Days 23 & 24 St. Francisville to Franklinton, LA to Biloxi, MS

Day 23 Distance: 95 Miles
Day 24 Distance: 101 Miles

The answer to the final round of the Roadkill Trivia game is "Armadillo".  I have been passing one every 10 miles on average.  Congratulations to those who corectly answered both rounds.  Your names will be concealed to protect your identities.

A Lesson Well Learned.  Always put on your rain gear BEFORE it rains. I left my motel in the small town of Franklinton, about 20 miles West of Mississippi, at 6:30 with the sun rising on the horizon and blue skies above.  I was doubting the weather report calling for scattered morning thunderstorms with sustained thunderstorms in the afternoon. just to be safe, I had my rain jacket and pants at the top of my pannier bag.  As I crossed the Pearl River and entered Mississippi, the sky quickly began darkening as rain clouds started blowing in from the Gulf.  A few minutes later a woman in a car slowed and pulled next to me and waned me that "I would be getting real wet in about 30 to 40 minutes".  I thanked her for her positive outlook and I quickened my pace. I noticed that it appeared to be raining off in the distance behind me while in the distance in front of me, the skies were lighter.  I figured that I could outrun this thing, and picked up the pace even further.  True to the warning, rain clouds came in from the South, caught up to me from the West  and surrounded me.  Unlike the rains in San Diego which politely start with a drizzle, the monsoon struck quickly.  It only took 5 minutes to get the rain jacket on,rain pants on and a plastic bag around my handlebar bag; however the damage was done. I was soaked and most everything in the bags as well.  (The numbers 1, 2 and 3 on my phone still aren't working)  Heavy rains continued most of the day with the region getting 4 inches.  That's 1/2 of San Diego's annual rainfall.  As I write this, everything from my maps to my clothes are spread out around the room in various stages of drying. 

The 100 miles in the rain today was well worth the effort as I am now in Biloxi, across the strret from the Gulf.  It is beautiful here and even in the rain, the Gulf looks great.

Logistical Issues.     I left San Diego with 2 new tires and a spare tire, just in case.  by time I hit Hatch, NM, the original rear tire was trashed and so the spare was elevated to the starting team.  That was 1,500 miles ago and the weight of the bike and the bags over the rear tire has taken it's toll.  I've had 11 flats to the rear tire with zero flats to the front.  This speaks to the extra work that the rear tire is doing.  The logistical problem is finding a bike shop, or even tires and tubes.  Several days ago I remembered that Walmart had bike accessories so I picked up 3 tubes and an extra tire hoping that this would get me to the next bike shop.  Two days ago, in the Louisiana heat, I had another flat.  Realizing that my spare rear tire was paper thin and ready for the recycle bin, I decided to put the Walmart tire on the back wheel.  Within 5 miles and to my complete horror, the new tire exploded off the rim.  This caused me to put the worn spare back on the rear and strap the Walmart tire back on the rear rack.  That night, I switched the tires, putting the good front tire on the back and the bad back tire on the front.  My plan was to prolong the spare's life and hope that it could last the 300 miles till I get to the next bike shop.  Well yesterday, realizing that I had used up all of my tubes, I went searching for another Walmart.  From St. Francis, the closest was 50 miles away but 10 miles off course.  In the rain, I was anxiously hoping that the spare could hold up till I got there as I was out of tubes..  Almost!  One mile from Walmart, in a light rain, the front tire went flat.  The tire was wet and I could see air bubbles coming from not one  but 2 separate holes.  I patched the leaking tube and called the Walmart tire back into action, hoping that it would survive being on the much lighter front end of the bike.  Using only a meager 55 pound psi, Walmart special and patched tube held up the rest of yesterday and all day today.  I am now about 80 miles from a bike shop and I think I may be in luck. 

The Pearl River seperating the bottom of Louisiana and Mississippi

`                                                    Tami, my treat. Let's go shopping!!!

Gee, let's eat here.  I can't wait to see what they caught swimming at the bottom of the swamp today.