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The Natchez Trace-riding from Natchez to Vicksburg MS =84 miles
The Natchez trace is a gorgeous road. Smooth as silk paving, tall trees on either side, very little traffic, really lovely except for the soul sucking 1-3% incline which looks flat which runs the whole 64 miles of what we rode yesterday with the exceptions of a few nice and unexpected downhills. I kept wanting to get off the bike and see if my tires were flat! And those trees, tall and beautiful as they are , channel the gentlest breeze so nicely into a headwind.
In spite of milder temperatures, and cloud cover for most of the morning, it was a challenging ride because after we got off of the Trace, the next 20 miles were constant rollers of 4-6% . After our last SAG spot and the "historic cross roads country store" for which read a small building with lots of beer, pool tables, comfort version Harley Davidsons and a full front porch full of good old guys (and one or two gals) sitting and sipping and talking. I would have loved a beer, but at 20 miles still to go, opted for wisdom and treated myself to ice water instead. The youngest of our riders, an ash pale blonde, very scandanavian looking, and incredibly youthful looking from Wisconsin rode up and the good old boys were all lining up to get their picture taken with her.
Loathe to leave but hot, sunburned, saddle sore and tired, we were ready to hit the hotel which is probably why the last 20 miles seemed worse the first 64.
It's the breaks and the people and incidents like this that make this sort of long ride fun.
Below is a photo of some of the ladies riding the trace. I will try more photos later.
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traveling the Mississippi
today's ride 65 miles of Delta wheat fields, catfish farms and rice paddies interspersed with about 7 miles of paving grooved for repaving and intermittent downpours and lighter showers for the last 20 miles. Found an American, Italian, Lebanese local restaurant in Clarksdale and had kibby, cabbage rolls, a few killer french ries and 1/2 slice chocolate pie. Fortunately the booth seats were plastic os our wet muddy jackets and soggy shorts didn't leave huge wet spots that were visible. Also passed through Rulesville, home to Fanny Lou Harms ( looke her up) and the music group the single singers. tomorrow is a long day into Memphis and then a day off to feel virtuous with 600 miles down and 1200 miles more to go.
We had salmon in Indianola because although wild caught, it was cheaper than the catfish. Go Figure.
Photos are of Delta wheat fields, rice paddies and the place where we had lunch. Owner says her grandparents ended here because they had relatives here that had come down from Ellis island and now she and her daughter run it. It was warm and delicious goodness.
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From Memphis to Covington, TN
Ridng from Memphis to Covington TN brought a change of scenery- much more bucolic scenery, lots of twists and turns, trees and shade, packs of dogs- felt like a dog a mile but probably wasn't quite that bad, and some real Tennesse type hills of 10-12% who leap out at you from behind a curve in the road and yell surprise as you frantically downshift to get into the granny gear and then end up riding about half the hill standing, I want to know why after a 12% climb, there is only a 10% downhill. Seems like we should earn an equal amount of downhill. Lovely little country store with fresh baked brownies, many taxidermied turkeys and other wild animals, masses of snake skins including two anacondas- which were gifts and not from the local state forest like the other wildlife samples. We also had a hilarious discussion about conversations held and what you actually hear while riding. " where's Mary?" " she's folding her map" "what do you mean she's taking a nap?" and " the tv says John Edwards may get 30 years." "who has 30 gears?" and so on.
