82 miles ridden – 220 feet climbed – temperature 30 Celsius.

Apparently it is unseasonably hot here for May. Normally it’s around the mid 20s which I must say would be pleasant compared to the current temperature especially with the high humidity which apparently makes 34C feel like 40C and I think it does. Still the difference between being very hot and sweaty and extremely hot and sweaty is not worth bothering about.

We were mainly in country lanes again today although there were a few stretches on bigger, and again pretty empty, highways. We passed through many more towns although surprisingly they were generally deserted. The plentiful churches we passed were closed up even though it is Sunday and Mothers Day. First SAG stop was in the town of Benoit (pronounced Ben-oy-t ?!) where we monopolised the shade.

The next 23 miles was blazing hot on an endless road passing through 2 towns that were empty or derelict. With no shade and the wind switching between tail and cross it was long and slow. But I have remembered how to zone out so it went pretty quickly, or certainly quicker than I thought. Second SAG was by the side of a road with little shade so less said the better although I did sample peanut butter and honey sandwiches for the first time – certainly worth a try especially with pickled cucumber.

I guess no one uses the train anymore:

The last 10 miles lasted an eternity. I could see the water tanks of Clarksdale from a distance but in order to avoid us riding on a busy highway we came a very circuitous route into town for most of which we had a headwind. Rarely have I been so happy to see a McDonalds (again no Dairy Queen) and at one stage there were about 12 of us in the wonderfully air-conditioned atmosphere all commenting on how we ‘don’t usually eat McDonalds’. To be frank after a very hard 80 miles I could have happily eaten a bowl of Pedigree Chum.

Clarksdale is, along with any places in Mississippi, the home of the Blues and a very famous film (must remember to look it up on IMDB) called ‘Crossroads’ was filmed here and remembered iconically at the junction of routes 61 and 49. I even cycled an extra mile there and back to get the picture. That probably used half the portion of chips at McDonalds so I guess I had better go and eat again!

Tomorrow is a shorter ride to Senatobia (63 miles) and Darin Coté who rode across Country in 2016 is driving from Fort Worth in Texas to meet us there and join the ride into Memphis the following day.