Day 5 – 12 May – Vicksburg to Greenville

May 12, 2018 | USA | Mississippi River ride

100 miles ridden – 500 feet climbed – temperature 29C.

God Bless America and the tailwind blowing this flag and us!

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What a fabulous days ride. Although very hot – the average temperature might have been 29C but the road temperature according to the gospel of my Garmin was 40 degrees. The wind was strong enough to give a nice assist when it was on our tail and actually quite cooling when it was in our faces so no complaints. I drank a lot – I reckon about 6 litres – and kept my speed at a level where my mouth was closed. The combination makes a big difference to hydration.

We exited Vicksburg along the River and although we shadowed it closely and crossed many tributaries we can’t ride alongside it here mainly because there are no paths or roads on the riverbank and because of the way the river meanders it would add considerable mileage and time. However Vicksburg looked a bit better in the cooler morning sun than it had last night:

We were on a mixture of roads but aside from a couple of miles around the 90 mile mark they were wide and quiet. Again drivers were very considerate. Our second SAG stop was in a lovely shady park in the picturesque town of Lake Washington. It’s not so humid that you can’t get relief from the sun and heat by catching the breeze in some shade and this SAG stop was really good. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, bananas, watermelon, fig biscuits, trail mix and of course pickled cucumbers – that mix can really keep you going.

The last 10 miles were on back roads which were poor and dusty but the reward was a burger and fries at the first traffic light when we hit civilisation – sadly not Dairy Queen but in the circumstances McDonalds sufficed. I obviously charmed the young lady working there as she asked Mike (our illustrious chief mechanic) after I left to pass on an invitation to a party this evening. Saturday night in Greenville MS and I get invited to a party! Nice to know I have options even covered in dirt, sunscreen and dripping with sweat and butt balm.

I’m now getting used to breakfast at 06:00 and setting off by 07:00 – especially when we have such a fabulous day. Only 80ish miles tomorrow and pizza for dinner……

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