My first stop was Fort Morgan Alabama, which is West of Gulf Shores. After checking this area out (and getting a ferry schedule), I turned around and headed East.
Riding along the coastline, I was surprised at just how much damage was still visible from Hurricane Ivan from late last year. Some of those areas were totally wiped out. Lots of construction going on too. Not many street signs, or ANY signs for that matter. It was quite common for me to have no idea where I was. Wish I would have taken a GPS with me. Heck, I crossed the Florida state line a long time back before I even figured out that I was in Florida.
Seeing all of the devastation from Hurricane Ivan was really depressing, and I decided I didn’t want to take any pictures of the remains of family homes and lost businesses.
I tried to cross through the Pensacola Naval Air Base but permission denied (on both the West and East entrances) due to my inappropriate attire.
On July 5th, I spent part of the day with a passenger (my 4yr/old daughter) exploring local roads. We had a blast. My little 125 supermoto is the ideal bike for that area, with the exception of the street tires, which offer virtually zero grip in sand! Otherwise, it was perfect. It even ran stronger in the thicker air at Sea Level. I would not have thought it would have made that much difference. If I lived there, I think this would very likely be the only vehicle I would own.
That evening, I lost lots of sleep worrying about my little 125 stuck outside unprotected in Tropical Storm Cindy. I wasn’t even sure if it was going to be there in the morning, but to my surprise, it remained vertical throughout the night. I had tucked it up under my beach house as close as I could and hoped for the best. It did get blasted by a sandstorm, but for the most part came out unharmed. I spent a considerable amount of time that morning washing off the sand and salt, then lubing the chain. The rest of the day was pretty much a washout.
Since I went pretty far East on the 4th, I decide to go West on the 7th. It was originally my intent to just go wherever the roads would happen to take me, but after being gone a while, I thought it would be nice to have lunch on New Orleans. The first leg of my trip involved crossing the Mobile Bay on the local ferry.
This was the first time I had ever taken one of my bikes on a ferry, much less one crossing over a large body of salt water. I just barely caught it before departing. They had already untied it and where beginning to shove off when I approached. They waved me on and I was the last one to board (just barely). The ferry unloaded on Dauphin Island and I rode off from there. I followed the coastline through Biloxi Mississippi and points further West. I crossed more bodies of water than I can remember. It took me a long time following the Alabama and Mississippi coast line and I ended up getting lost somewhere in the SE Louisiana and SW Mississippi Bayou, South of NASA’s Stennis Space Center. I had to consult the map that I picked up at the Mississippi Welcome Center several times to figure out just where I was. I had already been gone too long, so I scrapped the New Orleans idea in favor of turning around and trying to make some decent time on my return route. Before heading back however, I decided I would take the opportunity to pay Slidell Louisiana a quick visit.
Somewhere in SW Mississippi, the 125SM found some new power and I was reaching some top speeds that where previously unobtainable for me. I don’t know how or why, but I was now getting an extra 10mph on top end. With this new ability to travel at what I now considered to be highway speeds, I decided to take I-10 back (70mph speed limit). Not only did the 125SM do quite well and maintain suitable highway speeds, I often found myself passing slower traffic. I came back into the Mobile Alabama area at an odd time and I knew that I was not going to be able to catch the ferry to cross back over. I was not willing to wait an hour and a half for the next one, so I decide to circle the bay. Big mistake. It took nearly two hours for me to make that leg of my trip and I was completely exhausted.
Overall, I was really impressed with the 125SM and have a new appreciation for it. With it only being a 125cc bike and not a lot of luggage space, it is difficult to really tour on it. However, I think I’m going to be trying to tour on it more often in the near future. It’s hard to beat that 80mpg (or 70mpg wide open for two straight hours on the highway).
That was pretty much it as far as my riding in the South went. My vacation was cut short by the threat of Hurricane Dennis and we decided to depart a half a day earlier than the expected mandatory evacuations. A half a day wasn’t enough, and the highways where jammed from the coast all the way to as far North as Louisville. I spend all night taking alternate routes to avoid the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highways. I left early afternoon Friday and got home at 7am Saturday morning. Man, I’m still tired.
