Day Eight:

Today was fairly uneventful. Larry rode 60-something miles, we think, from east of Pensacola to the west side of Mobile. He had a chicken Caesar salad at McAlister's Deli somewhere for lunch. The prospects for dinner weren't looking too good near his motel, so dinner may have been at Hardee's tonight.

He's very glad to be out of Florida!!! He made his own route again today because he didn't like the looks of the "Southern Tier" route. I think he took a more direct route and cut some miles off that way. He wasn't impressed with Pensacola or Mobile, and said it was difficult getting through the cities.

He's hopeful that tomorrow he'll get through Mississippi to Lousiana. We know that LA is FLAT from riding there this past April. He'll probably fly through the crawdad/rice fields!

I appreciate all your e-mails. I pass on the encouragement, and I'm grateful for your continued prayers for his safety!

Day Nine:

Monday started off with a free breakfast of cereal and bananas at the motel. It was a very hilly ride from Mobile to Wiggins, MS, where he had lunch at Popeye's Chicken, which he really likes.

After that the hills became more rolling. He took some pictures as he crossed over the Pearl River and said there were lots of house boats there. He was all the way to Bogalusa, LA by 5:30 my time. Yes, he made it all the way across MS in one day -- @ 100 miles! He said this was a good day.

The only thing he didn't like about this stretch were the log trucks, the drivers of which do not like to get over for cyclists as other motorists do. And his $28 motel room is about the size of our bedroom -- says you can wash your hands while sitting on the toilet! But, for some reason, it has a big closet.

Dinner was at Hardee's and then he went to the $3 movie theater. He soon figured out why it was $3: the sound was messed up and the picture was fuzzy! He got his $3 back and went to the room to watch football.

Larry reports that without the faring he's a little slower on the flats, but it may make it a little easier going uphill without the weight. Of course he has a lot more wind in his face going downhill! I received the faring hardware in the mail from him yesterday. That in itself is heavy, so including the faring I'm sure that's taken a few pounds off his load. We calculate that he's traveled 634 miles so far. He hopes to get to St. Francisville on Tuesday.

Day Ten:

Today was a difficult one! It was VERY hilly, and poor Larry got rained on quite a lot. He said it was surprisingly cool though. He got from Bogalusa almost to Greensburg by noon where he had a hot dog, fig bar and some Powerade. But he didn't call me from St. Francisville till almost 7:00 p.m. tonight. He's in a nicer motel tonight though, Francisville Hotel on the Lake.

Tomorrow may either be a rest day or a ride-to-the-next-motel-he-sees day!

Thanks for your encouraging e-mails. I pass your sentiments on to him. Special thanks for your continued prayers for his safety. He's enjoying the trek but doesn't think he'll ever want to do this again. Imagine that!

Day Eleven:

Wednesday was another good day for Larry. He crossed the foggy Mississippi River on the ferry, which is a six-minute ride. The ferry is small, holding about 12 cars. There were two other cyclists on the ferry; locals who routinely ride across from St. Francisville on the ferry, then ride north somewhere and cross back over the river by bridge. Immediately after getting off the ferry, Larry had to walk his bike about 150 or 200 yards up a very steep, gravel hill. After that it was a FLAT ride! He did about 60 miles, he estimates, before arriving in Opalousas. On the way he went through New Roads which is a great fishing lake area. The river used to flow through there but moved and formed this beautiful lake.Larry had both lunch and dinner at Ryan's in Opalousas, which he said was good but . . .

The Day-twelve destination is DeRidder, if it's a flat ride!

Day Twelve:

After eating a "free" breakfast at the Best Western, Larry got off to an early start on Thursday. By 9:30 my time he was nearly to Mamou (home of the famous Fred's Bar, which we discovered on a previous bike trip.) By 12:30 he was 30 miles from DeRidder, LA where he arrived around 3:30. Three quarters of the 88-mile ride was flat with a tailwind; after that there was no wind, and it was a little hilly.

He had sunshine all day, and the temp on one bank sign reported 101 degrees! He passed a convenience store that he recognized from our Cycle Zydeco trip back in April. He recalled that their shelves weren't stocked well then, so he didn't bother to stop!

Larry noticed lots of churches in the DeRidder area, so he questioned his waitress about it when he had dinner at the Smokehouse. She reported that they're in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most churches in the US, per capita, I assume. There are 90 in the area. Larry guesses that the population of DeRidder is about 3,000. The waitress said all the churches are packed, so they must come in from the rural areas of Beauregard Parish.

Avid newspaper reader that he is, Larry picked up the Beauregard Daily News while he was there. It totaled six pages!

Day Thirteen:

By 10:30 Friday morning Larry had arrived in Texas. The ride at that point had been flat. He met another cyclist coming from the west who told him it would soon be hilly then flat again. When he stopped for lunch at Whataburger (like BK), close to Jasper, he reported that it had been hilly, hot and windy, but that the wind was at his back.

He had hoped to make it to Livingston but doesn't think that's possible. He'll probably get to Woodville, TX where he'll spend the night.

Larry's not been adhering to the "Southern Tier" maps. He consults his GPS and other maps to find more directly-west routes!

The odyssey continues . . .

Day Fourteen:

Larry left Woodville Saturday morning and headed west to Livingston, which was a fairly hilly ride. Then he rode south toward Cleveland; and since it was flatter and the wind was from the northeast, the ride became somewhat easier for him. Out of Cleveland he headed west on 105 toward Conroe, where he once lived. 105 used to be a little two-lane road leading into a nice friendly town. But now Conroe is 20 times bigger than it was 20 years ago; and the traffic on the now four-lane 105 was horrendous, not to mention the fact that there was curbing along the side of the road. Being right out there in a lane of traffic was somewhat unnerving. He was happy to find the Days Inn, walk to Popeye's, and then eat in his room while watching football! Before that though, he did locate the house where he had lived on Darnell Street. He didn't remember the name of the street until he crossed it coming into town. He did specifically remember the garage that was to the side of the house where Darrin had once fallen through a rotten board and hurt himself. Darrin remembers too!