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| Moving into fifth state |
I usually try to wake up early enough to get in half of a day’s expected mileage before noon.
But today, thanks to mostly flat highway riding and a gentle tailwind, I already had in 30 miles by 11:45 am, despite a later-than-usual, 8:30 am start, and it was only 23.2 more miles to my destination, Merryville LA.
Now that I am officially in my fifth state for this tour, and into the Deep South, the humidity has been increasing dramatically.
The last two nights I’ve camped, my tent has been soaked with dew in the morning. And after a thunderstorm today, I could see steam rising from the pavement. I felt like I was riding my bike through a sauna.
Tonight I am staying in the cyclist’s cabin provided by the Merryville Historical Society and Museum. The cabin is located behind a covered stage/pavilion in the museum’s beautiful park grounds. The cabin has AC, too.
Tomorrow I will be staying as a guest of Oberlin LA fire department. I just got off the phone to confirm the arrangement with the fire chief. It’s sometimes hard to believe how kind and generous many people are to touring cyclists.
The dogs, alas, are a different story.
I got chased twice on Hwy 96, right outside Silsbee. The first dog retreated after I yelled at him.
The pack of three that initiated attack 2 retreated initially after I blasted them with the boat horn. But they quickly regrouped for another attack (see photo below). They finally retreated after I pulled out my Halt pepper spray and pointed it in their direction. Perhaps they had been sprayed previously?
I outran another dog—a German Shepherd—in the tiny town of Fawil. I was doing 15 mph. There was no way he could catch me. At least I gave him a good workout.
During the worst of the rain this morning, I pulled over on to the shoulder, because the traffic on this section of the road was congested and scary. I put on my raincoat for a few minutes but it was too hot to keep it on. So I took it off and just got wet while waiting for the rain to stop.
Several other senior cyclists rolled into the Merryville park that evening. More on them tomorrow.
DM: 53.2; TM: 2,013.2
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| Dogs regrouping for a second attack |
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| Great way to get veggies in smaller towns |
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| More fire ants |
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| Sabine River |
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| Merryville historical society |
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| Merryville cabin |
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| Loving the AC |
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