Cycling the Underground Railroad

  DAY 4: GROVE HILL TO LINDEN  When those seeking freedom from slavery attempted to escape, they often encountered obstacles of weather.  They didn't have National Weather Forecasts, radar or cell phone alerts.  I do. Yesterday one elderly lady cautioned me about "a storm that was a-comin'!"  She was right.  A 3-day system is on its way through,  complete with lightning, thunder, heavy rains and high winds.  The next two nights I had planned on camping.  This might not be a good idea. The Adventure Cycling route has me going a circuitous route over the next two days to Linden, Alabama.  (Today I will discover why.) From Linden I planned on breaking off the Underground Railroad route, and heading to Selma to ride the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.  But since my brother Kent and I have experienced this severe kind of Southern weather while cycling Route 66 through Texas, I thought it wise not to challenge the elements....

  DAY 3:  HUBBARD LANDING TO GROVE HILL  Hills. Hills. And more hills. Yes, I did my research, and I knew that parts of this ride was going to have ups and downs.   But, until today, I had NO IDEA what I was in for.  I realized as I was pedalling how extremely difficult it would be for someone to try to escape on foot, with minimal belongings and probably inadequate shoes, though this terrain.   In addition to the hills, the trees in these Southern forests are not all that big around, but they grow close together, creating an environment of dense vegetation.   The undergrowth is thick and woody, making it slow going.  As a result,  there is a darkness to the forest, and it all starts looking alike; getting disoriented could happen easily.   Especially if most of one's life had been lived in the close confines of a single plantation.   Today's ride brought the reality and difficulty of this struggle to life. ...

  DAY 2:  MOBILE TO HUBBARD LANDING  Today was the start of our journey north, to "Canaan," the Biblical Promised Land, which is the code name slaves used for Ontario, Canada, which outlawed slavery in 1793.  (The British Commonwealth banned slavery in its territories worldwide in 1834.) I started out by going back through Africatown and crossing the bridge over the Mobile River.  It was a bit foggy,  so I had to ride carefully on the shoulder. Foggy morning crossing the Mobile Bay bridge. For the next 15 miles I rode along the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.   The tide was in, and sometimes it felt like I was pedalling right on the water!  The route took me past the USS Alabama, "The Mighty A."  This battleship served in both the North Atlantic and Pacific during World War II, and led the American fleet into Tokyo Harbor in 1945. It is one huge boat! Retired WWII battleship U.S.S. Alabama, docked in Mobile Bay. At Spanish Fort (I bet it's...