Fulton, MS to Pickwick Dam, TN

It was cool this morning when we left the Days Inn in Fulton. A few rain drops were falling, but it never really rained. I started out in a jacket, but it didn't take long for me to shed it. In the first few miles we had one short, steep hill after another--much too soon after breakfast for that much exertion. The photo above is of Kathy watching a boat enter the locks at the G. V. "Sonny" Montgomery Locks on the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. Interesting. We watched the boat as it moved through the locks and was on it's way again. We rode for about 10 miles on the Natchez Trace in Northeast Mississippi. It looks a lot like the Trace does between Jackson and Natchez. We didn't have any cute little towns to stop in for lunch today, so I had a PB&J beside the road, and a bathroom break in the bushes. Oh well, guess that is what makes touring interesting. It's never the same every day. I had to pull my rain jacket out of my "suitcase" two or three times because of rain showers, but they were never bad, and didn't last long. We're staying the night just over the Tennessee border near Pickwick Lake. Tomorrow we have a 68 mile day. In fact this will be my first real "test"--6 straight days of riding for a total of 388 miles. That's a lot for me!! I'm going to clean and lube my chain now. Oh, I'm finally getting the hang of pumping my tires--but I still had rather Mike do it for me. I hope he still will when I get home.
76 Miles

Columbus to Fulton, Mississippi

If all our days could be like today, I could get hooked on touring! Today was just about perfect. We just had a great time. The roads were good, the traffic light, the few hills we had were very gentle, and some of the time we had a great tailwind. We stopped for lunch at the best little Italian restaurant in Amory. The young waitress was overwhelmed when we all arrived, and called the owner to tell her that she had a big group of "biker women" there. The owner, who lives only 3 minutes away, came to help expecting to see a bunch of women in leather and riding motorcycles. She then went out of her way to serve us, even bringing pitchers of iced water for us to refill our water bottles. The food was really good, too.
I rode with Anne and Kathy again, and Marilee, Jennifer, and Marnie joined us today. We just cruised along most of the day. A time or two Kathy and I kicked it up a notch--long straight roads and a tailwind were just too much to resist! It was such a fun day. I never dreamed I would ride 81.6 miles, and think it was EASY!! We averaged 15.4 mph, and it took us 5 hours and 15 minutes (riding time). Tomorrow we ride 77 miles to Pickwick Dam, Tennessee. We'll ride a few miles on the Natchez Trace. This will be our third state. Margaritas!! Yea. Life is good!
81.6 Miles

Rest Day-Columbus, MS

Columbus is a pretty Mississippi town with quite a few antebellum homes. Four of us took a walking tour, then had lunch in their old historical downtown. Later in the afternoon, several of us met in the parking lot to clean our bikes after yesterday's rain. Did I say "I miss Mike Hartt?" He has always done this for me. I hope I put the White Lightening in the right place. Tomorrow we plan to ride to Fulton--85 miles. I am happy to say that I am "no worse from the wear" from yesterday's ride in the rain. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

JJ and the Rotary Club's CYCLE TO SERVE

Most of you know that the Rotary Club in Monroe, via Miles Luke, has teamed up with Twin City Cyclist to raise money for road signs and a bike path. JJ has asked me to be on his team since I will be riding quite a few miles between May 8 and May 22. I am no good at asking for donations, but any of you who would like to give away some money to improve cycling in our community, find JJ and give him a few $$$. I spoke briefly to the Rotary Club at their meeting on May 1 about this tour. I loved their "jaw-dropping" reaction when they heard Mobile to Niagara Falls, but anybody could do it. It's just one peddle stroke at a time, but it takes the courage to START. So I applaud Miles and the Rotary for their efforts to make cycling in Monroe more safe for us. We can do it, but it will take all of us working together--"one peddle stroke at a time."

Eutaw, Alabama to Columbus, Mississippi

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. OH NO!! I don't bike in the rain--not on purpose!! When I went to breakfast, these women were dressed to RIDE. They were wearing all kinds of fancy stuff, things I've never seen, much less own. Then Laurie, our tour guide, gave the ok to ride. WHAT?? It was RAINING!! There was no doubt that Anne was riding. Kathy was unsure, and I didn't know what to do. Then some of the women started leaving. As I stood there, looking at the rain, I decided that I came on this tour for an adventure, and there would be NO adventure in riding in the sag wagon. So, I ran to my room, put on my new Pearl Izumi rain jacket, and got on the bike. I left with Anne and Jennifer in a "soft" steady rain. I learned a few things on this 64 mile ride in the rain. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. There wasn't much traffic (I guess loggers don't work in the rain), and the dogs stayed on the porch. Even they were smart enough to stay out of the rain! We stopped a few times. I had some hot cocoa once. But mostly, we just peddled on. The pace was a little slow for me some of the time, so I rode out front a lot, but we all got to Columbus about the same time and rode in to the Holiday Inn together. Would you believe it stopped raining as we entered the city limits, and by the time we got to the hotel the sun was coming out, and the rest of the day was beautiful. Tonight before dinner we had margaritas. I learned that is a tradition with WomanTours every time we cross a state line. Ummm, how many more states... Tomorrow is another rest day, so I plan to upload a few more photos to my blog, do some laundry, and buy a mirror for my handle bars. All these women have mirrors on their bikes, so I'm going to get one too. Just hope I don't have a wreck trying to use it!
63.75 Miles

Demopolis to Eutaw, Alabama

On the road again . . . what a great ride. The sun was out, the hills more gentle, and my "FRIEND" stayed home. Anne, Kathy, and I began to paceline when we got off the busy 4-lane and onto the country roads. We decided to each pull one mile (couldn't do 30 seconds, DB, we had too far to go), and it worked great. Not exactly a blistering pace, but we were moving down the road! Marilee (remember, she rode in with me on the 102 mile day) joined us at one of the sag stops. Sag stops were every twenty, and we stopped to make a few photos along the way. A fluffy dog tried to chase us, but stopped dead in his tracks when I yelled at him. The ladies were impressed, so I had to give them a lesson in how to yell at dogs. Alabama dogs, which are exactly like Louisiana dogs understand "southern" yelling. You have to tell them to "GIT BACK" in your meanest voice. So, I think I'll pack my whistle away--never had time to use it anyway.
We had a great lunch at B & N Bar-B-Q in the little town of Eutaw. Caused a few of the diners to stop in mid-chew when we all walked in. A bunch of women in lycra and biking helmets must be a bit unusual here. Oh, and the town weekly came out to interview us. Our picture is supposed to make their paper next week. (Not a lot happening in Eutaw, huh?) We didn't have internet service last night, so I wasn't able to update my blog. We could see I-20 from our motel. It made me think of Monroe. I miss ya'll, but this tour is really fun.
56.4 Miles

Jackson to Demopolis, Alabama

Log trucks are BIG in Alabama, and there are a lot of them. Well guys, I finally got my act together today on the road to Demoposis--98 miles and I WAS OK!!! Liz and Craig, David, Brian and Leigh, DB, Laurie, and Mike (of course), and TCC, all those miles we rode (usually with me hanging on by my fingernails) paid off for me today. We started early again, (I heard roosters crowing) wearing arm warmers. It stayed cloudy and wonderfully cool all day. The road was smooth, with rolling hills and very little traffic until the last 15 miles. I loved it! I am hanging in there with these ladies, and if the roads were flat. . . I met a guy in a store that used to live in Monroe. I was wearing DB's Bike Source jersey, and he asked me if I was from Monroe. Nice guy, worked with mosquito control while there. (Picture on right, near bottom.) They changed our route tomorrow, so all we have to ride is 58 miles. YEA!! That should be like a walk in the park after our last two riding days.

Rest Day, Jackson, Alabama

I have had an absolutely delightful rest day. I feel really good considering how wiped out I felt after yesterday's ride. We rotate room mates every night. At first, I was a little unsure how I would like it, but already I LOVE it. The first night my room mate was a very pretty lady, one of the younger ones, from Rocky River, OH. She races sailboats on Lake Erie with an all women crew. She has a husband and four grown kids at home, and they are all huge Cleveland "Cavs" fans. My room mate tonight is a tall, very attractive lady who looks like she could be sipping tea at the garden club instead of on a bike. She has been on five cross-country bicycle tours, and more shorter tours than she can remember. She packs and reassembles her own bike when she goes on these tours.
But wait, I have to tell you the best part about today. When we rode into Jackson yesterday, I saw the name Nick Waugh on a State Farm Insurance sign. My older daughter's best friend in grade school was Leanne Corley, and I knew that she had married Nick and that they lived in a small town in Alabama. I had NO idea it was Jackson. So today I walked to the State Farm office and asked if Nick was from Louisiana, (and he was) and if his wife's name was Leanne (and it was). WOW! So, I called Leanne at home and she came to the motel and picked me up and we had the best visit. Can you believe that!! It just made my day. She is just as sweet and beautiful as she always was.
Tomorrow we have another LONG day--98 miles to Demopolis, Alabama. Yesterday Mike wrote a comment for me to "quit griping", and that the wind is my friend. Well, I hope MY FRIEND stays home tomorrow!

Bay Minette to Jackson, Alabama

Today started early. Breakfast was at 0615, and everyone seemed in a hurry to get started. They planned for us to take the long way around to Jackson, Alabama--102 miles because we could only cross the Alabama River where is a bridge. I had planned to ride with Anne and Kathy again, and learned later that they wanted to ride with me too, but none of us communicated with each other, and we didn't leave together. I went back to my room after breakfast to brush my teeth, and saw a big group leaving. When I realized that Anne and Kathy had gone on, I set out to catch them. It took me 7 miles to catch Kathy, and we thought Anne was up ahead. She told me later that she had stopped at a store for Powerade, and saw me ride by. Anyway, we all finally got together when we stopped to make pictures of a really pretty swamp. I just thought the Cheaha Challenge that Mike and I rode last Sunday was hard! TODAY was without a doubt the hardest ride I have ever done. No Mike to push me up the hills. No Bryan and David to draft behind. No DB and the Thursday group to echelon to keep me out of the wind!! There was one hill after another! The last forty miles were straight into an unrelenting head or cross wind. We got chased by two groups of dogs. I didn't have time to blow my new whistle, so I still don't know if it works, but I yelled at them and we managed to get by without anything bad happening. Then a big group of us missed a turn and had to go four miles to get back to where we were supposed to be. Lunch was great, tho. Patty, our cook, set up a wonderful picnic for us and we all ate in the shade in a cemetery. We all left together after lunch, but soon the hills and the wind started to take it's toll, and I ended up riding with another group of ladies. Two of them had never ridden a century before today. At our last stop at a convenience store, I had a coke and Advil, and it helped. With 15 miles to go, Marilee and I headed out into the wind again, and cranked our way up more hills--one with an 11% grade. After the most grueling ride of my life, we rolled into Jackson ahead of the pack. Some of the ladies who have Garmin computers said we had 4200' of climbing. All I know is that I am WIPED OUT. I am SO glad that tomorrow is a rest day. Mike told me that I need to go on an easy 15 mile ride tomorrow like the guys in the Tour do. Do I look like a Lance Armstrong type? I don't think so!! I may just stay in bed all day!! Besides, there ARE NO easy rides around here.