The Bike

 

 

Ready to ride.  Note how color coordinated I am to celebrate the occasion.

 

I left Vicskburg on residential streets that quickly became suburban.  Once I quit meandering from one road to another, I finally found a spot worth a picture.  Had I been just a minute earlier, I would have caught a crane just taking off from the foreground of the pond.  He was probably camera shy.  He settled again on the back right corner of the pond.

 

 

 

 

If you look closely you can see a bit of white to the right of the tree in the close up below.

 

I also liked the nearly perfectly triangular house across the street.

 

 

Soon I was on completely rural roads.  Another 'no hands' shot.

 

 

Occasionally it appeared to be farmland, but mostly it looked like grazing land.

 

At about mile 23, I turned onto the Nachez Trace Parkway where I would stay for 59 miles.  This was my first look. 

 

 

The trees you see lined the road for at least 50 of the 59 miles.  This was a beautifully smooth pavement and, while there was no shoulder, I probably did not see 50 cars coming or going.  Also, I started the morning with a tailwind but shortly after joining the Trace, the wind shifted to be a mild headwind.  Despite that, I actually made better time because I was in the trees so much I rarely felt the wind.  In addition, the trees kept the air cooler and despite an air temp of low 80's most of the day, it felt more like mid 70's.

 

Because Cathy had to head straight for our motel to ensure we could get a room (they would not take a reservation under any circumstances), I knew I was on my own for the whole day.  In addition, there were no services at all on the Trace, not even a campground.  Consequently, I decided a good lunch stop would have shade, a place to sit, and protection from traffic for both me and my bike.

 

Voila!

 

 

 

After that, my only problem was running low on water.  Fortunately, I found a rest stop at about mile 68 with a water faucet and I cruised on into Vidalia, LA (across the river from Nachez), my tenth state of this trip.

 

Data