6   Cycling buddy    Just when I was about to fill the tube with air, a cyclist came from the same direction and stopped next to me.      It was Stephan from Seattle and after a short chat we found out that we were cycling the same route.    He had started his trip in Key West and had a more luxurious version of the tour because he only slept in hotels, ate in restaurants and didn’t need to worry about too much luggage. No camping equipment and only a small bag for few clothes.      His intention was to cycle as far as New Orleans, so he had almost reached his goal.    He had a sophisticated, high-tech, bicycle pump with pressure gauge, and he offered me to use it to fill my tire with air.    However, Stephan's high-tech, bicycle pump was too much for Coco to handle and with a loud bang; it was the end of the inner tube. The guy felt a bit guilty and gave me his spare tube, which was of the same wheel-size.       Stephan suggested traveling together.    He did not introduce us to his bike.    He probably did not have the same closeness to his bike like Coco and I had.    After 15-minute Coco, Stephan and I continued our journey.    The hills came back.      Even though Coco was carrying all the extra baggage Stephan still had trouble keeping up with her. He noticed that I must have legs of steel. I smiled and confirmed that Coco is always complaining that my legs are pushing her too hard.      The closer we came to Mobile the more damage we saw on and near the road. It was from an earlier storm, and it made cycling a bit risky.      This turned into “quite dangerous” when the four-lane road, which we were cycling on, suddenly changed into a two-lane road.    Trucks with terrifying speed narrowly missed our bicycles.    The air pressure produced by the trucks blew us off the road a few times.      The last part before entering Mobile we had to cross the Mobile Bay.    It was a two-lane road, not a bridge.    Cycling on this road gave us a nice panoramic view of the bay.    However there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for us one mile before entering Mobile.    Its name was the BANKHEAD TUNNEL and it was a one-mile long, two-lane roller coaster. The frightening part was that it was impossible for cars to pass us in the tunnel without using the lane of the oncoming traffic.    We were at the mercy and patience of the drivers behind us. We experienced it as quite dangerous and that was an understatement!      When we arrived in the center of Mobile, each of us in one piece, Stephan first wanted to fill his wallet by visiting a local bank.    We spoke with a passer when we were standing in front of the bank. The man told us that, because of hurricane Frederic of last August, all the hotels in the city were fully accommodated with families who lost their homes.    “Only a little bit outside of Mobile you have a chance of finding a room,” the man told us.    Stephan did not like the idea of staying too far from the center, and he proposed a more expensive hotel in the center.    “Those hotels would probably have rooms available,” was his logical reasoning.    I told him that I preferred to go for a less-expensive motel on the edge of the city because of the limitation of my budget.    “Money is no issue, not for you, because we will take a two-person room, and I will pay for it,” Stephan's reaction was.