Day 14 - April 25 - Lake Cormorant, MS to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, TN - Crossing the T.....Part One

Day 14 - April 25 - Lake Cormorant, MS to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, TN

The Sky Is Not Falling (But It Might)

John’s Story

We hit the road about 7:20 this morning with the intent to beat the forecast rain to our campground for tonight. When we left the forecast was for rain to begin at 10:00 am, then later it was 11:00, then 12:15, then 2:15. Film at 11:00.

We rode in MS301 from Liz’s house to the Tennessee state line. It was a nice wide road that eventually became a 4-lane highway. Immediately after we crossed into Tennessee, the road shrank back to a narrow two lanes.

So long Mississippi! After all or part of 12 days.

We eventually came upon bike lanes the closer we came to the more heavily populated part of Memphis. They came and went.

In Holly Springs our host told us it was unwise to ride through Memphis. Murder capital of America. Other folks expressed concerns. We did not have any problems. The traffic was generally light. Not once did I feel I was in the crosshairs of an assassin’s gun. No laser sights were painted on my chest. Yes, we went through a couple rundown areas, but you find them in every city.

Then suddenly we were in hipsterville. Fashionable apartments and townhomes. The tall buildings of downtown Memphis peeking over the trees. We were soon on nice bike/walking trails along the Mississippi River, all the way from south of downtown to the north end of Mud Island, pretty much at the northern end of the city.

Over 200 years ago one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in North America rocked the region. Supposedly the Mississippi River flowed backwards. A large area subsided and Reelfoot Lake was formed north of Memphis. Church bells rang in Boston.

But time dulls memories like these. Then in 1976 a couple of smaller earthquakes shook the place up and woke authorities up to the seismic hazard. The Tennessee Earthquake Information Center was created. Today it’s the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis. This all happened just as I was starting grad school there. The whole flavor of the Geology Department there has changed as a result, or so I’ve heard.

The I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River. A couple decades ago it was hardened against a major earthquake. I was thinking about that as we rode under the massive abutments at least 100’ above us. Not a good time for an earthquake, I thought, hardened or not.

Look carefully to see the Welcone to Arkansas sign on the bridge.

The Memphis Pyramid was originally built as a 20,000 seat arena, but it proved too small for its intended purpose. It fell into disuse for a number of years. In 2015, the Pyramid re-opened as the Egyptians originally intended, as a Bass Pro Shops megastore, including shopping, a hotel, restaurants, a bowling alley, and an archery range, with an outdoor observation deck adjacent to its apex. I had to leave bike path and climb some stairs on some sort of utility building to see over the wall next to the bike path.

From here we pretty much follow the Mississippi River north.

We made it to the park before the rain, got our tents set up, prepared a meal and retired back to the Visitor Center to use the WiFi.

Image not found :( — Found a covered shelter that became….

Better sign off. There’s rain on the roof of the visitor center. Need to get back to the tent 3/4 mile away and get showered before the rain gets too serious.

Ed’s Story

Had a good night sleep at Liz’s house. Got up early so we could get an early start and maybe beat the rain. I cooked my oatmeal last night so just had to heat it up.

A beautiful morning to start out:

The sun is shining now but that is due to change later.

Said goodbye to Liz and headed out, Hwy 301 to Memphis was a great road and turned into 4 lane. When we got to Memphis it went back to 2-lane.

Bike lanes came and went through our ride in the city.

We were told to be careful In Memphis and even avoid it if possible due to the number of murders there this year. No one tried rob, attack, or kill us.

Like in any big city in what could be considered the poorer areas, there were houses with bars on doors and windows; some boarded up windows; and convenience stores where the workers were behind bulletproof glass…..and we kept on riding after brief stops.

We got to downtown and some more upscale housing showed up. After some Riverwalk biking we crossed onto Mud Island. There used to be a working display of the Mississippi River there but not sure if it is any more.

The view north on the bridge to Mud Island.

As we crossed back to North Memphis there were some sketchy areas but we still stopped for OJ….and kept on riding.

We rode about 12 miles north of Memphis where we found Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park where we hurriedly set up tents in case the rain hit…it hasn’t yet.

Main meal eaten in covered picnic building so if it is raining tonight, we can just eat cold food in our tent.

We started out sunny but ended up rainy.

Our ride:

Tomorrow we we headed to Ripley TN for a motel night as there is no camping.

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 684 miles (1,101 km)

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