Day 41: VanCleave MS to Dauphin Island, Alabama

River in Mississippi with Cypress trees

Bait crickets for sale at a country store in Mississippi

Bridge to Dauphin Island

An eventful day during which we rode 70ish miles to Dauphin Island.  Everything on this ride is becoming "ish".  Coffee at 6ish, miles at 70ish.  I started out with a flat at precisely 2.64 miles but fortunately John was right behind me to change it.  The process took long enough, however, that for the first time ever on this ride we were dead last.  We were able to catch up before long-- happily for me because I stress about being last.  John is calm and serene wherever he is.

The roads were rural at first but became busier as we went on and eventually we were on a reasonably bad road-- smooth but with no shoulder and lots of traffic.  John and I have been negligent about wearing our blaze yellow vests but decided it was a good time to put them on.  This showed some foresight because at about mile 35 we heard that one of our riders had been hit by a truck.

Needless to say there were feelings of distress through the group so we were relieved to learn that he was not badly hurt.   He was actually hit by the mirror of a bakery delivery truck and rode off the road before spilling over into the weeds.  The truck driver stopped and was full of remorse and an off duty policeman was next on the scene and called 911.  He ended up with a bruised but not broken shoulder, a small ding on his forehead from where his own mirror hit him and overall soreness.Whether a couple of days will see him back on his bike is not yet known.

I found the last thirty miles somewhat tedious because the terrain was very flat and straight.  Also slightly surreal because we were riding next to some kind of wide ditch or canal in which were several half sunken small boats-- along with the many closed, abandoned and dilapidated buildings we have passed, these strengthened our general sense that rural America is in decay.

Dauphin Island is charming, however, and this campground is lovely with lots of big twisty trees, plenty of room for tents and a nice enclosed rec hall where we will undoubtedly spend the upcoming rainy afternoon.