day 17: louisiana to hannibal, missouri 38 miles

i knew we were in trouble the minute the young guy from the pizza hut in the farmland town of louisiana, missouri used a classic yiddish phrase to describe our ride route today.

louisiana, a classic example of small-town america

we were all having dinner when the young guy, who was constantly replenishing our supply of pizzas and drinks, started asking us about our adventures.  impressed that we'd ridden all the way from new orleans, he then asked where we were next headed.  we told him about heading to hannibal.

and there it was.  "oy!" he said, with a commiserating tone.  "you know how many hills there are between here and there?" he added.  but he couldn't stop himself.  "and, isn't it supposed to rain tomorrow?"

it was like an e.f. hutton moment.  you could see some of the riders around the table with slices of pizza hanging in their mouths as if in suspended animation.  everything stopped.  hills?  did he say hills?

after such a long day yesterday, a short ride this morning was just what i needed.  having gotten in very late yesterday afternoon, i had just enough time to grab a shower before heading to dinner.  i didn't have time to get into my normal post-ride stretching routine.  and i don't think i ever really fully recovered from yesterday.  i did pass out early last night and actually got more sleep than normal, but i still woke up this morning both sore and drained of energy.

with two storm cells in the area between louisiana and hannibal, the support staff decided that we should all take off later in the morning with the idea that the ominous weather would have already blown through by then.  so, in street clothes, we all packed off for the local bistro for breakfast in downtown louisiana.  we then came back to the motel, got dressed and packed up to head off for the hills.

downtown louisiana before the morning rains.  that's pam in front of the sag van

twenty minutes into the second of many short, steep climbs of the day, the rains started.  while we avoided the major thunderstorms, we wound up riding through everything from light mists to serious downpours.  and while i don't have a picture of it, trust me when i tell you that we looked like a comedy routine all huddled under the one awning in the quaint little town square of new london, our only sag stop of the day.  freezing from temperatures in the low 50's and strong winds to match and soaking wet from the rains, we were a shivering mass all crammed into a twenty-five foot section of storefront across the street from the county court house.

strong winds blowing in from the northeast; right where we were headed

seven reasons not to ride a bike during a cold, rainy morning:

1.  you lose the feelings in your fingertips
2.  your ass is soaking wet from the rooster tails thrown up from your back tire
3.  your bike shoes are catching all the water off your front tire
4.  so your feet are squishing in your wet shoes throughout the ride
5.  the rain fogs up your glasses and limits your visibility
6.  the roads, baked from ten days of high 90's temperatures, were oily and slick
7.  so steep descents can be treacherous

day 16: st. louis to louisiana, missouri 107 miles

it was a long day, made longer by a morning rain and by a record number of flat tires among most of the riders (at least three riders having multiple flats today).  all told, the various stoppages caused most of the riders to arrive a good two hours later than on any other day.  a tiring day.

bill (in blue) helping rollie with his flat tire.  

but it was also an auspicious day.  we passed the 1000-mile mark sometime in the early morning hours of our ride today.  that's the longest i've ever ridden!

although we left the hotel in a morning drizzle, it was actually a nice day.  the temperatures were much lower, only getting into the mid-80's.  the morning was spent riding on the bike paths along the confluence of the missouri and mississippi rivers.

there is some great history in this area.  centuries ago, lewis and clark and their corps of discovery were headquartered around this area, awaiting word from president jefferson as to whether or not the louisiana purchase had been confirmed before they would be permitted to depart on their historic journey in search of a northwest passage to the pacific.  also, the famed highway of yesteryear, route 66, came through this area.  below is the "old chain of rocks" bridge that was used by cars on the road from los angeles to chicago.  now, it's used only as a bicycle bridge to connect missouri with illinois.

the old chain of rocks route 66 bridge

crossing into illinois on the bridge

after crossing into illinois, we spent most of the day riding along the mississippi and then through the farmlands of the southern part of the state.  we battled short but steep hills and fierce headwinds most of the last 25 miles.  how fierce?  everyone's (even the fossils) average speeds were down at least five miles per hour as we fought our way through the winds.

we actually crossed three rivers today:  the missouri, the mississippi and the illinois. bridges across the missouri and mississippi (twice) and a ferry (below) across the illinois.

getting ferried across the illinois river on the way back to the mississippi

as the day's route neared the end, we had one last climb, another bridge across the mississippi.  the shots below are from our motel; one of the final bridge crossing, the other as the sun was setting on the river.

a treacherous climb across a very busy highway bridge

evening on the mississippi

day 15: rest day/laundry, repairs, reflections

you'd think that with a day off, i might actually sleep late.  nah.  woke up at 5:00 again this morning.  i'm programmed now.

spent the morning walking around, doing errands, doing laundry, patching tires and inner tubes and taking a couple of pictures.

passing through the huge anheuser-busch (budweiser) plant as we came in from the south side of the city

i took this last picture once i discovered it's significance.  many of you may be familiar with the famous dred scott decision by the supreme court.  scott, a slave who sued the u.s. for his freedom, was unsuccessful in his efforts.  the supreme court decision, however, wasn't his first attempt at freedom.  having lived in missouri, then a non-slave state, scott sued for his freedom here and was briefly granted it in 1850.  the court house across the street from my hotel room is the very courthouse where that case was heard.

the courthouse where the dred scott case was tried

the famous st. louis arch...the gateway to the west

and it's those upcoming ten straight days on the bike that have me thinking the most.  i'm caught between that sense of "oh god, i still have ten days to go!" and "i wonder what's next?"  i'm tired and i think that sense of weariness is creeping into my overall sense of this ride.  the more i ride, the more i'm amazed at the guys, all older than i am, who've not only done this before, but have done this multiple times, including crossing the country and riding for over 50 days at a stretch.  i can safely predict now that i will not be going on a cross-country ride any time soon.  most likely, never.

the arch from laclede's landing, site of the orignal settlement in 1784

but as tired as i'm feeling, i can also point to many times during this ride when my spirits have been lifted.  when a smile or a wave or a word of encouragement from a total stranger was all i needed to revive and reset my energies.  the sign on the lawn yesterday during that horrendous climb was just one example.

another one happened yesterday as we were heading into st. louis.  dan, rollie and i were riding by ourselves, stopping to smell the honeysuckle or to take pictures as we approached the city.  by 2:00, we were also drained of energy and feeling quite hungry.  so we stopped at a mcdonald's just off the interstate to grab a bite and something cold to drink.

while we were there, we were getting the most curious stares from both the patrons in line as well as the folks behind the counter.  on days into major cities, we all wear our bike america jerseys, so the three of us looked like we were all on the same team.  a couple of people asked who we were and where we had ridden.  the best of all was a little five-year old girl who was so interested in where we were going and where we'd been.  she insisted on letting her mother allow her to sit with us while we ate, so she could ask us questions about what states we had visited and what we saw along the saw.  and she was so proud of her own cycling prowess.  "i can ride without training wheels now!" she beamed.  her mom was all smiles.  so were we.

so i'm off for a massage, a light dinner and, hopefully, an early night so i can get some sleep.  tomorrow it's another century up to louisiana, missouri.  ooh rah!

day 14: st. genevieve to st. louis, missouri 85 miles

hills!  lot's of hills.  long, steep hills.

but i'll get to that in a moment.

it dawned on me that all the while i've been talking about where i stay and what and where i eat, i never took pictures of any of those places.  so below are examples of our evening stays and our morning breakfasts.  actually, of all the places we've stayed at, the microtel was actually pretty good.  as for the huddle house, hey, it's pancakes and eggs.  not a lot you can do to screw that up.

another night on the highway

it's cheap, but it's good fuel for a day's worth of cycling

i've also mentioned sag stops.  by the way, "sag"  stands for "support and gear."  the shot below is an example of one of our stops.  nothing fancy.  just sliced oranges or watermelon, bananas, granola bars, trail mix, and fresh, cold water.  gatorade mix optional.

mid-morning fuel replenishment

okay, back to those hills.  yesterday was a tough day with over 4000 feet of total climbs.  even though it was only 70+ miles, it was a bear.  so today's 85 miles, with the heat and the hills, weren't something any of us were looking forward to.

the day started off as a series of long, slow climbs.  no one realized how humid it was until we stopped for this great sign at one of our turnings.  once we stopped pedaling, the sweat just started pouring off us all.  and what amazed me was rollie starting to sing the chorus to the ac/dc song, "highway to hell" as i pointed out the sign to him.  remember, rollie is a corn-fed, died-in-the-wool 65 year-old, straight arrow, ex-military iowan.  no way i would have taken him for a rocker.  but there he was, singing away.  just goes to show you can't be too quick judging character.

for all you ac/dc fans, i'm on a highway to zell 

but of all the climbs today, the killer climb of the day came around mile 51.  take a look at the shot of today's route map.  that's a 1.5-mile, 10%-12% climb.  it seemed to go on forever.  in total, we had over 5300 feet of climbs today.

a lot of short, steep climbs, but that 1.5-mile climb at mile 51 was the killer of the day

and, the best part (yes, there was a best part!) was about a third of the way up the hill.  i truly wasn't sure i was going to make it all the way up, that's how steep and long it was.  but about half a mile up the climb, there was a sign on the right side of the road, on the lawn of a house with the names of, i'm guessing, the occupants of the house.  i'm not sure if that's what the sign was for, but i distinctly read the second line on the sign, "jess and samantha hall."  reading those words, and seeing that as a different kind of sign, that being the names of my three kids, jesse, samantha and halle, gave me the inspiration to get up the last mile of the hill.  yes, i was thinking about my kids all the while i was huffing and puffing my way up that sucker.  and, no, i didn't stop to take a picture (as halle asked me earlier this evening).

after that, the rest of the ride was a breeze.  about 15 miles from the end, we rode out of the remnants of rural missouri and into suburban st. louis.  if the houses and strip malls didn't give it away, the smells did.  instead of the smells from farms, we began smelling honeysuckle and lilies.

about nine miles from the finish, we reached the crest of a hill in crystal city and saw the famous st. louis arch and the rest of the downtown skyline in the distance.  three miles from the end, we passed by the anheuser-busch brewery.

another rest day couldn't come soon enough.  the past three days of climbing and the heat really has taken it out of me, so i'm looking forward to recharging my batteries.

day 13: cape girardeau to st. genevieve, missouri 71 miles

it ended as another hot, hard day, but it started out as a great sunday morning ride with an early departure and a cool breeze out of cape girardeau.  

we spent much of the morning riding through the rolling hills of some of the most beautiful croplands and pastures in this part of southeastern missouri.  spectacular views.  along the way, we were surprised to see buffalo and emu on one of the farms.

a beautiful morning in fruitland, mo.  loved this barn; apparently an old style no longer used in this region

junior, did you remember to put the tractor in the shed?

as the day wore on, many of us (me included) starting feeling the effects of the past couple of days of hill climbing.  while dan noted that he thought i was getting stronger as the days progressed, i told him that, today, my legs felt like jelly.  just nothing there.  

climbing up one hill, into the tiny town of pocohontas (yes, named after her -- there was even a statue commemorating the 100th anniversary of her visit to the town), i saw this great pie shop.  unfortunately, being early sunday morning, it was closed for business.  most of the folks in the series of small towns we rode through this morning were in one of the many baptist or lutheran churches that dotted the countryside.  no cars in many of the driveways we passed, but a whole lot of cars in front of the churches.  this is, after all, part of the bible belt.

could have used a nice slice of pie by the time i rode past this place

we were able to take a longer than normal break at the sag stop in brazeau, at the hemman winery (not open on sundays).  i was bummed because i was really curious to see one of the wineries in this state as it has some of the oldest in the country.  i'm told that, before prohibition, missouri had the most acres of vineyards of any state, even surpassing california.  while we are relaxing a bit in town, some of the local boys were just coming back from a morning of fishing.  and they were proudly showing off their haul of catfish.

which wine goes best with gatorade? 

after leaving brazeau, the sag stop and the comfort of a chair on the front porch of the winery, we were back to hill climbing until we descended on the valley floor for about 20 miles.  there, we were greeted with the same strong southwesterly winds we'd been battling the past couple of days.  and today was no different.  i'm not sure which i prefer; the climbing of the hills or dealing with headwinds on the flats.  in the case of the former, at least you can relax a bit during the descents.  with the headwinds on the flats, it's a constant struggle.

around the 51 mile mark, we crossed over the halfway mark for this trip.  unfortunately, the picture i thought i took didn't come out.  it wasn't that elaborate a chalk sign on the road surface.

as we approached st. genevieve, which was settled in the 1700's, we all assumed that this was the french town, established in the wake of marquette, joliet, la salle and all the other french explorers who came down the mississippi.  however, what confused us was the belgian influence in many of the river and town names as we got closer to our final destination for today.  it's a mystery that none of us had the energy to pursue, so even when the question came up again during dinner, no one had a good answer.  something to be resolved at a later date.

tomorrow, another long, hot day.  we'll finish in st. louis and get a much needed day off to recover and repair.

day 12: union city to cape girardeau, missouri 91 miles

hot, humid, windy and very long.  oh yeah, and a ferry crossing.

knowing that we had to make a ferry crossing early in the morning, we were all out on the road before our usual 7:00 or 7:30 am.  dan, rollie, bill and i, along with a couple of the other "slower" riders, left breakfast by 6:20 am.  the fossils decided to hold back until 6:45 before getting on the road.  our collective goal was to make the ferry crossing at hickman, kentucky, by 8:00 am.  to get there, we had to cover just shy of 19 miles of rolling hills.  dan, rollie, bill and i did that averaging 14.9 miles per hour (which included having to double back due to a wrong turn around the eight mile mark).  the fossils covered that same distance averaging 19 miles per hour.

just entering kentucky before the ferry ride

as with days in louisiana, cargill grain facilities dot the waterfront landscape

our route this morning took us through more tennessee cornfields before cutting into the tiniest sliver of kentucky's southwestern border, in the town of hickman.  from there, we boarded the riverboat ferry for the ten minute trip over to  missouri.  by the time we boarded the ferry at 8:00 am, the temperature was already at 87 degrees and promising to get much warmer as the day grew on.

our waterway transportation

starting to load up

getting all the riders on board so we could load the support vans

all packed in.  regular car and truck passengers as well

once on the missouri side, we again were riding through corn, alfalfa, wheat and rice fields.  i'm getting pretty good at identifying the various crops in the region and am getting quite an education from rollie, who lived on a farm growing up in iowa, and doug, who owns a couple of farms in oklahoma and texas, as to which crops are nitrogen producing and which are nitrogen depleting and why all that matters.  i'll save you all that lesson for another time (i can hear the cheering in the background).

the first official state sign welcoming us since we started this trip

by 10:30, we were parched, tired and hungry, so about 10 of us popped into a mcdonald's along interstate 55 in charlestown.  inside, we wolfed down some more eggs and biscuits and washed them down with mango/pineapple or strawberry/banana smoothies.  actually, they were quite tasty.  while inside, an enthusiastic woman came up to us and asked if we were training for "the tour."  to a cyclist, "the tour" only means one thing...the tour de france.  however, using whatever wisdom remained in our tired bodies, a couple of us asked the woman which tour she was referring to.  "why, the tour de corn, of course," she replied.  turns out, around the 4th of july there in charlestown, missouri, there's a very popular one-day bike event called, yes, "the tour de corn."  it includes a 25-, 50-, and 100-mile ride through the southeast missouri countryside.  she was so excited to tell us all about it, even when we tried our best to explain that, one, we weren't from around there and, two, we were on our way to minnesota and probably wouldn't be back there anytime soon.  still, she was very kind and wished us all well.

the rest of the day was spent hydrating as often as humanly possible, climbing some inhuman hills, and trying to survive both the heat and the winds.  everyone felt depleted of energy by the time we got into today's stop.  but everyone finished.

for much of the day in missouri after the ferry ride, we were battling strong, westerly and southwesterly winds that were either direct headwinds or cross winds that dramatically slowed our progress.  at our backs, those winds would help us do a comfortable 18-20 mph pace.  in our faces, we were lucky enough to average 12 mph.  from the side, the winds would slow our progress down to 14-15 mph.  for about seven miles, as we battled the strong crosswinds, we tried a maneuver used by professional racing teams.  it's called an echelon.  similar to the formations that geese use when flying together, we rode four across on the relatively deserted county road in a formation with each rider situated at the 4:00 o'clock position of the back wheel of the rider in front of him.  again, as is the case with the single-file pace line, the lead rider takes the brunt of the winds, but all the other riders benefit by not having to fight as hard to pedal.  and, as with the pace line, we each took turns leading.  it made those seven miles go a lot faster than if we would have ridden in single file formation.

once we got into the hills, we lost the winds, but had to deal with sharp, steep rollers.  and, all the while, dealing with the heat.  i don't know if you can make it out, but the shot below, of day's ride elevations, shows a couple of seriously short, steep climbs during the latter portion of the ride.  at this point, we've been beaten up by the winds, and had been dealing with the energy-sapping heat.  while we aren't talking about climbs into the rocky mountains, short, steep rollers can be a nightmare on a long day's ride.  in two cases today, we had a 10% and at 15% grade climb (rollie and steve have garmins, so we know exactly the degree of incline while we're climbing).  they don't get much steeper than that.

that 15% climb was a killer

but the heat was really the final blow for many.  at one point, my bike computer registered a temperature of 106 degrees.  while that's more from the road surface than the ambient air temperature, it was still ridiculously hot.

heat like today had strong effects on many of the riders.  some were broken and reduced to slow climbs up hills that, in previous days, they would have attacked.  others needed multiple stops every five miles or so to catch their breath, to rest or merely to regain composure.

as for tomorrow, it's only supposed to get worse.  today cape girardeau set a record high temperature of 98 degrees.  and tomorrow, they are predicting even higher temperatures. fortunately, it's only a 70 mile ride tomorrow.

day 11: ripley to union city, tennessee 71 miles

dog bites.  missed rights.  flat tires.  leader riders.

what a day.

the first, second and last points all kind of blend together, so i'll get them shortly.  another very hot, albeit "short," day.  it got a lot longer very quickly.  i got a pinch flat six miles out of the start this morning.  right in the middle of a long climb.  not very fun changing a flat tire on the shoulder of a highway.  fortunately, dan, rollie and some of the support crew were there to lend, if nothing else, moral support.  well, that and a cannister of CO2 so the reinflation after the tire change went fast.

by mid-afternoon, my bike computer read 102 degrees.  dan's read 104.  either way, it was hot.

i've mentioned the guys i've been riding with from time to time.  usually, it's bill (retired, ex-navy, from colorado), rollie (semi-retired, lawyer from iowa) and dan (retired from plant engineer, indiana).  also coming in and out of our quartet have been  tom (retired teacher from colorado), steve (mechanical engineer from chicago - still working a lot in the middle east) and john (semi-retired lawyer from washington state).

dan had been singing "oh what a beautiful morning..." so the cornfields shot seemed appropriate

so naturally, rollie wanted to get into the action as well

john and i spent a lot of time riding and talking together on day 2 of our ride.  turns out, john served in the peace corps years ago in liberia and has spent much time throughout africa.  so he and i traded stories about our respective times on the continent.

i've also talked previously about riding in pace lines or merely in groups together.  when riding in a pack or a pace line, we'll all take turns up front.  there are specific functions that the person in the front of the pace line or pack is expected to perform.  in windy conditions, especially with headwinds, the front rider takes the brunt of the wind's force, allowing those riding behind him to have an easier time.  however, the simplest of all requirements is to call out road hazards; usually pot holes, gravel or other nasties to avoid in the road.

the second job of the lead rider is to be vigilant of all road signs.  our route maps often will note that a turn at a specific mile marker is not marked with a street sign.  it's up to the lead rider to be aware of the mileage and the upcoming turning options.  yes, we're all a bunch of yentas, so we'll all be checking our own route maps and mileage on our bike computers, but we still expect the lead rider to give us the proper directions.  yesterday, for example, there were so many missed turns.  no single group of riders was immune to misdirection yesterday.  it continued today as well.  out in the middle of corn and wheat fields, it's easy to mistake a turning.  all our mileages vary by the end of the day's ride, with intravariability within our own quartet of over a mile between different computers.  so when choosing between two unmarked roads quite close to each other, it's not uncommon for one of us to guess incorrectly.

the third job of the lead rider, although it's something we all are trying to be on our guard about, is to be hypervigilant for dogs and to call out to the rest of the rider pack for dogs along the road.  dogs along the road can be excited to see us or bored beyond belief.  they can be large or small.  they can be fierce or friendly.  but, in most cases, they can cause problems.  and the problems are compounded, especially here in tennessee, when dogs are allowed to run freely and there are no ordinances about leash laws.

today was a classic example of all of the above.  in the morning, we had numerous instances of passing dogs along our route.  in some cases, we were merely barked at.  in other cases, dogs were playfully running along side of us.  in one case, as we stopped to cross a busy two-lane highway, a lovely, playful dog sauntered across his property, coming out onto the highway to get a closer look at us.  with he tail wagging excitedly, he basically just wanted to lick us and have us pet him.  very cute young black lab.  we had to stop traffic and get the dog to come with us back across the highway and onto his property once again.  in another case, two dogs, in the presence of the woman who owned the property we just passed, ran out onto the street and followed us up a steep hill for over a quarter of a mile.  the woman never called her dogs off, nor did she seem to care that they had run onto the road.  while both these medium-sized dogs were quite playful, the greatest challenge for the seven of us was to negotiate the hill and watch as the dogs darted in and out of the fronts of our wheels.  in the end, they gave up the chase at the crest of the hill.

we stopped to feed some horses before all our misfortunes started

unfortunately, not all the stories from today were that playful or joyful.  we're taught about what to do when a dog, especially an angry dog, approaches.  we're taught what tactics to employ to get ourselves out of a jam.  this afternoon, john, dan, rollie and i were riding together when a pit bull came out of nowhere and ran up to john, the lead rider at that stage, and bit him on the ankle.  fortunately, the dog released his jaw-grip on john's ankle, having already punctured john's skin in two places and taken pieces of john's sock as well.  as the dog ran off, we quickly got john off to the side of the road, called both the support van as well as 911 to report the dog biting incident, and attended to john's wounds.

the thing that really set in for all of us, john included, was what we did and didn't do in that situation, even after all the training.  andy arrived in short order with the support van and immediately dressed john's wounds.  as we sat around waiting for the obion country deputy sheriff, john and the rest of us reflected on what had just happened.  john actually felt both a bit relieved that the dog hadn't taken him down, completely off the bike, as well as a bit guilty for not having done more to fend off the dog or to employ some other evasion tactic.  dan and i talked about how we both saw the entire incident as if it had played out in front of us in slow motion.  dan was right behind john.  i was right behind dan, but off to dan's left side, so i also had a clear view of what took place.

the pit bull had begun running off of his property in a gully along side the road.  as this had happened no less that five times earlier in the morning, i don't think any of us give this particular dog much thought.  the dog then ran up out of the gully and onto the road, behind john's bike, at about a five o'clock position so john didn't see him at first.   as we all starting calling out about the dog, the dog got closer to john, now alongside the middle of his bike, then leaned in directly to bite john's left ankle.  john, watching the dog, had stopped peddling and was coasting with his left leg fully extended downward, so his foot was level with the dog's head, making it a prime target.

twenty minutes later, a deputy sheriff from the county arrived to talk with john and the rest of us about the incident.  after the deputy sheriff left to investigate the dog, andy drove john to a nearby hospital, just to ensure that things were okay.  john got his wounds cleaned again, got a couple of shots and was back with the group in time for dinner.  he won't ride the steep hill climbs tomorrow, but will be back on his bike on sunday.

the deputy called john a little while ago and said that the dog, as per tennessee state policy, has been taken in and will be quarantined for ten days to conform no rabies (there have been no reported cases of rabies in western tennessee for over 20 years, according to the hospital and the sheriff's office).  and the owner of the house who's porch the dog was resting on when the sheriff  arrived, swore the dog didn't belong to him.  that man has also received a summons and a fine.

enough excitement for one day.  tomorrow promises to be another long (91 miles), hot (high-90's/low 100's) day going briefly into kentucky before boarding a ferry across the mississippi to missouri, where we'll finish up the day's ride and spend the first of five nghts in that state.

day 10: memphis to ripley, tennessee 79 miles

today was a tale of two halves.  the morning, a cool and beautiful ride through neighborhoods, woodlands and farmlands;  the afternoon, a nightmare of a ride with 25-30 mile an hour headwinds and sidewinds.

morning in memphis along the river bike trail

riding along the river bike trail out of memphis, we had wonderful views of the mississippi.  the sun wasn't above the tree line, so the air was cool and dry with temperatures only in the upper 60's.

we've been lucky with curious horses and cattle wanting a closer look at us rather than the other way 'round

as we left the memphis metro area, we re-entered the farmlands of western tennessee. the morning ride took us through a number of horse and cattle farms.  we had a great visit at the shelby forest general store.  this place was the archetypical country store, complete with both live and stuffed animals and a group of good 'ole boys hanging on the front porch, offering observations on life and politics as well as stunning country philosophies.  as you can imagine, they had some very pointed commentaries about both our ride and our spandex.

the archetypical country general store

the "town council"  you can just make out the live rooster behind the garbage can on the left

after our second pit stop, at a convenience store newly reopened by a lovely korean family, we got caught by the high winds that were forecast earlier in the morning.  funny how when you hear a forecast for afternoon high winds at six in the morning, it doesn't quite sink in.  oh lord, how it sunk in later in the day.

the winds were so strong at times that we felt like we were hardly moving.  peddling as hard as well could with nearly 30 mph headwinds took every ounce of strength and stamina.  and when our course changed and the winds came at us sideways, it was all we could do to keep our bikes moving forward as we were buffeted continuously while riding through open fields.  it was even more dangerous when we came out of a long, fast descent through woodlands only to get hit by fierce crosswinds as the came into open space.

by the end of the day, fighting those winds made most of us more exhausted than if we had ridden 100 miles.  oh yeah, and by late afternoon, the road temperatures hit 100 degrees again.

it's going to be an early night for all of us.  we're wiped.  tomorrow promises more winds and high temperatures.

  

day 9: rest day/a day in the life

rest day today in memphis.  did laundry.  got a massage.  rested.  ate some good barbecue.  so i thought i'd use this day to talk about what happens during a typical day on the tour.

our days start early with breakfast usually between 6:00 and 6:30 am.  depending on the accommodations, we'll either have a continental breakfast at the motel or go to a nearby restaurant and load up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice and whatever else is on the menu.

but before breakfast, most of the riders are already up, packing their bags from the night before and starting a pre-ride stretching routine.  getting downstairs will take two trips:  one for the bike and one for the bags.  we'll fill up water bottles, top off the air pressure in our tires and check to make sure we haven't left anything in the rooms.  finally, we'll drop off our bags in one of the support vans before heading out on the ride.

sondra in front of one of our support vans

we'll follow a route map for the day's ride.  the route maps give directions and distances for all turns along the day's journey.  most of us keep the route maps either paper-clipped to our handlebars or housed in a clip-on, waterproof case made especially to hold maps.  we will have met the prior evening, usually right before dinner, to go over the next day's ride route.  the route maps are handed out at that time and any special instructions, including road hazards or special sights to see, are given at that time.

the riders, having ridden together for over a week, have gotten into a routine involving both the pace they'll set as well as with whom they'll ride.  the fossils, the veteran group that's been together for years now on these rides, usually goes off at a very fast pace.  they will always get into the day's terminus town earliest, sometimes even before we can check into the motel on short distance days.

finishing in memphis yesterday.  john is wearing a tiny rearview mirror on his helmut

depending on the length of the stage, there will be at least one and upwards of three pit stops, the latter only in the case of 90+ mile days.  pit stops are simple affairs.  the support van will stop in a convenient area, maybe a park or merely the parking lot of a gas station that has bathrooms.  there's no formal lunch stop anywhere.  pit stop foods are  typical sports snacks (granola bars, fig newtons, a nut/dried fruit/m&m's mixture, bananas & peanut butter, slice oranges, etc.) and cold water.  there are also baggies filled with a pre-measured amount of powdered gatorade (the flavors will change each day) for those riders who want that kind of electrolyte replacement.  i would have thought everyone would want that, but it turns out many riders carry their own electrolyte tablets or other supplements.

taking a break at the pit stop before entering natchez

bathrooms are a catch-as-catch-can situation.  we will usually look for fast-food restaurants if we really need to use the facilities, otherwise, a secluded area of trees are usually the ticket.

during the day, all riders will be monitoring their food and liquids intake.  everyone's body chemistry is unique and how we all react to our "fuel" consumption varies.  the affects of what and how often we eat are felt in two ways.  on especially hot and humid days, we're all making sure we not only drink enough, but also replenish our electrolyte supplies.  there was an old mantra during the years of the aids ride, "hydrate, urinate, perspirate."  sounds disgusting, but it's very sound.  drink only water and you'll sweat and pee too much, lose all your electrolytes and cramp up.  drink only gatorade and no water and you'll stop peeing and sweating.  as a result, you'll overheat.  so it's all about keeping things in balance.

the second aspect of our body chemistry is what's even more mysterious, even to many of these veteran riders.  there are times during the course of a day's ride when i'll feel absolutely sluggish.  other times, i'll be feeling on top of the world and riding at higher tempos with greater strength.  trying to keep control of all the right amounts of foods and liquids and the timings for all intakes still doesn't help to anticipate when my body will feel stronger or weaker.  even when talking to my fellow riders, they admit that it's not always a predictable science.

while there's only the one or more official pit stops, on occasion, we'll all decide to meet up somewhere for lunch.  or, in our smaller group, we'll stop every 15 miles or so if we come across a convenience store.  a cold pint of orange juice on a hot afternoon can be a real pick-me-up.  ditto an ice cream cone.

lunch with the guys in mississippi

or a quick stop at a local convenience store

at ride's end each day, we check into our motel rooms.  the motels are pretty low key.  think one or two levels below a basic marriott or sheration.  we're talking clarion or day's inn level motels.  a holiday inn express is a luxury hotel on this tour!  and they are rarely in the middle of town.  instead, they are out on a highway or some other out of the way location.  but, these motels do allow us to keep our bikes in our rooms.  guess that counts for something.

straddling the louisiana/mississippi border

first the bikes go up to the rooms, then we come back to retrieve our bags.  from there, it's a fixed pattern for most of the riders before we reassemble for the ride wrap where we review the day's ride and get copies of the next day's route map and warnings.

once each of us get into our rooms, the routine is pretty much the same.  first, a series of stretching exercises.  funny enough, when i talked with my trainer about setting up a pre- and post-stretching routine, i didn't think about what other riders might do.  turns out we all do pretty much the same series of stretching exercises.  that's about ten minutes.  then, we all take our bike clothes and wash them in the sink in the room.  rarely are there washers and dryers in these hotels and, as we'll be on the road for at least five or more days between breaks, we'll need to wear those outfits at least one more time before a proper washing (most riders only bring four sets of bike tops, shorts and socks).  what follows is something out of a scene from college dormitory life.  the best rooms to get are those on the second floor.  in most cases, that usually means either a separate balcony off of the room or, worse-case scenario, railings in front of your room entrance.  either way, if you passed by one of the motels in which we stay at around five in the afternoon, you'd see a bright array of colorful bike shirts, shorts and socks all hanging out to dry.  we'll all wash our clothes before showering because we want to catch enough remaining sunlight to accelerate the drying process.  the line-drying technique, with sunlight, usually has clothes dried in two hours.  on the other hand, if you have to drip dry your clothes in the bathroom, it'll take all night and you still might need the services of the hairdryer in the room to finish off the job before packing up.  the last thing anyone wants to do is pack wet clothes.

then it's a shower, maybe a nap or checking e-mail, calling the office or home or talking with fellow riders before wrap.  if we get into our destination town early enough, and there's really something really interesting to see, i might walk into town.  if i need any adjustments to my bike, i'll have one hour before wrap to meet with andy, the mechanic, to resolve any issues uncovered during the day's ride.

wrap is usually at 5:30 or 5:45 each night.  then it's off to dinner.  dinners are similar to breakfasts in that we'll all eat together in a local restaurant, usually within walking distance to the motel.  it's never anything fancy and can range from a buffet restaurant to a cracker barrel to a local burger joint.

dinner is usually over by 7:30 or 8:00 and, by then, most of the riders are getting ready for bed.  this is the time i'll do one final check on e-mail and i'll post the day's picture and write my blog.  if i'm really tired, i'll lay out my clothes for the morning and do most of my repacking.

the days eventually become a very structured routine.  the only differences are the scenery and the distances.  and, maybe the weather.  so far, it's been sunny everyday and quite warm.  and it looks to continue the same all the way to st. louis.

day 8: senatobia to memphis, tennessee 64 miles

after so many days with temperatures registering 100 degrees or more, it was a pleasure to wake up to a 57 degree morning.  today was a relatively easy day.  if was mostly rolling hills (or "rollers" as they say in biking parlance) coming out of senatobia.  as we got closer to memphis, our group decided to take the day at a more leisurely pace and stop more for some sightseeing.

entering the northern hills of senatobia, we traded from the flatlands of west central mississippi.  we also traded croplands for rolling farmlands that were mainly for livestock.  this morning, we rode through pasture lands with horses, cattle, sheep and goats.  eventually, even those gave way to more residential tracts.  and the closer we got to the tennessee border, the busier the traffic got as the the rural world we'd been living in morphed into suburbia and, eventually, the urban environs of memphis, tennessee.

as we've done in previous days on this ride, and from rides in the past, we seem to sneak into a city or even a state.  no coming through the front door down main street.  you saw the picture of the chalk writing on the roadway that signified our leaving louisiana and entering mississippi.  the only things this morning that let us know we left mississippi and were entering the state of tennessee were both the sign saying we hit the memphis city limits and the change in color and texture of the pavement.

no mention of entering the state of tennessee, just the city of memphis

memphis is a fascinating city with a rich history, both past and recent past.  native americans inhabited this area over 10,000 years ago, although the modern version of the city is coming up on its 200th birthday.  it's the self-described capital of the mid-south.  elvis lived here.  dr. martin luther king was assassinated here in 1968, the day after giving his famous "i've been to the mountaintop" sermon.  on mud island, a small spit of land just off the the mainland in the mississippi river, there's a museum dedicated to the river itself.  beyond the historical information and memorabilia, there's a miniature running water scale model of the entire mississippi river complex, from its start up in lake itasca, minnesota to its finish in the gulf of mexico.  it's outside the museum, running parallel to the actual river and runs for a couple of hundred yards.  it's fascinating!

the mississippi river in memphis.  that's the southern tip of mud island in the middle of the river

street cars along north main street

memphis architecture is a more flamboyant version of a midwestern ethos.  it's one of the few cities in america that still has street cars.  and, it's the home of some of the greatness music and musicians to grace this planet.  many credit this city as the birthplace of the blues and of early rock 'n roll.  it's the home to sun records, stax records, chess records and many of the early pioneering recording labels.

the kress building from the late 1800's; one of the first national chains of five-and-dime stores

where elvis, jerry lee lewis, roy orbison, johnny cash and other greats got their start 

memphis is also home to beale street, once the bourbon street of tennessee (still in some tawdry ways), but still home to b.b. king's blues club where tonight, as most every night, they were kickin' it with some great blues, r&b and rock.

b.b. is hardly ever there, but the place is always jumpin'!

beale street.  bourbon street (north), more blues, less beads

tomorrow is a much needed day of rest.  will recharge the batteries, do laundry and try to catch up on sleeping.