Linden to Aliceville: Farm humor

April 18, 2010

It was much cooler today, so the riding was pleasant. We were on smaller county roads and Rhona appreciated the lack of vehicular traffic. The scenery was interesting, at times reminding us of Montana with scrub, tall pines and an undulating road. We mentioned how few bicycle riders we saw in the deep south. Here, at least, is a bicycle hung from a crane, with no indication of what happened to the rider.

Somebody apparently wanted to get some lawn chores done while riding their bike.

Rhona is a vegetarian and found it difficult to find good menu items out on the road because so many items include meat. Some locals joked that they like to deep fry "deep fry".

Later in the morning, we passed a field where hay bales and other items were turned into creatures and characters of all kinds. We took some pictures while still in motion, so the quality of some of the photos is not optimum.

Not one of Snoopy's best days in his Sopworth Camel.

Thomas the Train, one of our grandson's favorite characters, was stuck in a farmer's field.

The poor guy appears to have rusted in place there. We didn't have enough oil packed on the bike to get him moving again.

Snoopy appears to be in a better mood after jumping out of the plane, but I wonder if he realizes he is being scoped by a rascally rabbit.

Not for the last time on the trip we saw quite a few wildflowers along the side of the road, although they may have been planted by the state highway departments.

One of many homes that caught our attention in the middle of the day.

We ran into Laurence along the road again.

I lifted his bicycle, and it felt as heavy as our tandem did.

We bought items for dinner in the local grocery in Aliceville. In the early evening we head a knock on the hotel door. We invited him in, along with his guitar and had an enjoyable time with him. It turns out he had written a book about a previous cross country cycling tour he took with his son which he is waiting to have published. He told us enough about the theme of the book to make me interested in reading it. Laurence had a very tough Saturday, 90 miles in the heat, finishing after dark. He camped at Chickasaw State Park (no facilities) and was kept awake much of the night by the sound of traffic passing close to his camping area. At the same time, Rhona and I were a mile or two away as the crow flies luxuriating, in the "penthouse loft".

Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 244 miles (393 km)

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