Day 8 - April 19 - Brandon, MS to Kosciusko, MS - Crossing the T.....Part One

April 19, 2024

Day 8 - April 19 - Brandon, MS to Kosciusko, MS

The Crack of Doom

John’s Story

OK, let’s get to that subtitle right away. I dropped my Wahoo Elemnt Roam GPS at the end of the day, and the screen popped off. There are two tiny ribbon connectors on the screen that tore off the circuit board beneath, and will never go back. Miraculously I was able to sync the rides of yesterday and today to Ride With GPS using the Wahoo app on my phone, but things will never be the same. I called the bike shop in Tupelo where my nephew Matthew works, and they thankfully have one in stock. We will get to Tupelo day after tomorrow, and I can pick it up on Monday. I’m buying the v2 of the Roam with a lot more memory than the v1 that I broke. The $400 will come out of my children’s inheritance. 😏

Now, back to the ride. We got our earliest start this morning, about 7:10 a.m. We rode mostly in bike lanes to Ross Barnett Lake and across the dam, then a bike path paralleling the Natchez Trace for a number of miles. By the time we got on the Trace we had ridden about 19 miles.

Riding across the Ross Barnett Lake dam.

A nice collection of houseboats. I wonder if any of them are lived in (or on).

This was our first sunny start in several days. It’s been overcast and gloomy the last few days. It didn’t last long, and the low clouds moved back in. The forecast was for stray showers and thunderstorms, and we rode on wet pavement a number of times during the day, but were never rained on.

This sign was in the window of a convenience store. We’ve been beer-less for three days, but we did not cross over to the dark side.

Traffic on the Trace was quite light, and everyone gave us plenty of room as they passed. The speed limit on the Trace is generally 50 mph, and some were definitely exceeding that, but overall the ridding was worry free.

Eight or ten years ago I drove the length of the Trace from Nashville to Natchez, and probably stopped at every single historical marker. On this trip the markers are just reasons to pull over for a couple minutes for a rest.

This typical Mississippi Native American name is pronounced just as is looks: yock-uh-nook’-uh-nee. When I say it out loud I feel like I’m channeling Fozzie Bear.

We followed the entire western shoreline of Ross Barnett Lake.

The miraculous Ross Barnett geese, walking on water.

The Natchez Trace is a very popular bike route. At the Welcome Center at Kosciusko we were told that 19 bicycle tourists (representing 4 different tour groups) had visited today, all of them headed south. We are swimming upstream I guess. We saw most of those bikers passing us in the opposite direction today, but because they were riding unloaded we at first thought they were locals.

We stopped for a breather at one of the historic site turnouts and found the support vehicle for a tour group, with someone setting up a lunch stop for their four clients. Must be nice.

At this same turnout we met a lone local cyclist who had driven over from Philadelphia, MS for a workout. He was headed north for a 20 mile round trip ride. We met him coming back long before we reached his 10-mile turnaround. He was on a race horse. From our conversation it sounded as though he was an Ironman level triathlete. Before he ever left he offered us a beer from the cooler he brought for his post-ride cooldown. We reluctantly declined, as we had at least 25 more miles to ride. Heavy sigh.

At Ratliff Ferry, a mile or so off the Trace, we discovered why a ferry was needed to cross the river. Someone stole their bridge.

My first ever encounter with a floating backhoe. Johnny, do you think you can make one out of Legos?

I went to high school in Mississippi, and I remember we spent weeks in Mississippi history class studying the Tribes native to the state, in particular the Choctaws and Chickasaws.

Most of the flowers I saw today were the same ones I’ve been seeing for days. The new ones were much smaller and less noticeable. In fact, I didn’t notice new ones until I looked at my feet.

Some of the flowers are downright Lilliputian.

And they keep getting smaller., but no less beautiful.

As we approached Kosciusko, we saw several attractive arched bridges over the Trace. The shape reminded me of stone bridges I’ve seen in other national parks, in particular Acadia National Park in Maine, where rocks are plentiful. In this part of Mississippi rocks are few and far between, so I suppose they had to resort to poured concrete. To quote Forrest Gump, “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.”

Our itinerary calls for us to spend the night camping at the primitive biker campground by the Kosciusko Welcome Center. The weather forecast calls for a very stormy, rainy day tomorrow, and we’d like to start out dry, so we’re staying at the EconoLodge next door to the Welcome Center. Our itinerary also had us riding 74 miles tomorrow to Witch Dance primitive biker campground, but what with the forecast and the discovery that there is no potable water at Witch Dance, we now plan to stop at the only motel near the Trace between here and Tupelo, about 45 miles from here. It looks pretty run down, but we note that other bikers have used it without ill effect, and it will be a roof over our heads.

This will shorten our ride tomorrow by 27 miles in the rain, and add those miles to what would have been a short 28 miles to Tupelo on Sunday. Sunday weather should be much improved so we’re happy to make the trade.

Since we decided to motel it in Kosciusko, we got out the cooking gear at the primitive biker campground by the Welcome Center (note the primitive biker seated there) and prepared our main meal of the day at 3:00 p.m. There’s a Mexican restaurant next door to the EconoLodge, so we’ll go over there later for a snack and the first beer in three days (yes, it has been traumatic!)

While we were preparing our meal, Donna drove up to ask if we were camping tonight. If so she would leave the Welcome Center restrooms unlocked for us tonight. We told her of our plan to stay at the motel, which she thought was a wise decision.

Donna is granted Auxiliary Road Angel status for offering her help to us, even though we were not able to take advantage of it.

Ed’s Story

John talked about dropping his Wahoo GPS and its breaking. If you followed our travels last year, you’ll remember I dropped mine and shattered the screen. Although mine was still usable, it was susceptible to water intrusion so it was also replaced.

My Wahoo didn’t know what to do on part of our ride today because we rode on a relatively new road. It kept looking for the route.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the road this morning as folks headed to work. As John noted the bike paths were very helpful.

Ross Barnett Reservoir spillway. There was too much traffic to get a better shot from the other side of the road.

The bike path paralleling the Natchez Trace is highly used. We passed quite a few runners and walkers on this path.

We rode on the Trace almost 55 miles today. There are many tour groups out there that take people the entire length from Nashville to Natchez. By the time we get to Tupelo, I will have seen enough. It is a nice ride but it’s all the same.

Who knew Florida extended so far west? I might have learned it in school but it was long forgotten.

In 1764, this spot was the northern boundary of West Florida, marked by a line from the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers’ confluence east to the Chattahoochee River. This came about in the Treaty of Paris.

I think they mean no vehicles on the grass but the way the sign is pointing could mean something else.

Adam told us about the Ratliff Ferry Trading Post. It may be hopping on weekends if they have music at the bar but it is pretty dead on a Friday morning,

The Pearl River feeds into the Barnett Reservoir and continues south to the Gulf.

The Upper Choctaw Boundary stop on the Natchez Trace Parkway marks the northern boundary of the Choctaw Indian Nation after the 1820 Treaty of Doak’s Stand. The treaty was named after William Doak, who had been operating a stand (aka inn) within the Nation since 1812.

The ride continued. Eventually we arrived at the Kosciusko Visitor Center.

It doesn’t look like he ever made it to Mississippi so it’s interesting the town is named after him, except to honor his services in the Revolutionary War.

Snacks at the Mexican restaurant. John pondering life as he eats his guacamole and drinks his small beer.

For those you that like to look at our route.

John already talked about our plans and miles for the next few days, so until tomorrow, happy biking!

Today's ride: 73 miles (117 km)
Total: 430 miles (692 km)

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