Have we mentioned how few cyclists we’ve seen cycling the Southern Tier? We’ve ridden for days on end without seeing anyone. Yet this route, which was first mapped by the Adventure Cycling Assocation in 1990, is supposed to be one of its most popular. Where was everyone? Back home during the summer months you are…
“You be safe,” was the familiar parting cry as we left Bunkie fire station this morning. Thanks to a not so rare moment of foresight by Terry, our trip to the Dollar General last night meant we could feast on Fruit and Bran (fibre is sadly lacking in the American diet) and while we ate the…
In the two days we were off the bikes we discovered the real New Orleans and the true spirit of Mardi Gras. Walking along Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday is like nothing any of us had ever experienced before. It was hard to believe you weren’t moving through a film set. We visited Congo Square,…
I woke up in my tent at the Davis Bayou Campground just before six and immediately wished I could spend the entire morning in bed and to hell with the zip-tugging racoons. Fortunately my right leg, which had been playing up for several days, hadn’t caused any issues during the night, but I’d woken in…
If you’d told us at the beginning of the day we would end up spending the night camped on a plastic sheet in the pitch black bunker of an Alabama fort dating back to the civil war, we’d never have believed you. But so it is and I’m lying here on the concrete floor with…
We both seriously thought about giving up the Southern Tier today, and this evening we are wondering if we’d be better off stopping in New Orleans, flying north and then finishing our journey west on the TransAm instead. It’s all down to the 90, the wretched 90. It’s doing its best to ruin what should…
I really do think there are some days when Terry just wants to kill me. This morning I’m really tired and my head just isn’t in it. I can’t imagine how I’m ever going to cycle the 70 miles we have planned for today. I can hardly walk to breakfast. My right knee is hurting…
It seemed whatever way we turned today the wind was in our face trying to smash us back into the Atlantic. It hit us with such force we even had to pedal going downhill. The Southern Tier was trying to tell us something – ‘go home’ – and at this stage of the journey we…
There’s an old proverb which says he who takes pictures of junkyards shouldn’t be surprised when they attract the unwanted attention of junkyard dogs. I should know better really, but I just can’t resist the lure of scrap cars and that down at heel muscle car with its bonnet up looked very much like a…
I’m beginning to think long distance cycling touring must be a bit like childbirth – it’s very easy to forget all the pain and agony until you find yourself back in the same situation again. Over the last five years we’ve obviously remembered all the good bits of the TransAm and forgotten there are some…