detour, guntown/friendship road, lizard head, tupelo honey

October 19, 2021

Day Eleven: Tupeolo to Tishomingo State Park

I woke up and opened my Kindle to see what time it was since my watch and phone were charging in the other room. The tiny print read 6:45, which seemed a bit early but I felt rested so I got up anyway. It was actually 8:45 - my ancient eyes just weren’t focusing on the small print very well in the morning. I’d done enough organizing last night so that I just needed to eat and load the bike. Checkout is 10:00, and I closed the door to leave at 9:59.

It was a pleasant 62 degrees when I left. I decided not to go back the way I came in, and instead took West Junction, which required a climb up a grassy hill to get to the Trace since it wasn’t an access point.

Almost immediately after getting on the Parkway there was a detour.

Jeff had told me about the detour, a 6-mile roundabout route to get past some construction. If I’d known the route of the detour I could’ve cut out a few miles. I ended up riding four miles to get within one mile of where I started.

The detour itself was terrible, easily the worst section of the entire route so far (except for the section I skipped in La Place). It was littered with debris and, in a couple of sections, just plain dangerous as I had to maneuver through traffic.

A few miles after I got past the detour there was something weird going on with my bike. It was like I was on the ocean with gently rolling waves. I looked down at my tires but they seemed okay, so I just kept riding.

The sensation continued and I eventually pulled over. A flat? The seat? I checked the seat to see if I needed to tighten it, and checked the tire pressure as well. The rear seemed a little low, but okay. I continued riding and the sensation went from rolling to feeling like I could feel every tiny pebble on the road. This time when I checked my tire it was almost entirely flat.

The timing was pretty good. Right in front of me was a place where it was shady and I could lean my bike against some railing. The repair didn’t take long, and the location was so pleasant that I decided to have lunch there (peanut butter and nutella wrap).

When you change or patch a flat tube, you always want to inspect the inside and outside of the tire as well. Otherwise, the offending object will just puncture it again as soon as you start riding.

I don't mind changing a flat on occasion. It's just another part of the adventure. I'm not in a hurry, and don't have to be anywhere, so I may as well just piddle around with a tube a few minutes.

I started riding again at 12:35 and had only traveled 13 miles for the day. I passed Guntown, which from that point can only be accessed via Friendship Road.

More great road, more great weather.

I passed Pharr Mounds, an ancient American Indian burial site dating back more than 2000 years.

I see this guy a lot, which is certainly better than staring into the sun all day.

A group of about 20 cyclists passed me, one at a time.

As the last four were passing I asked what tour group they were with, and one of them said Lizard Head. Three of them continued on, and the fourth one slowed down for a few minutes to chat with me. His name is Paul, from Colorado. He’s originally from England, and has the accent to prove it. He used to race, but isn’t currently. I gathered that most of the people on this tour ride pretty fast, but maybe that’s just compared to my glacial speed of travel. Later, when I googled Lizard Head, I learned that they’re paying about $3,000.00 each for the trip. Of course, that includes sag support (someone carrying all of your gear in a van) and hotels every night. After our conversation he easily glided away.

Not long after that I came to the Tenn-Tom bridge, which I believe is short for Tennessee Tombigbee bridge and is just below the dam.

There were three bikers, also from Lizard Head, who stopped for pictures. I chatted briefly with one of the guys. They were nice enough, but they all seemed pretty aloof. I guess when you’re spending three grand for a trip you don’t want to be around a mangy-looking guy who looks like he might ask for a couple of bucks for some beer.

Toward the end of the day, Turkey in the Straw started seeping into my brain again. I played Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey to displace it, which I thought was appropriate, having just left Tupelo. I considered listening to my audiobook. Over the past few months I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of audiobooks while training for this trip but, interestingly, an audiobook just doesn't hold my interest once I’m actually pedaling down the road in another state. Maybe it’s the novelty of where I am, as opposed to the repetitive routes I train on, but a book just doesn’t have any appeal while riding.

Mile Post 300! That’s 300 miles from Natchez, Mississippi.

My destination for the night is the Tishomingo State Park. About two miles from the exit I noticed that my tire was going flat again. I thought I could make it to the park, but after another mile it was just too low to keep riding so I pumped it up and continued on. I rode the rest of the way very aware of my tire, continuously checking it to see how low it was and thinking that I can repair just about everything except a cracked rim.

When I arrived at the State Park, Belinda, the Ranger who checked me in, selected the best available spot for me and changed my age to 65 so I could get a discount. I asked her if an Amish couple happened to come through and she said that yes, they had, and they were in the site right next to mine. While she was checking me in I noticed that my tire had gone flat again so I had to pump it up.

I rode to my campsite and chatted with Melvin and Amanda for a few minutes, who were surprised to see me again. Unsurprisingly, since they wake up at 5:00, they had arrived several hours earlier.

After getting settled in, I pulled out my flat tube, which had been new, and took it over to the lake to see where the leak was, then patched it.

I also patched the tube I had replaced earlier in the day. Melvin loaned me his battery-operated pump, which saved some pumping, and I gave them a couple of my breakfast granolas since I have a couple of extras. I'm not sure what to think about the fact that the Amish guy has more techie stuff than me.

This is a nice campsite, right on the lake, with no RVs, TVs, or noise near our camping area. It’s very quiet, and the moon is almost full. The sites are pretty far apart and, other than my new Amish friends, the closest person is about 100 yards away. I spent some time visiting with Melvin and Amanda, who asked me some medical questions (“Should we get vaccinated?” among other things) while I worked on my tire, then had a delicious dinner of lasagna and a chocolate mudslide pudding for dessert.

51.5 miles
1856 feet climbed
8.2% grade
6:35:52 total time
4:17:15 moving time
28.7 mph max speed
12.0 mph average moving speed
2616 calories
564.1 total miles

Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 566 miles (911 km)

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