Today I joined forces with Jim Hartman to sweep the ride so we agreed to ride at the back of the group and make sure that everyone arrived safely. We started by delivering a gift to one of the churches who had hosted us so well the previous day on our arrival on Dauphin Island and then we set off on the ride. This added a few miles to the ride and then we set off to cross the Dauphin Island Bridge - No small task with a headwind!!
It didn’t take long to encounter one of the riders who had suffered a flat tyre on the bridge.
We helped Fred to refit his rear wheel and he was off again. However, it was at this point that Jim realised that his rear tyre was going soft! We rode on to the end of the bridge and then set about trying to find the leak on his tyre. This proved elusive so he changed the tube and then we rode on, looking back at the enormous bridge we had crossed.
Given that we had lost time, we sought to press out the miles to catch up and it was great to see other riders at the refreshment break at the half-way point of a 45 mile ride. We acted for everyone to leave before setting off ourselves
At the 35 mile mark we crossed from Alabama into Mississippi
Shortly after this we found our first rider who was struggling to complete the ride so we helped him cope with the final few miles and, as we completed the ride, we picked up another rider to brings them to our hosting church in Pascagoula. Everyone arrived safety and due to the early start, this left time to relax in the afternoon before being treated to an evening meal by the church.
So ended Day 4 but we have a longer ride to do tomorrow which will be also twice as long - 84 miles and arrival in Louisiana - 4 states in 4 days! Phew!🥵 Starting to develop a cyclist tan with pink legs, arms and face but white torso - think of a panda and change the black to pink and you have the picture!!