For those of you who are not regular cyclists, a
half-century is a 50 mile ride. For
those of you who do not follow baseball, a split doubleheader is when teams
play two games the same day that are separated by several hours. And everyone knows what a rain delay is! I think you’ll see that the title of this
post is ideally suited for today’s Mississippi and Louisiana rides.
Natchez Trace Parkway
Woke up at 6:30 this morning to get ready to head over to
the
I had heard that the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs 444 miles from Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, was a great cycling road,
and I couldn’t agree more. The pavement
was smooth, the trees, the sounds of nature, and very few cars created an
idyllic environment.
I started to think
how maybe if the administration in Washington could experience this road, they
might stop taking money away from the National Park Service. But then I remembered who heads the
administration. I’m sure he would look
at the road and see just two lanes as a waste of land resources and an opportunity
to add multiple lanes to create a “big, beautiful super highway.” I quickly decided that we should keep this
gem to ourselves!
I passed one interesting location where there was a plaque
about the Battle of Raymond (a town just off the Natchez Trace) during the
civil war. 
Otherwise it was just nature, a little bit or agriculture and a peaceful 25 mile ride, which would prove to be the first half of a half
century today.
Otherwise it was just nature, a little bit or agriculture and a peaceful 25 mile ride, which would prove to be the first half of a half
century today.
If you are interested, here’s the data on this ride:
 |
| Here I am at the parking area on the Natchez Trace Parkway at the end of my ride. This picture was taken by a cyclist I met who was just beginning his ride, Mike McCullough. Thanks Mike. Hope you had a good ride today, too! |
Shreveport
A three and a half hour drive west on I-20 brought me to Shreveport,
Louisiana at about 3:30 pm. Originally I
had hoped to be here by 3 o’clock so that I could head off by 4:00 on an hour
and a half ride up to Cross Lake northwest of the airport motel where I am
staying tonight. But a quick change and
I was underway just a few minutes later than I had originally planned. Although the temperature was only in the mid
90’s, the humidity was pretty oppressive.
As I headed up toward the lake I ran through a neighborhood with homes built amidst the tall thin trees, before reaching South Lakeshore Drive where I got the occasional view of Cross Lake.
There were many
more rolling hills than on my morning Mississippi ride, but I was able to
maintain a decent pace. On the way back I came up to a horse farm where the horses were grazing near a fence along the road. As soon as I snapped this photo and tried to get some better ones, a motorcycle came along and the roar of the machine caused them all to race away.
As I headed back
toward the hotel I realized that I would only have about 23 miles, meaning that
I would fall short of a Half Century for the day. So I continued past the motel until I had gone
far enough on the road that creates a perimeter around the airport, to know I’d
have 25 when I would turn around and go back to the motel. Along with the morning's 25 Miles in Mississippi I would have a half century (plus two new states!).
If you are interested, here’s the data on this ride:
Preview
Next on the trip itinerary is the Hotter N Hell Hundred on Saturday
in Wichita Falls,Texas, where the high temperature is now forecast to be only
93 degrees. I know that a lot of riders
will feel cheated, including my friend Darrell who I am picking up at the
airport in Dallas tomorrow so we can go up to join the 12,000 other people in
what is usually a “sufferfest.” Although
this Texas ride will not represent a new state for me, I’ll post a report on
HH100 plus Darrell and my Sunday morning ride over my old daily cycle route
through Plano, TX.
The next entry on this blog should be posted on Sunday evening.
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