Warm-Up in Natchez

 With wild and crazy Thurman at our lunch spot today, where we pigged out.

Things are all going great. Wonderful group of riders, most of them from Pasadena, and I'm almost the youngest (the youngest just turned 60). So, we have much in common. The rest of the riders all know each other and take cycling trips together. I'm the only one added in to this "private" tour. Well, come to think of it, Thurman is not part of their group either, but they've all ridden with him before on the Blue Ridge Parkway tour. And he's the kind of guy whom you love having around.

Today we took a 28-mile warm-up ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway, and stopped at several sites along the way. Now we won't have to stop tomorrow at these since we have a long, 105-mile day. We still will have many scenic or historic stops, but can skip those we saw along the initial 11 miles.

This is the view of the Mississippi River from our hotel room. My roommate the first night was Thurman, in the photo at the top. He's from Georgia, and met me at Helen and Peter Falco's home on Thursday morning and entertained us in the van all the way to Natchez. He's been everywhere in the country, and broken every bone in his body. What a hoot he is too!

On Wednesday, I left home at 9:45 am and drove 490 miles to Atlanta. All but five of those miles were on Interstate 75, so navigation was a breeze. What a pleasure to get to visit with Helen and Peter again. I worked with Helen for so many years in nutrition and regulatory. She's now with Coke.

Here are Peter and Helen. Their home is gorgeous, with tall trees and azaleas and decks outside.

The next morning, Thurman arrived and we shared biking stories. Shortly after noon, the tour leader, Paul Wood, and two of his staff, Rod and Lisa, arrived with the van and trailer. We packed our luggage and bikes, and off we went into...stop-and-go traffic for many miles. Atlanta traffic can be horrible! Anyway, it was a fun and interesting 9 hours to Natchez, with music, stories, reading three books about the Natchez Trace, and meeting new friends.

Our hotel, the Natchez Grand, is right on the bluff overlooking the river and is big and fancy. This morning, I took a walk along the bluffs and down to "Natchez Under the Hill". This was the old (19th century) degenerate part of the town, a hangout for riverboat mates, gamblers, prostitutes, saloons, and pirates.

This saloon in Natchez-Under-the-Hill is still in operation, the oldest in the city. A lot of the group ate dinner in this area the night before and loved it.

After a quick trip to a bike store with many of us in the van, we assembled for our 28-mi warm-up ride. But wouldn't you know, there cropped up several mechanical problems and so we got a late start. Speaking of bike problems, the final three guests were flying in late yesterday, and in all three cases, their bikes suffered serious problems. One bike got lost by the airline, and they're saying it will be delivered tonight in Jackson, near where we will be. Oh my, we're hoping they can find solutions to the broken parts.

This rock monument for the Natchez Trace is directly across from the hotel on the bluff, put there in 1909. Nine of us rode off toward the Parkway, about 2½ miles from the hotel. Once up on the Parkway, we had essentially our own bike path. Such fabulous scenery and a smooth roadway.

We soon came to a sign that said "Old Trace", meaning there was a section of the original trail. Here it is, and there will be numerous other places this week where our Parkway will cross or be near sections of the original Natchez Trace path.

Our destination was at Mile 10, where we turned off and rode ½ mile on a rough side road to Emerald Mound. This is the country's 2nd largest Native American ceremonial mound - eight acres. We all walked up to the top of a three-story mound where a temple had been, and then got back on our bikes and returned to the hotel.

We quickly changed into clothes and walked all of 100 yards to the Pig Out Inn for a scrumptious BBQ pork lunch. I chose a local beer called Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale - "...the first beer in the world made with whole, roasted pecans." I couldn't taste much pecan, but it was excellent!

After lunch, I walked around the old downtown with its 19th century buildings and Southern charm balconies. I toured an African American Museum (whose guide was white) and learned much about the slave life and history in this area. He showed us a local preacher's treatise from the early 1800s on how the Bible supported slavery! I later walked along the bluffs and got this photo of how tall they are and how stabilized they are now to prevent erosion.

For dinner we drove in two vans to a magnificent plantation and its Castle Restaurant. Incredible meal and conversation with an incredible group of people (fortunately for us and others in the restaurant, we had our own room). This is going to be a great tour. Total of 18 people - 14 guests and four staff.

My roommate tonight, who is patiently waiting for me to get this finished so we can turn out the lights and hit the hay, is Ken from Toronto. Yes, we have a double-Ken room. We could compare winter horror stories, because they had even worse cold and snow. For the rest of the trip, I will be in a single room, so I won't keep anyone up with my blogging.