Sweet Home Alabama

After yesterday’s rather relaxing, albeit not particularly traditional, Thanksgiving Day festivities I woke this morning ready to hit the open road again. The plan for the day was to finish the ride to Mobile, Alabama that I opted to bail on yesterday. Looking back, I still feel that was a good decision. No, the wind didn’t magically (or meteorologically) disappear overnight which meant it was going to be another windy day but for whatever reason I felt more accepting of it today.

Prior to hitting the road, there was a bit of good news to start the day. When I checked out of the motel I inquired about getting some sort of refund for the lack of functioning WiFi. I really didn’t expect anything so I was more than a little surprised to receive a refund in the amount of $20. That ended up being a discount of about 40%. I was okay with that.

As has become the norm of late, the wind greeted me immediately – fortunately it seemed to be at least slightly weaker today. Maybe I was back in denial mode. I could’ve followed Highway 90 along the coast which likely would’ve been a bit more scenic but the slightly more inland route at least left me with the impression that I was being sheltered from the brunt of the wind – at least from time to time. And I was okay with that too.

I’m not sure if it was the day off or perhaps the prescriptions given to me by Dr. Riggs (perhaps a bit of both) but I felt significantly better on the road today. Yes, the wind made things challenging but the ride was certainly more enjoyable – although, somewhat uneventful. Yes, there was a Subway stop along the way but perhaps the most interesting element of today’s ride was the presence of hills. Real hills. Okay, not mountainous hills. And not particularly (or even remotely) strenuous hills. But after several days of “mostly flat” terrain (as described by Google Maps), I was actually a bit happy to see something other than a flat road.

The other notable moment along today’s ride was the “Welcome to Alabama” sign. As I cycled into Alabama, I did so realizing that this was the last “new to me” state of my current journey. The only remaining state line left to cross is Florida’s which I’ve crossed on more than one occasion. Yes, there are still many other states left to visit but not on this trip. Probably.

After about two hours of pedalling in Alabama, I finally arrived in Mobile. It took a day longer to get here than expected but better late than never.

My home for the night is courtesy of another example of the overwhelming generosity of strangers. Or pseudo-strangers. Thanks to a connection from Brad (via the Guestbook) I find myself staying at Brad’s daughter’s boyfriend’s place (aka. Mike’s). Grammar Alert: I’m reasonably sure that it’s generally frowned upon to use three consecutive possessive nouns.

The fact that I’m staying at the place of someone whom I’ve never met (i.e. Mike) isn’t entirely surprising – after all, that’s pretty much what WarmShowers.org is all about. The fact that Mike isn’t actually home is where we shift into the “overwhelming generosity” category. Thanks again to Mike (and Brad for the introduction).

I’m not entirely sure what the plan is for tomorrow but Florida is certainly reachable. That said, a last minute client request may find me staying at Mike’s place an extra night to get some work done. Hopefully that’s not an issue.

As for Cass’ comment in the Guestbook, I will keep my eye open for any and/or all of his suggestions – although, the camera is likely the easiest to obtain. That said, I had a good laugh from Cass’ post! Thanks! And yes, despite some of the struggles of late, I’m still having fun and happy to be on the road.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 115.99 km
Ride time: 6:00:56
Average speed: 19.28 km/h
Maximum speed: 41.93 km/h