Eaton Adventure Cycling 2018: May 6, 2013 Mathiston, MS

This set the tone for our ride for the last week!

Changing tire in D Lo

Dollar bill that was inside tire for 2 weeks!

Repair station in shelter house

Leaving Jackson

Beady eyes

Ridin on the Natchez Trace

Diane

Hap

Storm clouds are brewing

We're back..........! So remember what I was sayin about the rain stoppin.......NOT! We ate breakfast in the room before leaving the hotel. in Prentiss. Oatmeal, bananas, and PButter. Before we left Hap saw a small pebble stuck in his tire. It's much better to get them out now before they cause a flat. We found several pebbles in all the tires. Must have picked them up on the trail. The motel owners came out and watched us. They seemed to be facinated about us looking and picking at our tires. We tried to explain what we were doing but since they didn't speak English very well it was uh...challenging.

It was pretty chilly when we left. But it wasn't raining so off we go! We started out by riding north on Rt 13 toward Jackson, MS. We are heading to the Natchez Trace near Jackson. There was zero shoulder/berm on the road. There was some traffic but they seemed to be patient. Lots of climbing for the first 25 miles. We passed the campground where we were hoping to get to yesterday and a headwind. But yesterday.....the weather won! The roads sure got confusing around D Lo. Hap is using a new GPS that we just bought. We had borrowed a friends for our Mt Hood OR trip (see below) that we took last September so he has an idea how to use it. It's an Etrex 20. Between the GPS, my I Phone and the old fashioned hand maps we finally figured it out! At one point we stopped in a driveway to navigate. That means we were "discussing" (i.e. arguing) about which way to go. An elderly lady who's house we were stopped in front of, came out and asked what we were doing. Then a neighbor man, came out in his yard and was watchin us. She was very nice, we asked her where the road was and she gave us some directions. (so much for all the tech stuff! Just ask...........). We stopped at a truck stop for a break and something to eat. When we started to leave we noticed Hap had a flat tire. It didn't take him long to change it and we were on our way. We've only had two flat tires this trip so far and no break downs at all. Gotta love those new bikes!

After our break we found some really nice backroads to ride on. The sun was shining but it was pretty chilly. It was really a pretty day for riding. There wasn't much traffic at all until we got near Jackson. I told Hap we must be near a Walmart because the traffic just got crazy! A cyclist passed us as we were riding and talked to us as he went by. Then when we got up the road he had stopped to take a picture of us. He asked how we carry all that stuff then he laughed. Instead of just giving us directions to where we were going he just said follow me and took us to where we were going. As we were riding I asked him if traffic was always like this and he said yes. I said I would ride some place else! He just laughed. He took us almost all the way to our campground. We stopped at a Kroger for dinner stuff. While we were getting ready to go into Krogers, someone came up to us and said, "You are probably tired of talking about where you are going". Of course Hap said no we never get tired of that! We talked for a couple of minutes then we went into the store. While in the store we ran into Bill again and as we were talking he asked us to come and spend the night with him and his wife and 2 dogs. I told him to call his wife first and tell her he invited the crazy Eaton's (he didn't know about the crazy part yet) to spend the night. We ended up going to Bill and Ruthie's (Rabbit and Sheba) house for the night. Bill grilled some steaks and veges on the grill. It was so nice to be in someone's home. We had a great night! There house is on a beautiful lake.

The next morning we left in very cold temps and a strong wind. But then I am riding with headwind Hap. We rode across the spillway for the resevoir. We stopped for a snack on the other side of the resevoir just before we got on the Natchez Trace. There was a really neat repair stand in the shelterhouse. See pictures. What a great idea! We weren't quite sure how to get onto the Trace. A couple of people riding stopped and told us the right way to go. Then they ended up riding with us to show us the way. We must look like to lost soles, that's the third time in 2 days that people have helped us out. There sure are friendly people in Mississippi!

Walmart in Kosiusko

We got on the Natchez Trace around mile 104. The Natchez Trace is about 440 miles long. It starts in Natchez, MS and ends south of Nashville TN. Our plan was originally to meet some friends in Natchez and ride to Nashville. But since our friends couldn't meet us, here we are! The weather continued to be very chilly and windy. We rode alongside the resevoir for quite a while. We saw an alligator along the shore. Or like my dad used to say "Beady eyes". While stopped we saw 4 other cyclists just getting ready to ride. Turns out they were from Wisconsin. They flew down, rented the van and bikes to ride in the warmer weather. Hah Hah! We saw them several times throughout the day. A few hours into the ride the rains came down..........Thank goodness for Gortex! We looked at each other (once again) and said hotel?? Yep that's what I'm thinkin too. We called a Super 8 in Kosiusko and found a room. It sure makes the rain ridin easier when you have a dry place to head to.

Is the pavement wet.............

When we got to Kosiusko we stopped to buy some beer and found that we were in a dry county. Sure ya are, I said! (Doesn't look so dry to me). What's up with that? We road the Natchez Trace many years ago (1995) and stopped here. We had our dinner supplies already so we headed up the street to the hotel. Dinner? Salad with avocados, tomatoes, onions. Baked beans. We were pretty hungry because we didn't stop much to eat. Too cold and too rainy!

This am we ate breakfast at the hotel. Just before we left the rain started again! What! It was supposed to be only 30% chance of rain. I think the whole 30% was on our heads. It rained all day! The riding was really pretty but it was hard to see through the rain. There wasn't much traffic on the road. The Natchez Trace is 45-50 mph and no commercial traffic. Really nice for riding. We had a good ride but we decided to cut the ride alittle short and stay in a motel in Matheson. $35! and that included tip, tax and title! Before leaving the hotel we arranged to pick up some mail in Tupelo in a couple of days. We also stopped at Walmart for a couple of things. While I was standing there an older lady came over, put her arm around me and said "What are ya'll doin". I said "I know it's rainin. Can we just come home with you. She said sure can, comeon!" Another man, came over, asked us where we were from and said "welcome to Mississippi!" Friendly folk in MS!

French Camp--Natchez Trace

When we got to Matheson we stopped to buy some beer and guess what.......a dry county.........Oh well, we went to the hotel to shower. After being wet all day it was nice to be dry and clean. We were alittle skeptical of the hotel. But it really wasn't so bad for Eaton standards. We walked to the Piggly Wiggly (by way of the ice cream shop) for salad stuff and a pot pie for the microwave. Matheson is really just a cross roads. Not much to the town. While getting our ice cream a guy started talking to us. In the few minutes we talked to him, we found out...the history of Matheson, the ball team, where he worked, his wife worked, where he went to college, the tornado that was here a few yrs ago.....whew! Then he asked Hap where he went to college, what we did for a living, etc etc. And that was just in a few minutes! Nice guy but he wore me out. So our big night out on the town was to the Piggly Wiggly.

Tomorrow we should be in Tupelo. And the weather should be better. And the wind should be a tailwind.........................We'll see.......... But for sure we'll still be outbikin!