Day 41: Thursday, 4/16/15 Poplarville, MS (70º at 6:30 am) to Ocean Spring, MS (77º at 2:00 pm) 70 miles, elevation changes: +1898/-2164.

Theme of the Day: Riding on beautiful backcountry roads, they were very smooth, with almost no traffic and no rain. It was as humid as it can get; the dew point is 71º.  It was 72º when we started this morning. I had lots of sweat flowing off my body all day as I biked along. I put my bike outside just before I ate breakfast and the fairing became coated in dew/moisture in about 20 minutes. It took the first 90 minutes of riding before the fairing dried off and I could see through it.

We ate a nice lunch provided by a Baptist Church that Bubba has made a connection with over the years. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich with potato salad. I took a few nature pictures, one of a fire anthill. There are LOTS of fire anthills in the south.

Bike Stats: 70.0 miles ridden in 4 hours and 35 minutes of actual biking, averaging 15.3 mph with a maximum speed of 33.1 mph.

Highlights:

• I had a flat tire again on the rear tire, just before lunch. I still haven’t punctured a tire or gotten a flat from roadside debris working into the tire. (The next time you drive, look carefully at all the broken glass, rocks, dirt, and pieces of retreaded truck tires that have come off all along the side of the road where you would ride your bike. Rural roads are the worst.) My rear tube was again losing air around the valve stem. It took me 15 minutes to change the tube and off I went.
• Biking on the beautifully green and lush backcountry roads of Mississippi. We biked through about 30 miles of the De Soto National Forest. It was beautiful with long needle pine lining both sides of the road.
• Poking a fire anthill after taking a picture of it. I hope you can see the fire ants pouring out.

It was a beautiful sky this morning in Poplarville, MS as the sun was coming up.

Steers along the road. There are still many farms along the back roads we have traveled.

We rode through an area with a series of human made ponds. This is Rodgers Lake. Note the hole in the pond. I am on a road that is a 20 foot high earthen dam creating the lake. The hole is the water draining out of the lake into a pipe carrying the water down to the original stream bed.

The fire anthill, all peaceful before I poked it with a stick. This one is about 10" tall. It virtually exploded with red fire ants swarming out, including the flying variety. I'm sorry that I didn't get closer so that you can see them better.

Tomorrow we ride 82 miles to Dauphin Island, AL and then have a rest day. It's hard to believe I only have 11 days left on the trip. I have loved every minute of it.

Make it a great day.

John