Beat the heat, revisited. Another 5:00 AM breakfast had us on the Trace by 6:30. Less traffic and slightly cooler temperatures made for a great day. The road surface was smooth chipped seal, but gave way to "virgin" blacktop. While it heated up toward the end of the ride, the day was about as good as it gets.
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| As Good As It Gets ... Jeff Leads Us Out |
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| Early Morning Along the Trace |
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| Geldings (minus 2) Emjoy The Day |
Today's map and data for the 62 mile ride -
http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=8752723. We even had a few hills and a climb or two. Joe was riding sweep, so the Gang of Four (Geldings Minus 2) stayed back for a gentle start that enabled most of the reunion riders to stay together. We had the road to ourselves and saw very minimal vehicle traffic. About an hour into the ride we passed through Koskiusko ... claim to fame - it is the home of Oprah Winfrey. A turtle sighting and rescue had Alex scrambling to avoid the scared creature's pee :-)
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| A Reunion on the Road |
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| Helen and Rod |
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| Ellen was Out in Front a Lot Today ... You Rock #16 |
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| Jeff and Alex ... How Serene Are These Pics? |
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| Joe and Rod Ride the Silk Road |
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| Turtle Rescue |
Aila and and Karen set up another great shady SAG at the French Camp. Rod and I both needed after bite for some bee/insect stings, but no repeat of my bee sting bonk in Wyoming. French Camp consists of several buildings including includes the Historic Village,
French Camp Academy, the
Bed and Breakfast,
Log Cabin Gift Shop,
Post Office,
Council House Cafe,
Drane Home, and
Museum. Another group of riders was heading south and thought our SAG was theirs. An ABB rider would never had leaned his bike against my car!
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| Maine Crew ... We All Ride Together Father's Day Weekend for the Trek Across Maine |
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| Log Cabin Museum at French Camp |
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| French Camp Post Office |
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| Drake House |
It was starting to warm up, so I sported my ice bandanna and headed out with Jeff and Alex. We would join up with Joe and Rod about 12 miles later at the Jeff Busby Park. The Park included a short climb to Little Mountain Summit. We passed lots of recent tornado damage and downed trees. Our route tomorrow will be detoured (skipping 10 miles) due to clean up. The whole crew was pretty close together at the end near mile post 204.
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| Little Mountain Summit - East |
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| Little Mountain Summit - West |
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| Another Shot of Me On the Old Natchez Trace |
Check in was a little slow and some rooms were not ready. I got mine minus towels (housekeeping visit number 1) and then had to call them again to show me how to turn on the shower ... turned out I was not alone on that. A nice dinner at Ruby Tuesday included a saltine eating contest that saw no winners (Joe, Jeff, and Shirley tried), but lots of laughs. Joe's old licence photo also got a good chuckle. Joe, Jeff and I reached out to Toronto Mark and hope to schedule a Skype chat tomorrow. Timing may also be good for a connection with Mike and Barbara Munk who are heading to Oregon and will pass very close to us in Tupelo. That would be cool ... we are desperately in need of a tip of the day.
Tomorrow is a short day (50 miles) and we get to ride directly to the hotel. Aila and Karen will set up an early SAG and then head to the birthplace of Elvis ... "Thank you very much."
Good night moon ... good night smooth road ... good night first "climb" (short, but invigorating) ... good night ABB reunion riders ... good night Mike and Barb (see you tomorrow?) ... good night Toronto Mark (talk with you soon) ... good night Mom & Dad.
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