About the Natchez Trace: Here is a weblink if you would like to read all about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace_Parkway
In a nutshell, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile roadway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, TN. It is a national park the entire distance, as the Park Service owns the road and about 20 yards on either side. In this regard, it is the same as the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I rode with this same company (Black Bear Adventures Bicycle Tours) in Sept, 2008 - my "comeback" ride after my broken neck. Both National Parkways were constructed during the Depression by the CCC.
As with the Blue Ridge Parkway, there is no commercial traffic allowed, it is not a throughway for commuters, it has no services, no stop signs or signals for the entire distance, and the speed limit is 50 mph. Entrances and exits are infrequent, and traffic is minimal at this time of year. Therefore, it's almost as if it's a bike path for us!
The parkway commemorates and follows the original "trace" (an early term for a pathway), a trail from the days of Native Americans, which continued when early European Americans used it as their trade route. The Trace survived almost completely undeveloped and unspoiled along its whole route. Many sections of the original footpath are visible today, and I plan to see and photograph these for this blog.
Itinerary:
May 3 - Natchez to Ridgeland, MS 105 miles
May 4 - Ridgeland to French Camp, MS 80 miles
May 5 - French Camp to Tupelo, MS 85 miles (Tupelo is Elvis Presley's birthplace)
May 6 - Tupelo to Florence, AL 95 miles (We will cross the Tenn-Tom Canal, where Rick and I boated in 2010)
May 7 - rest day, but optional rides 50 miles?
May 8 - Florence to Franklin, TN 110 miles
May 9 - Franklin to Nashville 60 miles
With our long and cold winter, it's been a challenge for me to get into shape for this ride. But I'm thinking I have done it. I could not begin riding outside until March 6, and even then it has been spotty (with more bad weather, getting two colds, and having a week off for a Spring Break vacation trip). But I have managed about 1000 miles during these past six weeks, and I've pushed hard enough that I think I will be okay. We shall see!
I will get to and from this bike tour via visits with Helen and Peter Falco in Atlanta. Helen worked with me at Nestlé from 1987 to 1997, then worked at Nestlé in Switzerland until 2006. She then moved to the Coca Cola Co. She has been a close friend these past 24 yrs.
On April 30 I will drive to Helen's home and spend the night. The bike tour leader, Paul Wood, will pick up my bike and me there on his drive from North Carolina to Natchez. When the ride ends, Paul will drop me back off at Helen's on his way home. I should be back home to Monroe late on Sunday, May 11.
