As we ride around the roads, we are seeing "tough times" seeming to be more and more visible, every time I go on a familiar route, I notice another small business has closed it's doors.

More big vehicles "For Sale" in the front yards (my neighbors '03 Tahoe dropped in loan value from $14,500 to less than $9,000 in 3 mos.), and more yard sales in general.

One of the ideas I had in 2005, when I started promoting the MB solution, was how the gas savings enjoyed could be churned back into the economy, by trying to seek out local businesses whenever possible. Twenty miles away from the bigger grocery stores, Fridays are when bread and milk are freshest, is usually the only day the car moves, (unless I have to go pick up new bikes). In other words, saving gas means when buying small items, I don't mind spending a little more at a proprietorship, knowing a chainstore would be cheaper.

Part of that inspiration was getting really irritated with the local Wal Mart, (back before I knew much about bikes), and the second one I bought had a front wheel come off because the axle nut was stripped...I realized that if I was going to hit 35 mph, better have a reliable bike assembler.

I've been able to keep up my boycott of national food franchises, especially on the long distance travels, learning the best hour to beat the rush was after 1 o'clock, how one daily "all you can eat" buffet in a small town not only saved money, but saved time in the long run.

The conversations with locals is always better at a Mom and Pop diner, here's some examples.

The first time "breakfast was on the house" was in Nashville, GA, early on a Saturday morning. After filling up with gas I asked where the best breakfast buffet could be found, and they pointed me to the county square, where antique tractors and booths were being set up, it was Agricultural Celebration Day in Berrien County, the Number One Agriculture County in Georgia.

When I got into the "Dinner Bell", the place was packed, it was an Awards Breakfast, and the only available seat was right in the middle, with a local teacher who was video taping the speeches. (thats him in the plaid shirt, against the back wall with the his camera)...

He taught Ag at the high school, and we got to talking about my bike adventures as I was eating my first plateful.

Then the ceremonies began.

I tried to be quiet and discreet as I went back to the buffet line for seconds, but then the teacher stood and said something about "having a guest from Alabama, claiming to get 250 miles per gallon"....caught me by surprise, holding a heaping plate, so I said "I'm from Cullman County, the Number One Agricultural County in Alabama, was sent here by Gov. Riley as an ambassador to celebrate the liberal use of bovine fertilizers".

Fifteen minutes later, I was still hungry, snuck back for thirds when a State Senator rose to give his spiel. When I got to the register after 90 minutes of "liberal use of bovine byproducts", hearing all the speeches and awards dispensed, the waitress told me my breakfast ticket had been paid by the same Senator. I went up to him to thank him, and he said "funny thing is, you can't even vote for me....now show me that bike of yours". About 15 farmers circled round on the sidewalk as I answered questions, an all around fulfilling morning.

Midway between Tuscumbia and Eufaula, Alabama, the grandparents of the little girl in picture #2 owned a Soul Food resturaunt, in the middle of nowhere. WITH ONE OF THE BEST OLD SCHOOL JUKEBOXES, that I loaded down with quarters for 12 picks. Nothing like a loud "Mustang Sally" to get a mealtime moving in the right direction. Collard greens and sweet potato pie on the menu...but I ordered the small catfish plate.

I let the owner's husband and his friend jump on the bike and ride it around while I sipped iced tea, and when the order arrived, it had 3 huge fillets and something called "spicy french fries". When I protested, saying I ordered the small plate, the lady said "you look like you ain't had a good meal in days," the little girl helped me eat the fries, and toward the end of the meal, came out of the kitchen carrying me a bowl of peach cobbler, another thing I hadn't ordered.

Same thing happened on the southern part of the Okefeenokee Swamp, there was one cross roads called St. George. I was freshly on day one of the return trip after spending a week in Fernandina Beach with a friend, and when I pulled up under the canopy of the diner, a bicyclist pulling a trailer passed, turned northwesterly on the same Highway 2 I would use headed up to Homerville...but that would be nearly an hour later, because again, the timing was right, no lunch rush, and the owner really packed the plate. I got all the local lore about the swamplands, and the next year, when fires broke out with smoke drifting up our way, I heard St. George was surrounded by flames, worried about my diner friends.

By doing business at Mom and Pop establishments, you can gain ten times the information and heritage, sights and special locations, as having some teenager toss a Big Mac in a bag and ring it up.

Food tastes so much better on the road anyway, but then you get to sample other things, like apricot pastries in Kansas. Even better, I ordered bar-b-que beef in Kansas, and was talking to the cook about the differences in sauces. Next thing I know, a second plate with pork and chicken samples came to the table.

I had ate at plenty of Chinese resturaunts, but in Bolivar, Missouri found a Korean buffet, and the cook made me a small dish of a shrimp broil after complimenting him on the spices. It wasn't something he offered on the buffet, but it only took him three minutes to serve it up.

At one place on the Georgia/Alabama line, I was talking to a guy about my mapped route north, he said, "you can shave off eighteen miles with this shortcut, it's not on the map, just a country road that goes over the hill rather than around it". A nice little rolling road that saved me an hour of ride time.

In a later episode, I'll give you the Deer Creek Camping Nightmare, and how I used future lunchtime conversations to avoid that ever happening again.

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