Okay, enough of that – despite the wind, it was once again a beautiful day. The temperature was in the low 90’s, but heat never really bothers me on the bike, as long as I have enough fluids with me.
I started out in Milton and took the beautiful 10-mile Blackwater Trail, which is blocked for motorized vehicles, to access some really nice backcountry roads for my ride to Holt, where I joined US 90 for the remainder of the day. I was surprised how hilly this part of Florida is – I am not talking about small hills, some of those I encountered today were pretty serious with downhill speeds exceeding 30mph. Nothing compared to the mountains I passed back West, but for Florida, I thought that these hills were pretty significant. The road brought me through forest land to the towns of Milligan, Crestview, Mossy Head and DeFuniak Springs to Bonifay, where I checked into a really nice little hotel. I love these little no-name places, they can be very surprising in either way – this one is a winner. It is owned and operated by an Indian family, who keep this place really nice and very clean. Unfortunately, there is no guest laundry – I try to wash my riding clothes at the end of each day. Patel, the owner offered to wash them for me in his own machine and delivered them clean to my room about an hour later – no charge. Another one for my favorite part of the ride – the genuine goodness of people.
Along the way I crossed a lot of small creeks and some really nice rivers, the Blackwater and Shoal Rivers. What surprised me was the size of Eglin Air Force Base, which serves as the central point for all Air Force armaments. Eglin is responsible for the acquisition and testing of the world’s most powerful and sophisticated air-delivered weapon systems. The base extended itself over the almost 100 miles today to the south of my route, pretty much between US 90 and the Gulf of Mexico – it’s huge.

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author: Lymphedema Blog

Day 35 – 105 miles (total 2636)

Bayou La Batre, AL to Minton, FL

What an exciting day this was….I am back in Florida! When I saw the “Welcome to Florida” sign between Orange Beach, AL and Pleasant Cove, FL, I broke out into a spontaneous “Hallelujah”!
It’s great to be back, and what is even better is that I reached my goal of traveling four states in two days on my bike – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. After taking a picture of me with my bike and the sign in the background, I continued my ride with a loud recital of Haendel’s “Hallelujah” for the next fife miles or so.
Well, I am still in a different time zone, the northwestern part of Florida is on Central Time, and I am still about 600 miles from home, but at least I made it to Florida – I’m happy.
So this is how today’s ride went: I left Bayou La Batre at around eight in the morning, to give myself enough time to make the 9:30am ferry from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan, which was about 20 miles to the southeast. Well, guess what, the wind was blowing hard already at that time, and yes, it was bowing from the southeast. In addition, there were some pretty tall bridges over parts of the Bay to cross, and the complete exposure to the wind made it pretty tough to get on top of them.
At the end I made the ferry with five minutes to spare, but it wasn’t easy. Once I realized that it was getting close, I pedaled so hard that I pulled a muscle on my upper front thigh. Thankfully it was not too bad and I was able to “pedal it off” during the remainder of the ride. I really wanted to make the 9:30 ferry to cross Mobile Bay, the next one would come one and a half hours later, and I did not feel hanging around for such a long time.
So I took the 45-minute ferry ride over the Bay – it was interesting to see the many oil platforms in this part of the Gulf. What made the whole experience somewhat surreal was the fact that there were a large number of boats in the water placing floating barriers to curtail the oil coming from the platform that exploded out in the Gulf just two weeks earlier. I was talking to the guys on the ferry, and they told me that the oil is expected to reach the coast within a few days, depending on wind direction. There was even a truck on the ferry with a hanger load of these barriers, which apparently are in very short supply.
It would be a shame if the waters and the wildlife of Mobile Bay, an inlet in the Gulf of Mexico, would be contaminated by this oil spill.
Historically, the Spanish gave the bay its name. Early explorers from Spain were sailing into the area of Mobile Bay as early as 1500 and originally called the bay “Bahía del Espíritu Santo” (Bay of the Holy Spirit). One of them, Hernando de Soto, explored the area of today’s Mobile Bay in 1540, finding the area inhabited by Muskhogean Indians. De Soto and his cohorts destroyed a settlement called Mauvila, from which the name Mobile was derived.
The French later created a deep-sea port at Dauphin Island, where my ferry across the Bay left, and founded French Louisiana’s capital at Mobile, a few miles north of Mobile Bay in 1702.
When I reached the other side of Mobile Bay at Fort Morgan, I visited the historic fort located there. It was built by Americans after the departure of the Spanish from Mobile in 1813 and withstood a naval and land attack by the British in 1814. It was then known as the “First Battle Fort Bowyer”, named after Col. John Bowyer, who completed the construction of this impressive landmark.
After taking a few pictures I continued my ride along the beautiful Intercoastal Waterway into Gulf Shores, AL, where an especially vicious little dog had some fun attacking me. There is hardly a day without some dog trouble, but this one was memorable. You see, in the world of dogs, bicycle chasing is an art form, which obviously is practiced with a great deal of joy by the vast majority of all members in this species. There are some dogs who are really good at it, like the one today, and there are some that will never learn how to do it properly – the more simple-minded ones. The smart ones don’t give themselves away too soon, they come from behind and start barking only when they are almost on top of you – needless to say, that really scares the living daylight out of you, because you are completely unprepared. The bad ones bark as soon as they see you, which makes it easy for the chasee, in this case me, to wait for the right moment to either yell at them really loud, or give them a good kick. As I said, the gangster today belonged to the smart group, he really got me almost falling off my ride, jumping up my leg and scratching me with one of his claws. That was it for me! There was blood coming from my leg – I stopped the bike, got off it and chased after the little bugger, determined to teach him a lesson. Needless to say, my efforts were fruitless, but at least I got the satisfaction of seeing the tail between his legs and the look of terror in his face while he was looking back at me, running like a rabbit.
Following this little interruption I walked back to my bike, which has fallen on the ground, and collected all the items that fell out of my handlebar bag, cleaned the scratch and continued my ride.
US 180 brought me into Golf Shores and Orange Beach, AL, after which I reached the Florida state line. The area here is very populated – it is a nice place to live The beaches here are whiter than white, it was really pretty to ride along them for a good part of the day. After weeks of riding rural roads, it felt good to be back in a more populated region, with grocery stores on every corner. Great, because you only need to carry minimal extra water.
About 20 miles after crossing the state line I reached Pensacola, the westernmost city in Florida’s Panhandle. I’ve never been here before and was surprised how nice the city really is. Pensacola’s nickname is “The City of Five Flags” due to the five governments – Spain, France, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States – that have flown flags over it during its history. Other nicknames for this city are “City with the World’s Whitest Beaches”, “Redneck Riviera” (my personal favorite), and “Red Snapper Capital of the World.”
It was easy to navigate through this town, and since it was only mid-afternoon, and I felt good, I decided to continue further east to the city of Pace, where I planned to stay. However, the two hotels that used to be here did not exist anymore, so I rode an additional 10 miles into Minton, where I am now.

All in all, this day was really great – it’s good to (almost) be back home……

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author:
Lymphedema Blog
Lymphedema Today

　

　

 

 

Day 34 – 141 miles (total 2531)

Bogalusa, LA to Bayou La Batre, AL

I knew that I wanted to reach at least the 125-mile distant Alabama state line today, so I was off to an early start this morning, prepared to pitch my tent somewhere if I wouldn’t be able to reach Bayou La Batre – hotels are very scarce in this part of the ride. Just outside Bogalusa, Louisiana ended and after crossing the Pearl River I was in Mississippi. I used US 26, which did not have a shoulder and heavy traffic, for the 18 miles to Poplarville from where a number of very rural back roads brought me through hilly and green farmland through the towns of Perkinston, Larue, and Vancleave.
Just outside Vancleave I crossed the Pascagoula River, which interestingly is the only river in the United States so far unimpeded by any dams or other modifications on it‘s 80 mile run to the Gulf of Mexico.
The river is also known as the “Singing River” because of the mysterious music coming from it, resembling a swarm of bees in flight. Although I tried really hard, I couldn’t hear any sound other than the one coming from the flowing water. Maybe it wasn’t late enough – it is said that the sound is heard better during the early evening hours. That was too bad, because I was very intrigued by the legend, which gave the Pascagoula its nickname.
The story goes that the peaceful Pascagoula Indian tribe, who lived along the river, were at odds with the Biloxi tribe, who considered themselves superior to the Pascagoula. A princess of the Biloxi tribe, who was promised already to a member of her own people, fell in love with Altama, the chief of the Pascagoula people. However, she fled to Altama and his tribe, which started a war between the Biloxi and Pascagoula tribes. The outnumbered Pascagoula faced either enslavement by the Biloxi or death. Rather than being enslaved, the Pascagoula decided to die, and with joined hands they began to chant a song of death as they walked into the river.
A number of scientific reasons have been offered in the past to explain the phenomenon of the sound that is heard today along the river – all of them unproven, and it is believed that the sound reflects the death song of the Pascagoula people……. love this story!

By now it was almost five o’clock in the afternoon and I still had about 20 miles to go until reaching Alabama, so I decided to leave this beautiful river.
When I reached the Alabama state line, I still felt strong enough to go for Bayou La Batre, about another 20 miles further southeast. The temperature was very comfortable today, lower 80’s, and although the southeasterly wind was present, it never became a factor since almost the entire ride brought me through wooded areas.
I reached Bayou La Batre, a fishing town with a large number of fishing and shrimp boast in its harbor, about two hours later and checked into the local hotel. The town is described as the “Seafood Capital of Alabama”; it was also featured in the movie Forrest Gump, and it was great to stay the night here, since quite a few people I met on my journey actually referred to me as the Forrest Gump on wheels.
The Black Pearl, the pirate ship featured in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” was also launched out of Bayou La Batre harbor.
The not so nice part of the history of this town is that hurricane Katrina devastated the entire area in August of 2005; it produced the largest storm surge ever recorded in the area, reaching nearly 16 feet. Many shrimp boats and larger ships were pushed onto shore and a large number of buildings were devastated. However, none of these damages can be seen today, the people living in this town did a great job of rebuilding.

Today has been a long, but great day of riding a bike, and I feel great having been able to cross the entire state of Mississippi in one day!
If all goes well, I will be taking the ferry tomorrow morning to cross Mobile Bay, from where it will be only about 40 miles to Florida! That would make four states in two days……

These and many more pictures and updates are available on the Facebook Page Joe’s Cross Country Bike Ride. Check it out and become a fan.

Other blogs from this author:
Lymphedema Blog, Lymphedema Today