Another great day of riding through the scenic timber country of North Alabama. These rural roads are beautiful and remain virtually traffic-free. I see more dogs than cars and even look forward to the chase – one little guy chased me for more than a quarter mile today – I was afraid he might hyperventilate. The people I encounter along the road are warm and friendly, always waving and wishing me luck.
I’ve been thinking about the Underground Railroad today as I trace the path taken by so many slaves on their journey to freedom. Here I am riding a bicycle in broad daylight along well maintained roads running through welcoming communities and playing tag with pets. Escaped slaves had to travel at night, off the road, and at great risk of being caught by folks tracking them with bloodhounds. Big difference. It is hard to imagine how difficult this journey was for them. My friend George told me to listen for their stories in the wind. I’ll do just that.
Tonight I will be camping in Coffeeville, INSIDE the Dairy Bar. The folks here are very nice and the food is yummy. I pitched my tent behind the building, but now there is a bad storm coming this way, so they invited me to move all my stuff (including the bike) inside the building for the night. They will lock me in when they close at 9:00pm. They open at 4:00am, so I won’t be doing any sleeping in tomorrow. If the storm blows through tonight, at least I can start out tomorrow with dry gear. People are so nice! There were a lot of big hills on the route today. I walked the bike a few times to give my hamstrings a break and save them for Tennessee and Kentucky. I will blog again later tonight about some of the Alabama history I have picked up along the way. Got to get my campsite set up now ...
Large versions of all my blog pics can be found at my photo gallery.
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4 comments:
"Another great day of riding through the scenic timber country of North Alabama."
Pat, you are a long way away from North Alabama. Coffeeville is in SW Alabama, about 100 miles north of Mobile and nearly 300 miles south of Huntsville.
Great blog and pictures. Good luck tomorrow and enjoy that great Alabama grub!
Hi, Pat! Hello from Huntsville! I was signing on to let you know that you're still a l-o-n-g way from "North Alabama," but see that Ken B. has already broken that bit of news to you. However, you are correct that it is beautiful country. And it gets even better the farther north you go, so KEEP PEDDLING!!! -syd :-)
The Tombigbee is awsum where you are, great river bass! Make sure you find a place to fry you some up and of course get some Bama huspuppies, nudpie and sweet tea!
Keep dry and have a great time!
Hello from Scotland! We in the Glasgow Nightingale Cycling Club are tracking your adventure into Canada through the heart of America. Our furthest trip was to Plymouth, about 500 US miles, any further and we would need pontoons. Keep up the good work, best!
Glasgow Nightingales
Here's a snap:
http://www.glasgownightingalecc.org.uk
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