2021 Southern Transcon Day 23: Greenville AL

Reflections on the Alabama River

Another 7:00 am start. When I took the bike to the trailer at 6:15 am before breakfast it was raining steadily. Breakfast was moved inside because of the rain. By the time we finished breakfast and it was time to load and depart, the rain was now barely a drizzle.

Wet roads in Livingston

The rain had stopped, but the humidity was still 100% and the roads were soaked. Passing cars and trucks kicked up huge clouds of mist as they passed. We decided not to wear the rain jackets since it was in the low 70's. But with the moisture in the air, and from the road traffic, we were soaked to the skin in minutes.

Tombigbee Waterway

Traffic was unusually heavy, with lots of logging traffic during the morning 'rush hour' as we left town. As normal, once we were about 20 miles out of town, the traffic became lighter. However, there were still many logging trucks going in all directions!

Path to hay fields and timber stands

Ranches (horse and cattle) shared the landscape with many sections of forest in various stages of growth.

Jefferson first SAG

The first SAG was in Jefferson at the community center. This cool general store was right next to the center. Check out the guy in the canoe!

Cotton is back

We had not seen large cotton fields since we left the Delta country in Mississippi, today there were many acres planted. Bases on the partially brown leaves, it looks like the defoliant has been applied and harvest time will be soon.

Red truck SAG at Thomaston Park

The Red truck SAG was in a city park in Thomaston. It was set back and we almost missed the turn when we were distracted by a Cheetos delivery truck at the Dollar General store across the way!

Let's head to the SAG

Another 20 miles would take us to the lunch SAG on the banks of the Alabama River. It looks more like a huge lake because it is dammed just a mile or so down stream.

SAG on the banks of the Alabama River

The SAG was in a state park on the banks of the river, and we had a covered picnic tables to enjoy our hamburgers on ! Its a long day at127 miles; so we dined, filled our bottles, our pockets with snacks, and dashed back out on the road.

It was pouring here!

Its 32 miles to the next SAG so we settle into a steady pace. We can see the storm cells building around us. At first it looks like we may dodge between two of them. But we take a turn to the north, and then from behind we start to feel the sprinkles. 

Soon its pouring rain. Its not cold, but its coming down so hard its hard to see through the glasses. Jeff  decides to pull off and put on his rain jacket. I slowed down and noticed the rain running down my back into the shorts and thought, yeah, its time to put on the jacket.

Jeff takes a call

We continue on for a while then Jeff calls out that his fiance, Lori has called him three times in a row so we stop so he can call her back. It turns out that Jeff stopped so suddenly to put on his jacket that his Garmin sent out an emergency alert to Lori! Its hard to tell from the photo, but it was really coming down in sheets here! He convinced her everything was fine, but it was really raining so we had to go.

Timber operations by the highway

The heavy rain lasted about 30 minutes. It had stopped raining when we passed this timber operation. Unfortunately, my camera/phone was foggy from all the moisture!

Pine Apple AL

Pine Apple SAG and decorations

The last SAG was in Pine Apple. A cute small town where Veronica had set up the SAG under an abandoned storefront with an awning. We still had 32 miles to go, so again we refilled and got out of there quickly.

Back in cotton country

Chicken houses near Greenville

More cotton, cattle, and now chicken houses dotted the landscape as we headed into Greenville! The last 10 miles had plenty of rollers to remind our legs that we had been in the saddle for 9 hours today. We finally rolled in at about 4:30pm. 127 miles and 3400 feet of climbing in 9.5 hours!

Another 128 miles closer!

Tim was in the parking lot to greet us and we went a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. He is in great spirits and we are very happy to have him back. Tomorrow he will ease back into the tour and ride a few sections with SAG van bumps and see how it goes. 

Most the gear is almost dry, so its time to call it a night. See you in the parking lot at 7!

Click here for GPS data