Day 7, Vicksburg, MS - 97 miles

What a great day!  Yesterday was a rest day in Natchez, but my research showed that there really wasn’t a lot to do.  So I did something I haven’t done in years.  I took a bath.   The terrain has been so flat that there is little opportunity to stand while pedaling.  No standing means more time in the seat, which means more pain.  The bath was great to soak my tired areas and sooth sore muscles.

Other than that, I did a lot of obsessing over the weather.  The forecast was for thunderstorms in the morning, progressing to showers in the afternoon, with a high temperature of only 80.  But every time I checked the weather, it seemed to get a little better. By the time I was ready to depart this morning, there was a 25% chance of showers at 9am, clearing soon after.  It was a beautiful day!  There was no rain and it was overcast so it wasn’t so hot.  On top of that, at about mile five we entered the Natchez Trace.

The Natchez Trace is an old foot path first used by native Americans, then by boatmen who had traveled down the Mississippi and were returning home to the Ohio River Valley.  It is now a 444 mile long National Park with a beautiful tree lined road dotted with informational stops, of which we biked the first 60 miles.  Also for the first time we encountered hills! Not big hills but enough to get us up out of our seats once in a while.

The original, sunken Trace.

After leaving the Trace, the road was not quite as nice but the weather held.  We passed the Historic Crossroads Store filled with local color.

Crossroads Store

I rode with Mary for much of the day and as we were chatting about how historic Vicksburg was, we decided we wanted to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park across the street from our hotel.  It sounded like a great idea earlier but by the time we got there (after 82 miles of riding) I was getting a little tired.  Well Mary was still full of energy so in the park we went.

The siege of Vicksburg was an important turning point in the civil war and is commemorated in the 1800 acre park.  Biking through the park is a wonderful way to experience it, despite the 11% grades on the hills.  I know Mary from both my Southern Tier and the Northern Tier bike rides and she is great company, even after 94 miles.  We returned to the hotel just in time for showers and dinner.

My roommate today is Moira who is enjoying her first trip to the US from her native Scotland.  She is having a great time on this tour despite her inadvertent 20 mile detour before getting on the Trace this morning.  When she got into the hotel she single handedly unloaded the trailer and sorted the luggage by type and color.

Moira and suitcases