My Journey Cycling the Natchez Trace Parkway:
The Ups and Downs, the stories, the bumps in the road, and everything in between.
A Newfound Confidence and a Needed Pit Stop:
Day 6,
Tuesday, May 23:
I woke up in Tupelo on Tuesday at around 7:30 again, surprised
that CK had yet to be awake. I started packing up my camp shortly thereafter since I
knew I had to bike at least 70 miles to Jeff Busby Park (milepost 193) or
potentially over 100 miles to Koscuiscko (milepost 160) that day in order to
make up the ground I had given up from the weather and staying the extra night
with CK.
It wasn’t until about 8:45, when I had almost completely loaded
my bike, at which CK finally arisen. He immediately complained about how shitty
he was feeling due to an obvious hangover. He even asked me if I had some
aspirin, which I did not. Lol.
Anyways, CK powered through and made me pancakes again for
breakfast. And then the next thing you know, it was 9:30 and time for me to
head out. As we said our goodbyes, I told him that I’d be on the lookout for
his published book in the coming several years, which he said he was interested
in writing one day. And I (half)-joked that as long as he gave a shout out to
Sour Patch Kids, I’ll know I did my job. And then I closed the conversation:
“Probably will never see you again, but you never know, maybe in
a few years.”
And just like that, I was on my way.
I got back on the road with a newfound confidence—a new tire,
good cycling weather, and a new story and an optimistically altered perspective
on life.
I thought about the strange relationship that I had with CK. For
me, CK was obviously very important to me at that time—remember, I was really
bummed right up until his arrival—but it’s quite clear to me that that his greatest
value, to me, is what I will take away, apply, and share from our experience
together.
For CK, conversely, I was incredibly important to him at the
present time. After all, he hadn’t camped or hung out with anyone in several
months, and he actually thought I was good company. He demonstrated his
appreciation for me throughout our time together—making fires, making my
breakfast, helping me fix my bike, getting us free lunches and dinners, even
splurging on and sharing booze and letting himself get hung over the next day
for the special occasion. But I doubt that my influence will have any sort of
influence (outside of the introduction of Sour Patch Kids) that changes his
worldviews or everyday life in any way.
It’s interesting to reflect on how important we were to each
other, but in different ways.
The bike ride leaving Tupelo itself was actually rather smooth
and thus uneventful. At Milepost 219, I saw another distance biker with lots of
luggage going North, I said a quick hello, and he responded with a “Hey There”
but we didn’t stop. I regretted that. I should’ve stopped to quickly hear his
story, and to tell him to keep an eye out for CK. But oh well.
I biked for several hours to Jeff Busby Park at Milepost 193, 73
miles from the campground at Tupelo, with brief stops only to snack and to
rest. It was about 5:00pm at this point, which gave me two options, either stay
or power on.
Similar to my decision at Colbert Ferry (Milepost 327) a few
days earlier, I decided that it would be better to push through and to get to
the next campground, which in this case was Kosciusko, a small town at Milepost
160, another 33 miles from Jeff Busby Park, which at a reasonable pace I could
still get to before sundown.
I wanted to take what was given (relatively fresh legs, good
biking weather ,etc.), and also, if I continued on I could make it past the
century mark in a day, which would make me feel pretty good about myself. So I
went for it.
 |
| It's okay to order a large pizza for yourself after cycling for 100 miles! |
Passing the 100-mile mark at milepost 166 was a great feeling.
Wow. I actually biked 100 miles. In one day! I was tired as shit, but at around
7:45pm, I made it to Kosciusko and mile 160, and set up camp at another bicycle
only campground.
The spicket at the campground was turned off, unfortunately,
which is actually something that CK warned me about days earlier. Fortunately, there
was a restaurant no more than a quarter mile from my campground, so I decided
to walk over there to not only fill up my water, but to also have a meal.
As I walked into Bel Pattio, an Italian-American-ish restaurant,
I was the only one there – which I was completely okay with. But what was
awesome was that they had multiple TVs, and the Celtics* were playing, so the
server was happy to change the channel to the game for me. When looking at the
menu, I eventually decided on a whole large 16” Supreme Pizza to myself. Sure I
was eating an absurd number of calories, but I had just biked over 100 miles!
In one day! I earned it!*
*this was game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. After losing by
close to 50 and losing IT for the season, we somehow won game 3 without IT, and
when I had the server turn the game on, Boston just took a 16 point lead. (It
didn’t last, but still!)
** I didn’t actually finish the pizza. Got to 6.5 slices and ate the
rest for breakfast the next morning…
 |
| TV at the restaurant was huge! Go Celtics. |
After staying at Bel Pattio through the end of the game, I went back to camp, ready for bed. The night sky was crystal clear, and while I left the leftover pizza outside (in a ziplock bag), I decided to take everything else inside, just in case it started raining, and called it a night.
I only had about 55 (plus a few) miles to Madison, MS, a suburb
of Jackson, where I would crash at my buddy Daniel’s (parents’) place the next
day. I was ready for a light day. It’s safe to say I slept pretty well that
night.
Day
6 Stats:
Distance Traveled:
107.37 miles
Max Speed:
34.9 mph
Average Speed:
14.3 mph
Time Traveled:
7:28:57
Day 7, Wednesday, May 24:
 |
| The weather was on my side. |
On Wednesday the 24th I woke up with raindrops
splattering all over my tent. I was fortunate that I took all of my stuff in
last night or else it all would have been soaked. Luckily, shortly after waking
up, the rain stopped.
It looked like I got lucky again with the weather.
It was sort of cool biking in the opposite direction of the
super dark clouds, and it was great that the weather was cool again, in the
70s. CK was talking about how this is the farthest south he had ever been this
late in the year, and that we were so lucky that it was this cool out, having
been our third or fourth straight day of 70-degree weather.
Anyways, for the second straight day, I had a relatively smooth
and uneventful ride, which means there wasn’t much to write about in this blog
post. Something I recognized is that often times, the best and most interesting
stories happen only when shit hits the fan or things don’t go as planned.
 |
| My favorite pic on the Trace, Milepost 140. |
I do have a couple of cool pics. The first is a picture from a
random spot on the road at milepost 140. Something I have learned over the
years is that sometimes the best moments/pictures/memories are ones that are
NOT the most renowned ones. For example, this was my favorite picture that I
took on my trip, but it wasn’t even on the list of top 30 viewpoints or points
of interest. Likewise, sometimes a lesser known landmark like Canyonlands’
Aztec Butte provides a far better memory and experience than the overcrowded
Grand Canyon. Or maybe the most memorable moment from your trip to Beijing
wasn’t the forbidden city, but a small migrant workers’ children’s school in a
poverty-stricken area that you don’t know the name of.* You never know when
you’ll get to the best part of the trip, memory, or story. Just some food for
thought.
*This was my college application essay topic, actually.
The second is simply a pic of Cypress Swamp at Milepost 122.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any alligators home.
 |
| Cypress Swamp, Milepost 122 |
*I didn’t see any alligators the entire trip. I saw wild turkeys,
crows, vultures, hawks, deer, squirrels, raccoons, armadillos, turtles, snakes,
and maybe a few other animals.
The only other point to note was, as I was biking past a
reservoir from milepost 114 to 105, while the views were great, the wind was
not, as it seemed like I was always cycling into a headwind. Wind—along with
rain, elevation gain, a split tire, and a poorly paved road—were among the
things that truly slowed me down a couple mph and kill my efficiency. Keep
these in mind if you ever ride!
Anyways, I made it to Madison without any issues. Turns out
Mississippi does have some nice suburban areas—I learned that nearly all of
Madison’s public buildings (including the Kroger, Walgreens, Wal Mart, etc.)
were made of brick. Fun!
Daniel’s place and family were both very nice. They were so
accommodating and kind, especially after I had only brought up the possibility
of crashing at their place a couple of days prior. They asked me about my trip
and seemed genuinely interested in my stories, including my fresh story about
CK.
Shortly after arriving, I hopped in the shower, and after living
for nearly a week in the wild, I realized how much I missed civilized life. The
shower was, after 5 days without showering, indeed amazing. I missed air
conditioning. And having home cooked food. And sleeping on a mattress. Man,
real life is good.
After hopping out of the shower, I took my first good look at
myself in the mirror in what had been a week. The one thing I noticed: Tan
lines!
 |
| Farmer's Tan |
 |
| Tramp Stamp Tan |
I had some pretty incredible tan lines: a strong farmer’s tan
(that what you get wearing the same shirt and sitting in the same position for
several hours every day), watch tan, glasses tan, and my personal favorite, the
newly named tramp stamp tan, which was a result of my shirt riding up while
biking, exposing my tramp stamp area.
Daniel and his family were great hosts —they made me a nice
dinner, took me to Kroger to restock on food, and we also went to Sonic for
dessert. I got a large shake which was WAYY too big for any normal person, but
for someone having biked 160 miles in two days I was okay with it.
At one point, I was asked a question I had been asked several
times before I began my trip: “Why did you decide to bike the Natchez Trace?” I
answered pretty honestly: for the challenge, because I enjoyed biking, because
it was a great culmination as I was leaving Nashville, and because I want have
a unique experience, better stories, and to be more interesting.
That night, once again, I slept like a king, this time on a
mattress.
Day
7 Stats:
Distance Traveled:
59.728 miles
Max Speed:
21.5 miles per hour
Average Speed: 12.6 miles per hour
Time Traveled: 4:40:02
Time Traveled: 4:40:02
Guide
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