65 miles ridden – 2200 feet climbed – 29 Celsius.

Today was a great day. In fact it was the best Day 3 of any trip I have done. Day 3 is when my legs start complaining, I haven’t slept well, and generally I am wondering why I am doing the trip. Well not this day 3.

It was hot, we had a headwind, we were clouded with mosquitoes and bugs whenever we stopped but I didn’t care. It was a stunning day and the first 30 miles were on quiet little backroads where we could cycle alongside each other and chat.

Today we also crossed the State line from Louisiana into Mississippi. Sadly the downside of the wonderful country lanes is that there wasn’t a proper sign so improvisation won the day.

The countryside looks similar to the leafy Home Counties or Northern France – lots of farms and small European sized fields. The second half of the day saw us riding about 35 miles on US highway 61 which wasn’t as bad as we anticipated as it was nice and wide and the road surface was fabulous – apparently Mississippi State is well known for its good roads!

As you can see there wasn’t much traffic and with 2 lanes in each direction it doesn’t look like the endless roads of the Mid-West but actually the only key differences are the trees and hills. Yes there are more houses but I still managed to cycle for nearly an hour without seeing any sign of civilisation. Of course when civilisation comes it always has its own charm:

Banana Caramel Pie at Mammy’s Cafe. According to my Garmin I used 3454 calories riding today so this was absolutely necessary refuelling.

Natchez is the oldest incorporated settlement on the Mississippi and maintains a mix of history and classic Americana and Paul, who had spent a bit of time looking around on his canoe trip, took us on a brief cycle tour of the main town and the waterfront area of Natchez Under-the-Hill where we sat on the porch having a drink and watching the Mississippi River flow by. Lovely….

Tomorrow is our first long day (91 miles) and we expect to spend a big chunk of that on a trail alongside the river itself.