Day 34, Van Cleave to Dauphin Island, Alabama, 62 miles

The only time my knees have hurt on this trip was last night as I curled in the fetal position trying despertely to stay warm in our tent. Ruth's knees are fine but she claims that she only slept for twenty minutes. We did hear the bull frogs croaking throughout the night. We were not prepared for sleeping in the cool night air because Don and Bill took our clothes for warmth back to Cincy.However we were truly grateful for the shelter and paid our fair share.

We ate a bagel, said good-bye to Bubba (below), his crew, and the other cyclists before breakfast was served.

The early morning ride took us through beautiful cyprus swamps.

After riding fifteen miles we stopped at a Waffle House for eggs, potatoes, and waffles but no grits.

When we left the Waffle House the skies were becoming cloudy and the winds were picking up. We shortly entered Alabama and had our picture taken by another cyclist.

Shortly up the road there was a shortcut of smooth hardpacked oiled dirt. The six mile shortcut was recommended by our maps and this time the shortcut worked. We continued cycling hard but the wind was picking up and naturally it was in our face.

We entered the marsh land of the Mobile Bay area and exhausted we finally reached the causeway and high bridge that would take us to Dauphin Island. Bubba and his staff were at the entrance to the causeway warning their cyclists that the winds were fierce and advising the cyclists not to cross the bridge. He was loading the bikes into a trailor and carrying the cyclists in a van across the bridge.

Even though some of the cyclists did ride across the bridge we took advantage of the offer. We are especially vulnerable with the wind because of our bags.

We were dropped off at the campsite and rode our bikes two miles back to our motel. This is the view of the Mississippi Sound from our terrace.

We arrived with thunder rumbling in the distance. We are now waiting for the storm to stop so we can eat dinner at a nearby restaurant. Tomorrow is a rest day. On Sunday we will take a ferry to the mainland and enter Florida!

"We had a tailwind all day! We've just been going the wrong direction." - Janice of Salt Lake City, a member of Bubba's group