Day 41: Thursday 04/14/16, Poplarville, MS to Ocean Springs, MS

 

Several C2C rides past, Bubba had a SAG stop in this church's parking lot, about 20 miles north of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The church's minister saw the activity and stopped and introduced himself to Bubba. Bubba explained what the C2C ride was, and the minister ended up opening up the church so the coasters could use their bathrooms. The following year and each year since, not only are the bathrooms made available, but a ladies group now makes lunch each year for all the riders and staff. They will not accept any payment, and seem to genuinely enjoy serving us. This year the menu included pulled pork sandwiches, luncheon meats, cheeses, potato salad, chips, and desserts of apple bread pudding and brownies. They also provide sodas, tea, and coffee. They feel they are not only serving God with this endeavor, but also seemed to really enjoy what they were doing.

 

Day 41 distance: 70 miles

Total miles:  2220 miles

Elevation gain: 1947 feet

Map of today's ride:

Last night's forecast for today was a 50% chance of rain all day in Poplarville, Mississippi, and a 40% chance of rain all day at today's destination of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, 70 miles away. No one was looking forward to those conditions as yesterday's ride in the steady rain was still on everyone's mind! How surprised we were when we woke up to heavy clouds and fog, but no rain. Even more surprising was when we were all able to complete the ride with only a few riders feeling any rain drops at all.

The green beauty of Mississippi, the friendliness of the residents, and the considerate drivers continue to impress me. The few Mississippians I have spoken to all seem quite happy and proud of their State. The roads on which Bubba has us routed have been extremely low traffic, with in one ten mile stretch today, I only saw one car. Along with all the forests we rode through today, we also rode past some pretty lake country. All in all, Mississippi is a state I wouldn't mind exploring from an automobile some day.

This was typical of the roads we rode on today in Mississippi. It was like riding thru a park with flat smooth roads and beautiful scenery.

The first of many lakes we rode past today. None of the lakes were large, but they all looked very serene and inviting.

I believe most of the lake homes we rode by were primarily weekend homes.

This was a man-made lake, apparently for flood control. Our route took us over the dike on the left. None of the lakes looked over-developed with houses.

I thought we had left the big ranch gates of Texas behind us until I spotted this one in rural Mississippi!

This is not really a lake but a large pond. Again, note the elaborate pier and Gazebo over the water. Another very pretty spot.

Meet Melissa and Earline, two ladies in service to God at the Ramsey Creek Baptist Church.

Missed putting in the yesterday's blog:

Yesterday, Kurt Frederick thought his bicycle seat had slipped when he got back on it to ride after a short break. What he found instead was a major frame crack in his 2002 Soft Ride Beam custom steel bicycle. He called SAG mechanic Dave Moss who came and picked him up. Dave got on the telephone and found someone nearby who was qualified to weld the frame. A few hours later,  the repair was completed and Kurt's bicycle was reassembled. Dave then drove Kurt back to the location of the break, and Kurt was able to finish the day's ride, without losing a mile! That is an amazing response to a serious bicycle problem. Kurt says he is going to finish the C2C ride with this bicycle, but is then going to remove his components and dispose of the frame in Florida.

I also meant to mention that I experienced my third flat of this C2C ride, a pinch flat caused by some debris I failed to see on the shoulder of the road.