Day 13 - April 24 - Holly Springs, MS to Lake Cormorant, MS - Crossing the T.....Part One

April 24, 2024

Day 13 - April 24 - Holly Springs, MS to Lake Cormorant, MS

Head West Young Man!

Ed’s Story

Had a good nights sleep at Jean and Ralph‘s house but did not want to leave. We got into another listening session with Ralph as he’s talking more about his life. I told him where we lived when we lived in Holly Springs, and the funeral home near there. Ralph said my daddy built that place.

We finally got the bikes out of the house, loaded them up, and headed out. But not before the obligatory selfie. Jean was still in bed so wasn’t able to join us.

As you can tell later on with my map, we had a short ride northwest, but the majority of the ride was to the west. Pretty uneventful.

For the life of me, I do not know how that branch cut over that wire. There are no trees close enough that it could’ve just fallen off. Storm related maybe?

Found this poor snapper trying to cross the road. He was halfway across the other lane with only a short distance to go. I was afraid the cars would smash him so I used to stick and helped him along. He did not like that.

It sort of looks like a treat I had as a kid…. spinach on a stick.

We stopped for a brief lunch in Lewisburg MS. We had 20 miles to go from there to get to Liz‘s house.

Finally made it to the outskirts of Hernando, where we turned north to cross I-69 so we could proceed west. You could really feel the north east wind as we rode the 2 miles north. It’s a good thing. It wasn’t in our face the entire way. It was much more than the 5 miles an hour they predicted.

If you head west on I 69, you will come to Tunica MS. That is the place to be if you want to gamble. There are numerous casinos out there. We will not be visiting them on this trip.

A new high school complex is being built north of the interstate. You wouldn’t think that there were that many students in the area. But research shows the student population is building, especially considering Hernando is now a bedroom community to Memphis just to the north.

After passing the high school, we turned west continued through Nesbit toward Liz’s house. There are a lot of new houses built, but they are cutting down all the trees in order to build them. The only landscaping they have might be a shrub by the house and lots of grass to cut. Some folks try to defend their property.

I called this Fort Nesbit, just wonder where the guns are.

We finally made it to Liz’s house where a cold beer and a hot shower awaited us. I knew I chose the right bedroom.

Our ride today:

Tomorrow we head 42 miles to Meeman-Shelby State Park. Rain is predicted so we’ll see what happens.

Until tomorrow, happy biking!

John’s Story

We had a quintessential Southern country meal last night. Deep fried catfish. Deep fried bacon. Deep fried andouille sausage. Deep fried bratwurst. Deep fried and grilled bacon-wrapped filet. Deep fried and grilled kielbasa. French fries. Mushroom caps stuffed with shrimp and crab. Corn on the cob. Cole slaw. Red velvet cake and ice cream. I never got past the deep fried meats, except for one mushroom cap. My carnivore coma prevented me from getting to the corn and cole slaw, though I did recover enough for the cake and ice cream. This could explain why today’s 42 miles seemed more work than yesterday’s 65 miles.

And then there was the antipasto. Before you judge, I didn’t eat the whole bag by myself. I shared some crumbs with the dog.

A good omen this morning. Our first turn after leaving our hosts this morning was onto Bicycle Road.

I can’t believe I’m this far into our tour and haven’t shared a geology lesson. In various places along the sides of the Mississippi River are steep bluffs composed of sediment called loess. Loess (from the German word for “loose”) is a silt-sized, fine grained sediment (smaller grains than sand, but larger than clay) that in the case of the Mississippi River bluffs derives from sediment carried down the river when the glaciers melted at the end of the last ice age. The glaciers ground rock to powder. When the glaciers melted, the melt water carried this fine grained sediment down the river. During times of low water, winds carried the fine grained sediment east or west and left it in thick deposits near the river. Subsequent erosion created the bluffs.

Loess has an interesting property in that it supports very steep slopes without slumping. It has a property called vertical cleavage, which allows it to be carved into rooms. In some parts of the world shelters and dwellings are carved out of the loess.

A poor example of loess exposed in a creek bank. Note the high angle of the slope.

If ever you regain consciousness and wonder where you are, try this test. Go into the nearest country store. If you can’t find or they can’t make you a bologna sandwich on soft white bread, with mayo, you can eliminate North Mississippi from your list of possible locations.

This summer’s blackberries in the works. I’ll be back about the 1st of July to pick them.

McIngvale Road in Hernando, MS. I lived in Hernando and graduated from high school here. I’m married to Carol. Carol’s sister Liz (where we are tonight) was married to Bill. Bill’s sister Roxanne is married to J.D. J.D. is a McIngvale. So does this mean in a sort of double or triple in-law sense this road was named after me?

This bike lane on McIngvale Road lasted for 100 yards. Maybe in ages years they’ll finish widening the road and it will go farther.

Just past the end of the bike lane was this sign. Shortest bike route ever. At least they’re working on it.

Liz’s house at last. She had cold beer waiting for us. She took us out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant. We each have a bedroom. Shangri-La!

Tomorrow when we cross into Tennessee south of Memphis we will have crossed Mississippi diagonally on bicycles. I wonder if it’s been done before, other than on the Natchez Trace from New Orleans?

One last thing. We crossed the Coldwater River today. Follow the river a short distance downstream and you’ll come to Arkabutla Lake. If you ever watched the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” you may recall that the town of Arkabutka was submerged by the filling of the Arkabutla reservoir. Well, this is the place.

But truth be told, it was the town of Coldwater that was flooded by the reservoir and had to be relocated. Arkabutla is where it’s always been. Regardless, it was a good movie.

Breaking news. The Corps of Engineers warns that the dam is in danger of failing, and has closed the road below the dam. So the good people of ancient Coldwater may be avenged in the end.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 643 miles (1,035 km)

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