If it weren't for bad luck..

...I would have any luck at all. At least today that was the case. I began the day by shoveling dirt and rock for 4 hours. Man am I in rock shoveling shape. After I cleaned up, I banged my elbow on a towel rack and lost all feeling in my arm for about 3 hours. When I finally came back to functionality I strapped on my shoes and made out for a sprint workout. Everything was going well until The road on my usual route was missing. Gone. Dug up. So I road it. Maybe its not a great idea to roll every road without a care in the world. It might just come back to haunt you. A few miles down the road I finally found the Belleville Biek Trail. Its only been there for a few years. 1 mile into the tail I flatted. When I reached back for my tube I realize I left it on the counter at home. So instictively I reached the other way for my phone. Wouldn't you know it I forgot that too. I will give you one guess where it is. Wait my day isnt over. At this point I am as far from hom as I planned to go today. I figured I need to get to a phone. So I rolled by a friends house, and of course he wasn't at home. At this point, I have ceased to care how I get home, and I point the Zurich in that general direction. After about 10 minutes of lower back abuse that some would pay high dollar to have a therapist do to them it begins to rain on me. I made it home an hour later witha real bad attitude.

Take your freaking phone and repair crap with you when you ride you moron.

Death March

There is something about suffering that just reals me in and won't let go. Once you start to suffer it would make the most sense to stop what you are doing. On the bike it is a little different. Its not like swimming. If you run out of gas in the pool you drown. Unlike running, you can not stop and walk. On the bike you are supported by your machine, and if you still have your equilibrium you can still coast. So, if you ride out into the middle of nowhere you have to make it back somehow. Instead of riding easy and taking more time, most of us would prefer to endure great amounts of pain just to get home quicker.

My legs were not any good when we started today. Maybe riding the track bike a couple of days before a big group ride is not a good idea? Rolling out of the Marketplace I felt fine as we cruised down Bluff road at a steady clip. But, once we rolled up into the bluffs I knew it would be a long way home. Maybe the fact that it was almost impossible for me to decend a staircase the day before would have clued me in on the fact I was about to suffer.

Adios

Got up early to meet up with Adam and get in an easy spin before I hit the bricks. After two easy hours and a handshake I split for base camp. After gathering up some pecan cut for the Bland family smoker, I did my best to fix a downed chainsaw before I left. Before I could sneak off Yvonne Fulton packed up a load of shrimp caught by a family friend.

I said my goodbyes to the Fultons who assured me I did not need to leave. I am sure they could use my help for some time to come, but its back to work for me.

Somewhere in Ohio a village is missing its idiot

I would kill for a group ride with people that understand how to ride their bikes. I road with a maroon today that thought it was a good idea to hammer out of the blocks and blow out the elders and the juniors. Then leave them for dead. I medium sized group was four inside of 20 minutes. Half way through the only junior blew sky high, and the knuckle head has the stones to say, "I think it would be okay to leave him at this point." I had already pulled him back into the fold twice and fixed his bike so I wasn't prepared to do it again. I should have. I know better.

The clown in question, seemed like a nice guy when I rolled up to the lot were the ride began. Wearing an Ohio State jersey and sportin' a shinny Tete de Course I thought we might have alot in common. Well just because we are both graduates of the Ohio school systems and riders of Lemonds magical mystery bikes doesn't mean we will be holding hands at the back of the bus any time soon. Today was just like being back in the club. Except I taught this guy a valuable lesson once we got to the few hills on the way back. He was seeing black by the time we cleared the last little rise. Trouble is I dont think he will learn, and I blew up the other guy (Adam) that was left at this point too. Not a nice thing to do because he seemed like the only rational member of the group. Just so happens Adam was an out of towner as well. He is from Virginia and his company is contracted by a local HVAC company to help fill their rehad contract. It seems it isn't really rehab when you replace everything though. I will meet up with Adam early tomorrow for my last ride on the Redneck Riviera.

Generations

Ken was feeling good today so we got in some time behind the camera. He had not been down to the beach yet because his back has been so bad. He knew what to expect, but there is no preparation for what is there. We got in about two and half hours of video between us. We went by some of his friends house Biloxi to see what the damage was like. The Parker family was the worst. Total loss. We spoke to Miss Parker, and she said that the homes that have been in their family for nine generations both have work permits, but even if and when they rebuild (they do plan to rebuild) there is still a chance the state will take their homes for the new Casinos and parks planned for the area. Thats a hard pill to swollow. Her son had just last year bought a new shrimp boat estimated at five hundred million dollars. He had insurance, but evidently it wasn't enough, and they weere not paying. He has about thirty thousand dollars in damage to the boat, and it is being repaired in Bayou La Batre. I am not sure if Forest Gump or Luitenent Dan are working on it. The fact is that the Parker family has fallen through the cracks. The only payment they have recieved from anyone was 735 dollars from their home owners insurance. But, Miss Parker had a certain spring in her voice when she spoke, and smile on her face. You see, you just can not take the spirit out of some people. No matter what happed to Forest Gump he just kept on going.

When we got back, I geared up and made my way back out into the field to clear some more trees. I managed to clear a few more trees and make myself really tired.

Pro

I am starting to feel the affects of my efforts. I did a lazy hour and a half today before I got back to home base. I had planned on working in the field today. Once I got the chainsaw gased up and lubed I set out to the far end on the property. There are several trees down on angle cutting off any path through that side of the property. The goal was to cut them down clear them out so as to have access with the tractor. The lumber and logging companies are no longer taking wood. Their schedules are completely full. So the only other option is to burn (when the burn order is lifted), but the trees need to be cut, limbed and cleared. This is easier said than done unless you are a professional. I cleared 6 trees and I am wasted. It would have been worse had the trusted Husky not run out of gas.

3 hours hours of death

When water gets up under the pavement strange things start to happen.

I gave it hell on the bike today. Three hours of unstructured efforts and I came back home like rubber. I did get some really good pictures. Hopefully, I will be able to continue with the effort.

New job title

I had two jobs for the day. Ride my bike and try and fix a lawnmover for Jack. If I were a basball player I would be doing great because I am batting 500. I did not get to the lawnmover. We did finally see some rain which was brewing just off the coast as I road along a now open section of Hwy 90. I did hear the tractor fire today, but there is still an electrical problem. With my ability to only shock myself when encountering electricity I will leave that to someone else.

If you do not have a strong constitution, sense of humor and a unmatched ability to roll with the punches you might not have what it takes to live on the Gulf Coast.

Tractor Games

Today was a day of rest. Originally I was going to do a couple of hours down along the beach, but we got going late. Jack Fulton and I got to working on one of his tractors, and that took most of the afternoon. It seems that if you run this brand of diesel out of fuel you have to bleed the fuel lines. Air is no good for compression you see. Yes, I looked at the manual. No, I did not read it, or maybe I should say I did not read until after we worked on it. No, it does not run. But, I was covered in diesel fuel and grease by the time we got done bleeding the poor machine. I do not think I would hurt the tractors feelings if I said it was whipped. Jack thinks we will get it running tomorrow. I will hold my pessimistic line until I hear the bad boy turn over.

Vapor

I had not gone much further north of Gulfport on hwy 90 so I decided to take a look see. Well now I know what thats like. I thought the destruction along 90 in Gulfport was incredible. How naive that thougt was. I have never seen destruction like the 15 miles of coastline I road today. My chin was on my handlebars. Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Wave Land are destroyed. The wave must have come in twice as far as in Gulfport. It looks like about 3-4 blocks inland are vapor. I road west as far as I was physically allowed to go (the bridge in Waveland is out and the raod is blocked with razor wire), but I was unable to take pictures. I just could not bring myself to do it. Tommorow I will head up there and get some images.

After about 3 hours I had enough so I turned my trusty Lemond north. After about another 30 minutes I hooked up with a man in his 50s who was out on his afternoon stroll on his Motobecane. We chatted a bit about the hurricane and its damage. It is generally the first thing that comes up in new conversation. It is still very fresh in everyones mind. That may not change for years. This man gave me a little encouragement I had been looking for. He assured me that many if not most of the people living on the coast know their situation well. There is a documented history of hurricanes in this area, and these people know they will come. Certainly they hope for the best, but who could imagine that homes that have stood for almost 200 years would be washed away? I guess I dont pity the people here. But, just like many people, I am young, fit and ready to help.

After 5 hours of spinning, visual over load and chatting with my new friend I was ready to be home. Ken's house is something out of a horror flick, but I see those two red doors it means I am home. Good thing because I think I was just ripe enough for the Bayou Bandits to pick me from my tree.

Man on a Mission

With the social-political growlings of Greg Graffin squelching from my ipod I set out for my daily flogging. I hit out with 2 sets of 5 spinups to 160+rpm towards Woolmarket (yes that is the name of a town). The I managed 3x3min @ 90-95% with 3 minutes rest after turning north towards the national forest. It was a hard to warmup, but after I recovers the next series of beatings was pretty relaxed with 3x10min @ 90% with 3 min rest, and 4x2min @90% with 1 min rest. There is nothing like a little gravel or dirt road to polish off a ride.


I definitely am guilty of protesting my distrust and dissatisfaction with the establishment. Whether that is government and its programs or private establishments like the insurance industry. I believe it is our duty as free people to speak out against programs that do not serve us to the best of our/their ability. Whether you are right or not is peripherial to the reasoning. It is necessary to question authority to keep that structure intact, in check. But, I am no preacher. You will not get directional services from me. I am not a hypocrite either so I will go pick up some more downed limbs.

Ships Ahoy!

Oh brother, were are thou. I have riden over the canal bridge a few times, but I had not looked over to see what was floating in or not floating in the canal. On the way down to coast today I caught a glimse of these boats run ashore. I was shooting some film for Ken today. There are some places you can only get on foot or the bike. The footage was okay, but I will have to make another run later.

Kopper Kopper crime stopper

Got up, got out of bed and drug a comb across my head.....gotcha. I don't have any hair. Friday is usually a rest day for me on the bike. Why should today be any different. So I got motivated and strutted out the door to the sound of yappin' dawgs. Kens terrior Tricky is an old friend, but Kopper is a newbie. Just before the hurricane season Kens Chihuahua Pepe was eaten by an alligator. Sad but true. Pepe was aggressive and maybe over stepped his bounds down on the bayou. That bayou can be rough at times. So, Kopper is a high powered sprinter that can run with the best of them. Fast and nimble he has a deft touch on his accelerator. He is quite talented, and in all reality looks somewhat like a reindeer without antlers. A bobcat had been sighted on the Fulton property recently, and Ken and I saw what appeared to be bobcat tracks. Hopefully, Kopper and Tricky will keep clear of this guy.

The plan was to get the brush cleared in Kens yard so we can get the pecan tree that has fallen next to the powerlines out. I cleared much of the brush and will get at it again later. Time to spin the battery acid out of the legs.

You create your own reality

My reality is of awe with how people on the gulf take their reality. While in passing at the store I heard a converstion between aquintances which went something like this, "how did you do in the hurricane? Pretty good. How about your self? Not too bad. We lost or roof, but it was only about 15 thousand in damage. Thats good. We were about the same....." The conversation went on to family and relatives. Not the idle conversation you would expect to hear in the midwest. The people in the south are of true substance, and it shows each time you meet someone.

The anti-cyclist

Sit right back and enjoy the tale. The tale of a long long trip. Well, only a 5-hour tour. Got in the long easy miles today, and even caught a glimpse of the SS Minnow seen here in this picture.

Originally, I had planned to start around 8am so I could get back and start working on the downed trees in Kens front yard. But, I just couldn’t get things together to get out the door. Ken had planned a session at therapy and a hair cut (I think they call the cut the El Vez) so that took most of his afternoon. Once I was late, I just set out to ride the day away. With the buzz of Year of the Rabbit squelching from my ipod I hoped off to coast. There is ever-present bit of traffic along Hwy 90. The west board lanes closed so it congests quite a bit. After about 2 hours of ride time, I got a call from Cha Chee wanting to spin out for a few miles. He was still suffering a bit from the previous days effort back to the coast through the wall of head wind. At not quite 3 and half hours in the saddle I hooked up with Cha Chee, Ponch and new guy Super Dave. Super Dave is a fireman who possesses arms the size of my legs. He has an interest shaving regime. It appears he is an anti-cyclist with his arms shaved and legs in full growth. Evidently, the wind had gotten quite heavy. I began to really feel the effects of spinning into the wind as we came back into town. My legs were like two cypress trees bending like blades of grass in the torrential winds of a hurricane. Donzo.

Before and After

I had some pictures saved from last Jan. when I was down on the Gulf. I thought it might be interesting to see what some of the homes were like.

YOU LOOT WE SHOOT. For real bro!

How about the stone wall that disappeared around this house?

Those walls were really just blocking their view of the ocean.

Blown Face Down

Just like the Dazzling Killmen song, my new partner in crime, Cha Chee, came home blown face down. Our 3:45 of ride time left him with little more than a wimper left in his legs. I think he could feel every millimeter of his skin shrinking aound his already petrified muscles when we rolled up to the Fulton Compound. Call your congressman because these Navy boys down here are out of shape! On second thought, don't worry about it. I will drill 'em for another week and a half. They should be good after that.

Cha Chee took me up north today into the Desoto National Forest. If that develops images of the Shawnee National Forest for you, get rid of them because it is not the same. The Desoto is mostly flat, even though Cha Chee was able to point out every false flat we came to. It is a beautiful area. Hurricane season has left its mark many miles north of the coast, but man is nature resillient. We definately passed through our share of downed cypress, but it just seems like the trees here might have won the battle with Katrina.

Cha Chee struggles up the Col de Notahillatall.

An afternoon stroll amounst the cypress and the saplings

We just got back from surveying the Fulton family property. It looks like well over 50 large trees have been snapped in half at the midway point. Another dozen or so trees have been up rooted. The job now is to limb out the trees that pose the most danger. Ken has a large pecan and average size cedar tree down right to the south of his house. It appears this two trees and the low lying foliage to the south are what saved his home from being picked up in the 140mph winds and slammed down across the way. The Fultons neighbors just to the east of them lost everything when the back bay and bayou came up over their roof line. They are now living in Kens house.

North Biloxi 40 turns into 50

To get another perspective I went out on a ride with some of the locals who happen to be stationed at the nearby Naval Base. They took me of a 50 route that helped me make sense of the roads I have been trying to link up. We were also able to get an understanding of the tornados that came ashore with the hurricane and beat up the terrain inland. If you have seen Band of Brothers the trees look like the scenes from Bastogne when the Germans are lobbing mortors into the trees. It is surreal to say the least. In the end it was a nice ride. I handed out Dent Wizard jerseys to my to new riding buddies, Cha Chee and Ponch. Not sure if these are their real names.

Day 2 '06

Made the effort to ride to the coast again today. The problem today was that you can't get there from here if you flat twice. After I got my air situation under control I headed for the local bike shop for some support supplies. Ya, I never found it. Not sure if they are amoung the survivors or not.

Once I got to Long Beach I headed down to HWY 90. You may have seen glimses of HWY 90 in Long Beach on the tv. There once was beautiful plantation homes hear on the beach from. I counted 4 FEMA trailers in a 5 mile stretch. Gulfport isn't any better. I appears the at impact Long Beach got hit a little harder, but Gulfport was affected further in from the coast. At any rate it is total destruction.

This family is for real. They were evidently watching me closely from down the outer road as I took his picture. I was not shot.

On New Years Day

So first things first. Congradulations goes out to the Marbarger Clan with the union of Jay and Becky New Years Eve. After the wedding party I had to head home before I passed out. I thought the I was getting over my cold, but I was fading in and out at the wedding.

After I got home I still needed to pack for my trip to the Gulf so I polished off that task and had a Mountain Dew Amp to make my head feel better. Well, I got so Amp'ed that I decided to drive through the night to Gulfport. Not usually a bad idea, but on New Years or Amatuer Night it is probably not the best of ideas. I got a few minutes of rest while watching the best of the UFC 2005, and then I hit the bricks. My idea of running caffiene, guarana and ginsing for fuel was working. At least for the first 6 hours. Thats a problem when it is a 10 hour trip. After a needed nap at a rest stop I got on with the journey. You can start to see the damage from Katrina as soon as you hit Jackson, MS. With an occasional tree blown to bits or some roofing missing the first glance at Jackson suggests a minimal amount fo loss. But, my first glance gave way to the understanding that the damage here is not selective as I pass by a home split in two by fallen tree. Imagine lossing your favorite tree in your yard. Then imagine it spit your house in half. Thats sucks.

So where am I headed. Last January I spent some time in Gulfport. MS with my friend Ken Fulton and his family while on a tour of the southland. 3 months ago their home of Gulfport was devasted by Katrina and the 30ft 70 mile long wave she brought with her. The closer I got to Gulfport the dmamge becomes more and more apparent. Needless to say it is hard to describe. I will say that it is not nearly as bad and at the same time completely worse than what I had invisioned. When you look at photographs your perspective is limited. In video the depth of you perspective and your peripheral vision is constricted. In full view, the experience is awesome.


I rode down to the coast, but the fog was so heavy it was hard to see very far. Most of the homes near the coast are now just a memory.