no welcome to MS, praise da lard, short day

October 12, 2021

Day Four: Perry's Place to Woodville

I didn’t fall asleep last night until midnight, and woke up at 7:15. I don’t know what this guy is but I saw him shortly after waking up.

I packed as Perry and I talked. When I mentioned my rim was rubbing on the brake pad she pulled out the truing stand and I trued it.

She made a breakfast cereal of sweet potatoes, coconut milk, pecans, a hint of some ghost pepper sauce, and black strap molasses. I drank milk from a nearby farm where she gets her dairy products. All of the food she prepared was really delicious.

She detailed a better route to get to Natchez, and since she’s intimately familiar with the roads in this area I believed her. We said our goodbyes and I finally rolled my bike to the end of her driveway at 11:00. She didn’t accompany me because she said she wants her guests to get into their “cycling brain,” although those aren’t the words she used. Just as I was about to take off I noticed that my chain had come off, so I spent a couple of minutes getting it back on and cleaning the grease off my fingers. The new route took me back through Jackson, then onto 421.

After about 30 minutes on this road I started relaxing for the first time on this trip…. there were absolutely no cars. The thing about traffic is that you’re always aware of it, even subconsciously, and it creates a tension. Traffic is something that you attend to by necessity, and only after not seeing any cars for a long time was the lizard part of my brain able to loosen up. At one point it was so quiet that I actually heard a leaf hit the pavement. I didn’t even realize until that point that I felt that way.

One thing about riding in absolute silence is that it means you’re traveling the exact same speed as the breeze, and that means you’re not getting any air. It remained incredibly humid, so much so that my gloves were actually squishy. I took them off and attached them to my rear rack so they could dry a bit. When I stopped to take a break the sweat dripped off my elbows and onto the pavement. I’m not typically much of a water drinker, but I’ve been averaging about a liter an hour on this trip.

Although the final several miles of this route was pretty rough, I suspect that this road is actually better than the ACA route. Even though it’s shorter and likely has less traffic, I suspect the REAL reason it’s not the official ACA route is that it doesn’t have a state sign. That’s a definite prerequisite for cyclists. We LOVE that particular milestone, and having our pictures taken standing by a “Welcome to [insert state name here]” is a must.

This is also the point where I crossed from Louisiana, which has the 6th lowest vaccination rate, to Mississippi, which has the 4th lowest.

When I arrived in Woodville, the heat index was 95 degrees. I stopped at a Subway to eat, and let the air conditioning cool me down. I knew I had about 40 miles to Natchez, but there was no cell service so I couldn’t see what was ahead of me on the road. When I went back outside to my bike the heat punched me in the face. I’d slowly become accustomed to it as the temperature gradually climbed throughout the day. Now, it was like a blast furnace.

I debated about continuing on to Natchez this afternoon and rode to the north end of town where I took this picture, but the heat and the humidity were brutal, so I decided to rent a motel room.

There’s only one motel in Woodville (population 1096), and when I arrived in the late afternoon the manager apologetically let me know that there were only two rooms available, both of which were smoking. Upon entering I found that it didn’t smell any worse than a large number of other cheap, dingy motel rooms I’d stayed at in the past. The smoke smell was present, but faint, and overpowered by the general mustiness of the room. Even more noticeable was how dark it was. I opened the curtains, but closed them at dusk. There was nothing that could be stolen… no paintings, no coffee maker, no stationery… nothing. But really? It had air conditioning, so I just didn’t care.

I’m sure I broke a few laws when I used my cookstove on the bathroom floor to prepare my spaghetti and meatballs dinner. Sure, I was cooking, but not cooking meth like the previous occupant. I had a second OMeal (s’mores) for dessert, which was as bad as the brownies had been. Again, I was unable to finish it.

I showered, shaved, washed clothes in the sink and placed them near the AC to dry overnight, reorganized the stuff in my panniers, oiled my chain, and prepped for an early departure in the morning. I was in bed by 9:45 and asleep shortly thereafter, a record for me. Today is my shortest day.

30.9 miles
1263 feet climbed
5.7% grade
4:03:44 total time
2:42:34 moving time
27.4 mph max speed
11.4 mph average moving speed
1676 calories
194.9 total miles

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 195 miles (314 km)

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