Alabama ants and Mississippi dogs

October 15, 2018

Day Five: Collinwood, TN to Belmont, MS

I slept very, very soundly in the former beauty shop, but I'd gone to bed so early that I was awake at 4:40, and got out of bed. I checked on my bike shoes, which had now mostly dried out after yesterday's drenching, put on my slightly damp bike clothes, and ate some cold pizza left over from dinner.

I walked outside in the dark where it already felt warmer than yesterday. I spent some time checking emails, doing a little work, and getting things packed up. Eventually the sun came up and it became light enough that I could see that the skies were at least partially clear - although I'd already learned from the weather forecast on TV that this would likely not last.

I rode to the "Hasti-Mart" where I sat in a booth, drinking pop, eating cookies, and listening to a representative sample of the type of old men who hang out at these places in the morning. I'd noticed yesterday evening here in almost-Alabama that the southern accents were much more pronounced than even a day earlier.

I'd used up all of my contact lens solution last night, so I began a nearly fruitless search for a bottle in Collinwood. The Hasti-Mart didn't have any, the Piggly Wiggly didn't stock it, but I finally found some at the Dollar General on the outskirts of town, after the woman working there searched with me among the incredibly messy jumble at the place.

A regional convenience store chain I've never seen before, to add to my collection

I finally rode onto the Natchez Trace Parkway around 8:00. Riding conditions were great - as I expected, there was some traffic, but it was all polite. I pulled into a picnic area after a while and talked to a couple of men riding the entire Trace, south-to-north on Gold Wing motorcycles. As is often the case when I talk to touring motorcyclists, they seemed hyper-cautious about riding conditions, lights, their visibility in general, and the vagaries of car drivers. They warned me that traffic would be heavy around Tupelo (something I'd heard before, and which I'd hear again), and after a discussion about the merits of the Ortlieb bags we all favored, I rode away while they continued their lengthy process of putting on their rain gear, which they expected to need in Nashville later today.

After some more pleasant riding, I reached the Alabama state line, where I propped the bike up against the sign and took some photos, not noticing that I was standing on an anthill until I felt their excruciatingly painful bites. I looked down and saw that my right bike shoe and ankle were covered with the ants. Fortunately no one was around to watch as I jumped around, removed the shoe, and banged it on the pavement repeatedly to remove the many ants who proved surprisingly hard to eliminate.

Back on the road, I crossed the bridge over the Tennessee River, which was surprisingly wide (to me, anyway, who has done zero research for this trip, and is not even carrying a paper map or other materials about the region.)

I stopped at the Colbert Ferry rest area and talked to a friendly couple from Florida who were driving the length of the Trace from south to north. They had Trek 520 touring bikes on the back of the jeep, and were doing occasional day rides. We talked about touring for a while, then they offered me some of their chain lube after I mentioned that the heavy rains yesterday had apparently washed all mine off, causing a squeak that was driving me crazy.

Back on the road, the riding continued to be nice. The sun even came out in full force long enough that I stopped to apply sunblock, the first time I'd done that in a few days. I rode into Mississippi, where I observed what I believe were cotton fields, but encountered no ants. It clouded up again and became cooler.

This morning I'd thought it might be possible to get all the way to Tupelo today, but I was still more than forty miles away, it was mid-afternoon, and it was looking rainy. I didn't like the idea of riding through Tupelo at rush hour under dark and possibly wet skies. So, I got off the trace near Tishomingo State Park, where I had a slightly unpleasant encounter with a surly woman there who told me there were no rooms at the lodge, and that I would have to pay $4 to ride through the park.

I turned around and headed on Mississippi county roads toward the small town of Belmont. The rough, bumpy roads contrasted with the smooth pavement of the parkway. This appeared to be an extremely poor area, with many junk-strewn yards, trash everywhere, and lots of angry dogs who came out into the road to chase me. I was expecting this early on, when I noticed that people put their trash bags in wire cages at the side of the road, presumably to prevent the many loose dogs from tearing into and spreading it everywhere (a strategy that was only semi-successful, judging by the amount of trash I saw in the ditches.)

After several dog pack encounters, one of which likely resulted in my all-time sprinting speed record on the heavy Fargo, I thought I was home free less than a mile from the Belmont downtown when five or six dogs came into the road ahead of me. They were implacable, and would not let me pass. Three different car drivers were forced to come to complete stops when the dogs would not leave the middle of the road. I got close enough to the "alpha" dog and sprayed it directly in the face with the pepper spray, which caused him to back off briefly, but the other dogs wouldn't leave, and I didn't want to use up all of my pepper spray. Finally, I abandoned the road and got on the busy highway for the last half mile to downtown Belmont.

I checked into the Belmont Hotel, which is one of those older, "historic" hotels with small rooms. After walking around the semi-decaying downtown of Belmont, I had dinner at a very good Mexican restaurant across from the hotel. While I was eating at the restaurant, the manager of the hotel found me, handed me the key to the front door of the hotel, and asked me to lock the place after I returned. Apparently she had plans for the evening and wouldn't be around. A casual approach to hotel management, perhaps, but I had no problem with it. (Funnily enough though, I initially didn't lock the door properly, and a man came in looking for a room. I had to turn him away, even though I knew there were eleven rooms available, since I was the only one staying in the place tonight.)

I found the local weather forecast on the TV, saw that rain and cooler temperatures were expected tomorrow, and went to bed.

Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 365 miles (587 km)

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