Day 4: Gainesville, AL to Columbus, MS 68 miles; total miles 238 Saturday, April 23, 2016

We had a fabulous stay with Dale and Amanda Chambliss in Gainesville. Both are artists that escaped Huntsville, AL, for the quiet life in Gainesville with 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 horses, and a historic home that will always be undergoing their creative renovation. We enjoyed a tour of the historic churches, houses, and cemetery, and learned about town history. Parts of the Civil War reenactment scene in Sweet Home Alabama were filmed nearby. 

Amanda and Dale Chambliss. Dale has thru hiked the Appalachian Trail, 2000 miles, so he completely empathizes with how welcome it is to be hosted and hosting fellow travelers. Dale and I ran the 100th Boston Marathon, with Dale finishing about 9 minutes ahead of me. Dinner was hickory-grilled pork chops, sautéed young carrots out of Amanda's garden, kale salad, and mashed potatoes. Breakfast was coffee, biscuits, (It is Alabama, made from scratch), scrambled eggs, and ham.

Separate Bedrooms. What a treat.

Critter of the Day. Amanda and Dale's Brittany Spaniel

Beautiful Saturday morning riding, but we were losing the tail wind that we enjoyed for the first 3 days.

Tree Farms transitioned to cattle country. Vista Cattle Company owned a lot of land and seemed to have purchased entry signs in bulk, owning every farm for miles.

Logs at the mill.

The mill. Digester in which wood chips are cooked into pulp in the background. Most digesters are designed in Finland.

Tombigbee River. Your Corps of Engineers dollars at work. With decreasing commodities traffic, I suspect the maintenance expense largely supports real estate development for vacation homes and recreation.

For Nancy's two friends named Alice. Site of our Subway lunch stop.

John enjoys a Moon Pie. John's review: Nothing special, ginger cookie, a bit of cream filling, chocolate covering.

Mississippi State Line. Crossing from Alabama to Mississippi here was obvious: The road surface was much worse and the drivers were pretty much like everywhere but Alabama. They passed safely but faster and with less patience.

Columbus is the site of Mississippi Women's College, but we did not find music venues on a Saturday night. I entered Columbus from the south, passing through an impressive campus and beautiful neighborhoods north of campus, considered the historic south side of Columbus. I managed to get the wrong hotel location leading to an unplanned tour of the north side. As usual, it all worked out and I arrived at our booked hotel minutes after John. 

Dinner was across the street at Little Dooley's BBQ, regionally famous, with 2 locations in Columbus and 1 in a nearby town. Wonderful BBQ and moderately priced when compared to national chains.

Day 3: Linden to Gainesville, AL 55 miles; 170 total miles Friday, April 22, 2016

We left the Linden Inn about 7 am, the only hotel in Linden, looking for breakfast. Church's Fried Chicken was our only option, egg-sausage biscuit and coffee accompanied by the usual queries from the other patrons: 

• Where are you going?
• How far do you ride each day?
• Where did you start?

. . . followed by remarks about why they could never do such a thing.

Linton's former courthouse. They left the 2nd floor door ajar.

John, riding north of Linton, AL.

Critter of the Day, #1

Missed Opportunity. We had breakfast 30 minutes earlier and foolishly rode by this establishment. We thought we would encounter a lot of places like this one, featuring Coldest beer in Alabama, crawdads, and local food specialties, but our Warm Showers hosts in Gainesville, Amanda and Dale, said, Not so. We found that hoop cheese is a soft cheese that is set in a ring 

Source is:

Souse and Hog Head Cheese has an interesting history. Long ago, these meats began to be made from the head of a hog. The tradition originated in England. When a hog was killed, the head was boiled in a big pot until tender and the meat fell off the bone. The hog snout and the skin actually contain gelatin, and this is what holds the meat together. The meat would be cut into bits and mixed with the gelatin, then placed in a pan and allowed to cool. The souse or head cheese could then be sliced and served on bread or with crackers. The difference in the two meat products is that souse has vinegar added to give it a different taste, and head cheese does not contain vinegar. Many people still love this traditional country meat!  

http://bryantsmeat.com/bryants-miscellaneous.html

 Rag bolona: (From a web post)
The one thing I cant wait to eat when I get there is some of her neighbors rag bologna. If you dont know, this is some seriously down-south ghetto style lunchmeat where all the ground meat is loaded into an old rag (I sh*t you not, a dirty old rag) and wrapped real tight and put in the smoker for a long-ass time.

This stuff blows oscar mayer out of the water. It is one of my favorite foods in the world, though I am loathe to admit it. I'm 100% sure its not healthy, and I'm not completely sure its sanitary, but fauck its good.

Once you eat it you will ever be happy with store bought Bologna again.
Here is some information about it and pictures of it.
http://tinyurl.com/blneu86

Refers to the church below.

Directly across the road from the Jefferson Baptist Church.

John in an Alabama Tree Tunnel.

Chocolate River. ANY rain turns local rivers, streams, creeks,and roadside ditches into opaque water. 

Checking Progress.  We use a combination of Garmin GPS devices, some with pre-loaded courses, highway maps, and Adventure Cycling mapped routes.

Destination for all those log trucks, referred to by locals as the mill.

 Critter of the Day #2. About six inches long, he/she was starting to cross the road. So the question for you all: Do you place the turtle back in the ditch or carry it across the road?

Touch of Home, a Mennonite owned and operated restaurant and bakery in Livingston, AL. The line formed at 11 am. We split the daily special, catfish. 

Squint and you can almost read the menu.

Our evening stop.

Critter of the Day #3?

Menu Board at Gainesville's only restaurant. We had dishes of ice cream, but we had to ask about the bomber. Seems that is a cheese stuffed pepper, aka: tamale elsewhere. (They buy them in bulk at Costco.) Customer slide the money through a slot, and they pass out the food under a net that separates the kitchen from the customer area. All in all, still a place with personality, evidenced by this display on the mantel. 

Oddly enough, while many of the locals are Barak supporters, they tend to support Trump over Hillary Clinton. Go figure.

 John and Jimmy; Jimmy and John; Jimmy John's? Jimmy, local folk hero, drove up on he twin-blade riding mower with mixed-drink and straw in the cup holder. He ordered a burger, then sat down and informed us he was blind. Apparently the mower was either being repaired or just out of hock. Jimmy said his father wrote You Are My Sunshine and he was suing for royalties. We saw him a bit later mowing his grass.

Regional products in the Gainesville Store. Open shelving with a giant checkerboard, table, and chairs in front.

Confederate Cemetery. After the battle of Shiloh, 260 wounded Confederate soldiers were transported to Gainesville. Nearly all of those buried here were marked Unknown. 

Day 2: Grove Hill to Linden, AL 43 miles; 115 total miles Thursday, April 21, 2016

Superb day, temperatures in the 70s, light clouds, and a 5-8 mph tail wind most of the way. We faced two options:

1. Follow the Adventure Cycling recommended route, about 72 miles
2. Follow a more direct route that might offer more traffic and a limited or nonexistent shoulder

After the prior 72-mile day with hills, we chose option 2. We found fewer hills, few sharp climbs, a wide shoulder for the first 19 miles, and a smooth road surface all the way. We continue to be impressed by the courtesy of Alabama drivers, especially the truck drivers. Everyone has been quick to wave, whether driving, watching from roadside, or when we stop.

We arrived in Linden by 11:30am, checked into the only hotel, $50 for a spacious double. Rain was forecast for 3 pm, we watched clouds build in the west, and the rain started just as we entered our room. We lunched at Churches Southern Fried Chicken, tasty crunchy grease, enough for this year. 

Wide shoulder for the first 17 miles. Portions had deep divots, other portions had wide but shallow indentations that were ridable. The greatest hazards were road litter, pieces of bark from the log trucks, pieces of truck tires, an other highway litter. Very little broken glass.

Coffee klatch at Honey Buns, Thomasville, AL— "Pop" in the green shirt presiding. Joining in conversation with locals like these gentlemen is a bike touring highlight. Pops retired from Alabama Power 20 years ago, the youngster in the light shirt told about the time he chased down and nabbed two guys who robbed his jewelry store, and John confessed he was once a banker. Of course, we had a little Auburn vs. 'Bama conversation. Honey Buns' new owners were advertising their "grand opening", 3 months in business and doing well.

John riding ahead. John's pin-on, orange, slow-moving-vehicle triangle and his red, blinking LED rear light alerts drivers. Reflector strips on my Bike Friday trailer has a similar effect. 

Clear cutting is the timer harvest method in Alabama. I anticipated obvious replanting, but perhaps replanted yellow pine trees are hidden in the broadleaf trees and shrubs.

In the land of RC Cola and Moon Pies

Sporting his Alabama shirt, he has worked in this store for 35 years and hopes to cut back his hours in 7 more years. Everyone, everywhere in Alabama, has been courteous, friendly, and helpful.

Critters of the day, soaring hawks. Given the extensive woodlands, hawks are routinely circling.

Soggy Bottom Game Farm should have critters, advertising turkey, deer, elk, and pheasant, but none were visible. Traditional farm animals are rarely spotted. Today I saw two horses and a single cow all at distance.

Tomorrow we confirmed our first Warm Showers host, living on a farm near Gainesville, AL. John and I are both War Showers members. Much like couch surfing, Warm Showers members agree to host touring cyclists when home, and can request stays when touring. Nancy and I have hosted a number of cyclists in Bozeman. I have only stayed with a single host family in Australia. 

Day 1: Stockton to Grove Hill, AL — 72 miles 

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Today's ride through the Alabama timber belt featured more roadside churches than businesses. We would much prefer to begin with a 40-50 mile day, but we had little choice, over 70 miles to the first motel. Even roadside gas stations were rare and the food options limited. The beginning temperature was about 60F, very comfortable, but approached 90F by mid afternoon. 

Kathy, John's wife, leaving our exotic Spanish Fort lodging.

Our starting point this morning, where John finished yesterday. 

The Stagecoach Cafe was closed, but the wait staff had an interesting t-shirt. The wait staff entertained John on Tuesday while he waited for Kathy to pick him up.

Many of the houses had these types of building around in varied states of repair. Perhaps for the former "staff." The Alabama building style usually features a front porch with a large overhang. Whether a narrow building, as shown, or wide, the only variations might be pillars and screens.

Typical road: Excellent surface, much better than Montana chip seal. These rumble strips wake wayward drivers but are nasty for bicycles. We experienced courteous drivers all day, especially the log-truck drivers.

Not many Texaco signs left like this one.

I kept hearing Emmylou Harris, the Red Dirt Girl.

I prefer a fast church myself, the faster the better.

Finally, about 2 pm, we discovered this fine roadside establishment offered fresh burritos. Lunch.

Wild Hog traps for sale.

Many historic signs along the way. This one was drafted before people were concerned about being politically correct.

Me, Bike Friday and trailer, a bit ahead of John.

The predominant smell all day was turpentine. Area yellow pine forests are "farmed" for lumber and kraft paper. The scent is pleasant at first, but after 6 hours, perhaps headache inducing as if sniffing gasoline. We saw a number of clear-cuts and one area where the owners had lit fires to clear underbrush, much like the Montana potato growers between Churchill and Manhattan.

I failed to capture a single Critter of the Day. I failed to stop for a horse and the few dogs we saw were chasing us. I spotted a 5-inch striped lizard, but he hid under a soda machine before I could get a photo. Surprisingly, I walked around Grove Hill after dinner and did not see a single dog, cat, or pedestrian.  

We encountered Dave, a solo bicycle tourist, about 25 miles east of Grove Hill. Dave started from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was camping with occasional motel stays. He's planning to be on the road until September. His next goal is Nashville, then heading west to Oregon, planning to follow the Lewis and Clark Adventure Cycling route. Little guy, 60ish, very fit. Dave ended up at the same motel in Grove Hill, the Deaver. We invited him to join us for dinner, but he was too tired. Dinner was a Mexican restaurant, across the parking lot about 50 feet from our room. Char-grilled fresh shrimp enchiladas with green chili. Bliss.

We are planning a shorter day tomorrow, about 49 miles, unless we have to divert to a quieter road. 

Thank you for reading and for your comments.