Day 1 - April 12 - Pensacola FL to Gulf State Park, AL - Crossing the T.....Part One

April 12, 2024

Day 1 - April 12 - Pensacola FL to Gulf State Park, AL

Two States Today

Ed’s Story

Woke up early this morning and found that my front tire only at 30 pounds. The omen …had to replace a tube even before we started.

We we left shortly after I got back from returning the rental car. We looked for a bike shop to replace the tube I used but the first shop we found had none. We found a second shop and on the ride there the back end of my bike sounded like R2-D2 with all the chirping and squeaking. It’s shifted OK and braked OK so I knew it wasn’t with the drive train.

At the shop, I found one of the bolts holding my rack to the bike was missing. I know it was there when I left because I tightened everything. This was a mystery. The bike shop graciously provided me a bolt and blue loc-tite to install it. After that, everything was right with the world or at least the bike.

We continued riding through Pensacola, past the Naval Air Station and beyond. We hoped to get to Perdido Key by noon. We had to climb a nice sized bridge over Dolphin Pass to get to the key. My downshifting worked great and I was able to climb the bridge. We ran into a local sheriffs deputy who saw us riding up the bridge and wondering whether we would have to push the bikes up. We didn’t.

Should have bought land early here, I’d be rich.

We saw numerous large hotels and condos on the waterfront. I don’t even want to think about what they cost.

After entering Alabama, we had to cross the Perdido Pass Bridge. This was even longer and higher than the first one we climbed.

We arrived at the state park around 3 o’clock, set up our campsite, showered, and headed out for a cold beer. Our first stop was at a restaurant associated with the park lodge. I was disappointed, no dark beers, even the brown ale I wanted they were out of.

Camp, sweet camp. As long as the alligators don’t come out, I will be fine

We left there and rode some more to the Big Beach Brewing Company… finally I was able to have a nice porter.

Made it back to the campsite as the sun was setting, had a light dinner, and here we are tucked in our tent writing the journal.

Tomorrow is a short day I’ve only 28 miles as we go to Dauphin Island, where we are overnighting at a WarmShowers host.

Until tomorrow, happy biking.

John’s Story

We hit the road at 9:30 this morning. I guess we started north of Pensacola proper because we came across this sign as we headed south through the neighborhoods towards the coast. The air is surprisingly dry so close to the water, thanks to the stiff northwest wind behind the cold front that swept the stormy weather out of here yesterday. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the stiff northwest wind was in our face most of the day. It was supposed to be 10-15 mph, but it felt more like 20-30.

Ed managed to get a flat tire before he even rode the bike here, so after changing the tube in the hotel room, we ended up stopping at two bike shops to find a replacement as we left town.

Ed tweaking his handlebars at bike shop number one. No tube here, so he had to do something.

At bike shop number two I found a couple of interesting vehicles. This trike has no handlebars, just a handle on the front of the seat. Looks more like a unicycle with training wheels than a bike.

I thought I’d give this recumbent a try. It may be better suited as the chassis for a clown car.

We crossed several long high bridges today. If the mapping program recognized more than just the ground the bridges are built over, they would qualify as hills.

Brown pelicans were lounging under the bridges. They are not as attractive as the white pelicans we see migrating through Oklahoma each winter.

I didn’t get many flora shots today. This and the next picture looked very much alike but for the color. Different species or different varieties of the same species?

I noticed a couple who at first I thought were cleaning up roadside trash. When I realized they were picking something from the vegetation I stopped to ask them about it.

They were picking dewberries. I’ve heard of them but never seen them. They looked (and tasted) like blackberries.

Later on do n the road I saw a thick patch of berries right by the road. I did a little research and discovered that dewberries are merely uncultivated blackberries that are smaller than blackberries and grow on trailing vines along the ground rather than on more upright canes.

Finally arrived at our campground for tonight after 41 miles.

The welcome sign about 10’ from where I pitched my tent.

While Ed was off showering a critter got into some of his food. Later, on the bike trails in the park, we saw many small critters that looked like overstuffed kangaroo rats in the grass alongside the trail. Could they be the culprits? I have no idea what they were. The two guesses I would hazard are picket gopher and baby nutria. No pictures unfortunately.

The Gulf in front of the park. I’ll be interested to see the beaches on Dauphin Island tomorrow. I’ve always thought the Mobile Bay is the western limit of clear water and beautiful white beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. From Mobile Bay west and south the rivers carry a lot of clay that makes the water murky.

We found beer at the bar in a Hilton property restaurant on Gulf State Park property, but then we found out from the bartender about a brewery a few miles up the road in Gulf Shores. So off we went looking for it. Our beer scavenger hunt added almost 11 miles of riding to our day. Fortunately for us Gulf Shores has a great network of bike trails that led us back to the campground without having to retrace all our steps (or pedals).

Someone painted a sign on a fossilized swordfish.

It was getting dark as we found our way back, so a quick cold dinner and I to the tents.

We talked to a biker on the way to the brewery who told us he encountered an alligator lying in the middle of the bike trail today. So far I’ve only heard frogs in the area next to my tent. Hopefully they’ll sacrifice themselves when the gators come for me tonight.

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 51 miles (82 km)

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Nancy GrahamWith Ed starting with a flat tire and missing bolt before even riding or riding very far, hopefully your mishaps are done for the trip ;’-). Alligators scare me and I would chose to be no where near one!! In my campground - or near my campsite - would be way too close!!!
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7 months ago

Dorothy ShinstockI have joined and plan to enjoy this trip with you! If in spirit only. Good luck! Be safe! I look forward to all the posts, especially the funny ones! 🏖
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7 months ago