Day Five: Collinwood, Tennessee to Belmont, Mississippi

October 14, 2021

I was tired from yesterday's ride, which, according to the Strava app on my phone, was 4,600+ feet of climbing in 89 miles. On each of the many climbs, I had to endure the horrible raspy sound of my dry chain. I hadn't lubed the chain before I left home, and I'd forgotten to bring any lube with me. It was driving me crazy.

So the very first stop I made when I arrived in Collinwood yesterday was a small hardware/gun store. The friendly guy didn't have any bicycle chain lube (although, oddly enough, he did have a few bicycle chains themselves for sale), so I bought a small bottle of Lucas Gun Oil ("A Must for Competition Shooting") instead. I hadn't tried putting it on the chain yesterday evening, but I was anxious to see if it worked this morning.

So after a breakfast of the leftover pizza from yesterday's dinner, and the usual slow process of getting everything put back in the panniers, I stepped outside the cottage and eventually figured out how to open the small bottle of lube. Larry, the co-owner (with his wife) of Miss Monetta's Country Cottage, was doing some chores, and I talked to him as I cleaned, then lubed, the chain.

The gun oil did the trick. I anticipated that my now-silent chain was going vastly improve my quality of life in the next days.

I was dawdling this morning - it was my latest start of the trip - and after I rode away from the cottage I stopped in 0.3 miles at the Hasti Mart and spent time there drinking Diet Pepsi and observing the farmers conversing.

After that I walked around for a few minutes, attempting to find something interesting to photograph.

Back on the Natchez Trace, it was another pleasant morning. Flatter than yesterday.

I reached the Alabama state line and took the obligatory photo. Unlike the last time I rode through here (three years ago), I did NOT stand on a hill of fire ants when I took the state line photo. Occasionally I do learn from my mistakes.

At one point I was standing on the side of the road, checking my email, when I heard a bicycle bell ring out, and then a lady's voice: "Everything alright?"

It was two women riding loaded touring bikes, heading south.

After I answered that I was fine, I finished what I was doing and attempted to catch up to them, but was unsuccessful. They were fast!

My last glimpse of them was on the bridge crossing the Tennessee River.

The female touring cyclists are barely visible in the distance. I was curious about where they were headed, but never caught up with them.

I wasn't in Alabama very long.

I was making good time today, and if I had started earlier, Tupelo, at 90+ miles, might have been a reasonable destination. I decided not to push myself too hard, though, and started investigating my options. I exited the Parkway at the exit for Tishomingo State Park, and less than a quarter mile later was confronted by a group of dogs who were not happy with my presence. I turned around and got back on the Parkway.

Very common sight on Mississippi backroads.

I decided to end the day in Belmont. There was an "historic" hotel there, where I'd stayed three years ago, directly across from what I recalled was a pretty good Mexican restaurant in the otherwise decaying town.

I initially tried riding highway 25 directly to Belmont, but very quickly abandoned that - it was just too busy, including log trucks that thundered by. I decided to take my chances with the dogs on the country roads instead.

Sure enough, multiple dogs came out to chase. There's a real problem with semi-feral dogs in the area. Every home (even in the city limits) has a dog-proof wire cage outside where the trash bags are stored. I can only imagine how much more junk would litter the already trash-filled ditches if the dogs had unfettered access to peoples' trash bags.

I arrived in Belmont to find a friendly group of cyclists, two couples in their sixties, already checked in. They were riding the Parkway south-to-north on unloaded bikes, using a SAG vehicle.

One of the woman, who later told me she was from New York - "Can't you tell?" - was displeased with the amount of crud in the vent on the window air conditioner in her room, and complained to the hotel's housekeeper.

Not long after that, the woman and I were talking, and she said, apropos of the dirty A/C, "Who knows what I'm breathing in from that thing?!"

"Uh, I dunno -Legionnaires Disease?" I replied. Maybe I shouldn't make jokes about a potentially fatal respiratory illness during a global pandemic.

Three of the group of four cyclists staying at the hotel.

After an early dinner at the Mexican place across from the hotel, I walked around Belmont. Not much had changed in the three years since I'd last been there.

I walked into the Big Star supermarket and bought a few things. I wondered how many people who shop at this regional food chain know that it was the inspiration for the name of one of the all-time greatest (if still sadly obscure to mainstream audiences) American rock bands. I'm guessing not too many.

I sat outside the hotel and talked to the other cyclists for a while. Interestingly, the nice woman from the air conditioner incident earlier, and one of the men in her group, were former computer programmers, although neither had worked in software for a long, long time, from the sound of it. Once again, I was reminded that at 55, I'm pretty old to still be writing software.

I was tired, and retired early to my very damp room. It's so, so humid down here.

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Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 384 miles (618 km)

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