Day 208 Feb 23, 2017 Tillman's Corner AL to Biloxi, MS

Yes, we add another new state, our 18th state we have ridden in since leaving Grand Rapids. We are not sorry to be leaving Alabama. The League of American Bicyclists rates Alabama as the least friendly state for biking in 2016, #50 out of 50. The year's before ranking was 50 also. Mississippi ranks 32; Michigan is 18. Today's route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19101994

Today's ride started with some gently rolling hills which basically flattened out once we reached the Mississippi border.



Our usual fans were present.


Some of the spring flowers are starting to fade. Seems odd to us. It is still February.




There was no "Welcome to Mississippi" sign, but behind us on the other side of the road was a "Welcome to Alabama" sign, so we figured this to be the state border.

As we left Pascagoula, we encountered our first serious climb of the day, the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Pascagoula River. We also had to ride on US-90 for a few miles. Good shoulder, but three lanes of 60 mph traffic can wear on you.

The land in these parts is pretty flat, but their bridges can really test your climbing legs. Some views from the bridge.







The views were nice despite the traffic.

The Pascagoula bridges were the end of US-90 for us today, and we returned to secondary roads.



They do take Mardi Gras seriously down here.


Our last major hill was the Biloxi Bay Bridge. At least it had a bike lane.


View from the top.


Tomorrow we ride 62 miles to Slidell, LA. I'm tired. Good night.