Dateline 10:45AM: Hattiesburg,MS
Verizon roaming internet access leaves much to be desired. Downloading of mail up in Meridian was slower thn a slug slithering on waxed paper. I am now outside Hattiesburg, MS taking a day off driving to gulf coast.
Noisey night in Meridian. In AM saw sign: No Parking behind the long gone logging truck. Split to fix bfast @ mall parking lot.
Short drive to Bonita Lake trails. Park employee stopped to tell me about trails. A mtn biker showed up, Brad, younger guy and i globbed onto him for a guide. Drive train was making horrible sounds and i cut the short ride shorter.
Entered address of Heart & Sole shop into gps and arrived. Wrench worked on my bike around what i was able to do. Bottom bracket was a bit loose in frame: tightened. Repalced all chain rings. Discovered that baby chain ring was made for another crank config. Creative filing by wrench made it fit. Cluster is where noise was coming from: all the bolts holding the gears together sheared, the cluster was swimming free. Free wheel body has small gouges in it. Wonder what deal is with falling apart, first time ever that happened. Adjusted the shifting which was strange. Charged me $20 for work which was fair.
I asked shop about finding a shower. Butch, the owner, said i can help you. He called the health club that he frequents and gave me the names of people to contact to get a shower. He called the club and introduced me. He told me I should stop by b4 5:00 because afterwards it would be harder to obtain permission. I modified my schedule & drove to club for shower instead of returning to Bonita trail to check out fix. Jerry, an older guy, met me as I walked in. he already knew about me. A free shower. I spoke w/ him and 2 people working out about my trip. My adventure stories become a take away for them. As odyssey continues new stories are entered into the log book.
Conflicted as to whether continue my riding by driving West to Jackson, or take a day off and drive round trip about 6 hours to gulf coast. Internet access was horrible that stressed me out because i couldn’t plan w/o info from Johnny for MT Zion trails. Decided to drive non major roads to Forest, MS, check the internet again, make a decision, & spend the night. Found parking spot 2 blocks off main st between 2 abandoned buildings 1/2 block from railroad track. trains went by several times shaking my windows. I woke to the sound of a car crunching gravel but it didn’t stop. Didn’t sleep well.
Left calf where I had the blood clot back in Nov is bothering me. I am wearing the compression sock to help the circulation & taking big aspirin. Day of rest will help.
Way down South. Soil is red mud that holds h2o. mostly flat land w/ a few rolling hills. rain has nowhere to go. In Meridian the creeks are channeled & leveed to contain the “runoff”.
Randy, I am using the Turner grease gun which means I do not have to disassemble parts to grease the fittings. Still hardly any grease goes in. My reading of Turner manual says if none goes in it is OK. Someday i will have to service bushings.
Off to finish drive to coast. Gotta catch Zags game tonight.
Update:
Continued drive to Gulfport. Drove E on rt 90 along the gulf shore where buildings are only on the landward side of the big road. Almost all the Katrina damaged bldgs have been removed. What stands out are the vacant lots w/ for sale signs. Windy, blowing white sand onto the road like snow. Wind ready maxed @ 22 mph gust. Drove by Jeff Davis’ damaged home signs soliciting $ for rebuild. Jeff was president of Confederacy.
Checked out Beef o’Brady’s for Zag coverage. yes they have. Called Hooters and they have games also. Going to Hooters to stare… at the TV.
Win Dixie is not a very healthy grocery store.
Going to hotel parking lot sleep and tomorrow move back inland.
Leg still painful. Maybe just a mid muscle pain.
Go Zags! Zags won in thriller. Foul shooting was key. The CBS feed comes from New orleans and the local Best Buy did not spring for more channels. Watched on laptop cbs updates.
Hooters was fun but w/ no game coverage, a Guiness for $5.00 and I was out of there.