Serendipity is the BESt

Today so far has seen a great case of serendipity, not to mention some good old fashioned hospitality. First however, I should explain the events of the day so we can see how I came to be happily lounging in the back yard of BES Incorporated's offices…

I started the day early, eating breakfast with my grandparents Herb and Marian, my Aunt Teresa, Uncle Willy (Whisky Willy!) and Cousin Sam. Checked the weather to find that Tropical Storm Debby looks like it is going to strafe the entire section of gulf coast I’ll be riding over the next couple of days. At least I’ll get some decent tailwinds out of it!

Departure time all over again

My plan at that point was to ride down to Ft. Morgan and take the ferry over to Dauphin Island, from where I’d take the bridge north to the mainland and take 188 until it hit highway 90. Turns out that the ferry doesn’t run if the wind blows much at all, which I thankfully discovered shortly after cruising into Gulf Shores and before making the 22 mile trek down to Ft. Morgan. So I headed north on 59 to Foley, fighting for a narrow ribbon of asphalt on the side of the lane and silently bemoaning the fact that my early tailwind was now a not-quite-but-almost headwind. (for some reason, it was blowing out of the northeast at this point).

As soon as I reached the intersection with 98 I headed west, delighting in my once-again tailwind. I’ve never been on this section of 98 before, but the scenery was about as expected- fields, farms, pecan orchards, and the occasional roadside fruit stand as I neared Fairhope. However, I made a couple of exciting discoveries when I hit Weeks Bay. Firstly, it is really, really pretty and I’m kicking myself for not stopping and taking pictures of the water and the marshes. I could see Christopher Matechik and JonathanBollhoeffer enjoying this area a lot. Secondly, and something I did get a picture of (albeit while riding)- a dedicated bike and pedestrian lane on the bridge!

Ok, so it doesn't look THAT impressive, but I was impressed

This lane continued on the other side of the bridge, and I followed it all the way to Mobile Bay, where it made a northerly turn and followed a scenic route along the water. I shortly discovered that this was the Eastern Shore Trail, and it goes all the way up to Battleship Park!

Look at that trail!

At this point, it was nearing noon and thus nearing lunch time, but there were no convenient parks or other places to pull over and eat, and I didn’t feel like stopping at one of the trailside benches. So, I pulled out my chicken salad sandwich and happily one-handed it as I trundled along.  The first bite had scarcely been swallowed however when I was startled by a man pulling up behind me and asking how I was doing and if I needed anything at all. I told him I was fine, and was going to Colorado via Texas, and asked him if he knew of a park where I could eat my lunch and take a nap. He replied that yes, he knew of a place, and it happened to be the backyard of his engineering firm’s office, and not only could I eat lunch there, but I was welcome to wash up, spread my stuff out to dry, and stay longer if I needed!

His name is Walt Bolton, he owns BES Incorporated, and we talked about my trip, engineering, bikes and motorcycles as we threaded our way through the streets and up some surprisingly large hills (apparently the highest hills anywhere on the coast between Mexico and Maine!) to his office, which resides in a nicely remodeled older house.  After showing me around and making sure I had everything I needed, Walt headed on, promising to be back later in the afternoon to check up on me if I hadn’t left by then. Thanks Walt!

Oh, and Fairhope has free public wifi, so I’m posting this while sitting in my hammock in a nicely shaded part of the yard. 

Walt and his bike

This post was written here

I’m glad the ferry wasn’t running today.