Day 11 & 12, Memphis, TN - 92 & 0 miles

Another rest day!  About every seven to 10 days we have a day off from cycling, often in a interesting city.  In our second rest day of the trip we are in downtown Memphis, not far from all the action of Beale Street.  But getting here took quite the effort.

We knew the ride from Clarskdale was going to be a haul.  The cue sheet which gave our route for the day listed 94 miles of turns.  A lot of this was on back roads and most of it was heading north.  OK, I thought. This won’t be too bad.  Unfortunately there was this pesky wind, gusting to 21 mph, out of the north.

The first 20 miles was heading east and I rode with my great friend Penny.  I have known Penny since we rode  the 3000 miles across the Southern Tier of the US in 2008.  We took our time and stopped for a few pictures, including at “Gurleyville, Population 3.”  It seems Ty Gurley has some fun on his property and has erected numerous whimsical statues including rows of tractors and a dinosaur.

After the first SAG stop to refill our water bottles and get snacks, we turned north and the wind began.  I started riding with Mary D and Carolyn, two strong riders who are a lot of fun.  The fun was kept to a minimum as the wind speed increased along with our effort level.  There was some confusion with the cue sheet at mile 60 but our guide, Carol, was there and directed us down the road.  This allowed us cut a few miles off our route and we enjoyed the wide, almost debris-free shoulder of I-65.  At mile 78 we crossed into our third state, Tennessee.

After almost nine hours on the road, we pulled into the Memphis Marriott.

The next day, on our actual day of rest, five of us met up with our friend Jean, who we know from various WomanTours rides and is a Memphis local.  She took us to the famous Arcade diner for breakfast then drove us to the Apple store (to get Penny’s phone repaired) and a local bike shop.  We have three terrible bike pumps that are constantly pulling the valve stems out of our tires and we have had enough.  Penny sprung for her own floor pump and is going to ask folks to chip in what they can.  Yay for Penny!  After that, I went to the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in a building attached to the Lorraine motel where Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated.  The exhibits were wonderful and the presentation was amazing.  It was an educational, informative and stirring presentation on the struggle for civil rights for those of African descent in this country.  But there was only two paragraphs about gay rights and women’s rights.  A great museum but I disagree with the name - it did not discuss my civil rights.

Afterwards Penny, Barb and I went to Gus’s Fried Chicken, rated number two on TripAdvisor, for a fried chicken dinner. It was wonderful.

Tomorrow is a 63 mile day with a forecast for sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s.  I’m afraid to look at what the wind is going to be.