Day 31

Day 31: October 29, 2021 (New Roads LA to McCombs MS, [was Woodand LA])

It was cold, damp, and windy today.  I started on the gravel road bike by myself.  I’m down to one bike, two recumbents, one spare tire for the recumbents, and one new tube for the recumbents.  I have plenty of tires and tubes for the gravel road bike.  I hope I don’t need them.  I am sick of flat tires.

While the conditions were not ideal, I was making good time.  The roads were flat and had nice shoulders.  As soon as the road transitioned from Louisiana to Mississippi, the shoulder ended.  I could not find another road in Mississippi to get to our destination.    

Today, was Dave Marr’s and his wife Sabrina’s last day with me.  They had to leave for the airport at about 1:30 PM.  Couple that with the lack of a shoulder and I decided to pack up the bike and drive the rest of way to our destination.  

We arrived in McCombs just before noon.   I felt guilty only riding two hours and 30 miles.  When I was training, that would have been a good day.  Now, it felt like cheating.

We had a nice lunch.  After lunch, Dave and Sabrina were off to the airport and Kelly and I checked into the hotel.  I took a nap; I didn’t sleep well last night.  I was thinking about policeman Alice.  

Policeman Alice is the entity that terrified me so greatly 30 years ago as my memories of abuse were coming back that I could not sleep for 4 weeks.  Every time I closed my eyes, policeman Alice seemed like she was 3 inches from face and was going to kill me.

I’ve never figured out who policeman Alice was.  I gave up trying decades ago.  But, as I write my story, I started thinking about her again.  I still don’t have any more clarity as to who or what she was, but I can’t get her out of my mind.