Jessie's Well Blog

Day 41

 

Day 41
October 18, 2015

 

We began our ride this morning in the cool weather and crossed the Mississippi River bridge in Natchez.   Before we got off the bridge I had a flat tire and we pulled glass out of Dann’s tire.  After that initial delay we enjoyed a beautiful ride through the picturesque town of Natchez then began our trek across Mississippi.  Our route wound through the rolling timber lands of middle Mississippi.  We had a nice stop for lunch at a local diner and were welcomed by the locals as has been the case across the country. 

We enjoyed a surprise visit in Kentwood by Dann’s wife, Kikki, Marilyn’s sister, Evelyn and Marilyn’s mother, “GrandBonnie”.  We enjoyed an early dinner with them and they headed back to Slidell where we will see them tomorrow.  We have been so blessed to be with family throughout our journey.

Today was a particularly hard day for me physically.  The topography of middle Mississippi is continuous rolling hills making for lots of climbing and little opportunity to develop a continual ride cadence.  I could feel my body begin to fatigue after so many continuous days of riding.  I have experienced a few days like this during this journey and typically near the end of a stage and just before a scheduled rest.  To overcome the fatigue I have learned to break down the day into segments that I can manage mentally.  Typically they are short segments like 5 or 10 miles.  I focus my attention on accomplishing that single goal then move onto the next segment and so forth until I realize that I have completed the day’s ride.  At one spot toward the end of the day I came across a funny herd of cattle and had to stop to capture the moment.  Sometimes the littlest things make me smile and I realize what a great adventure this is.

Tomorrow we ride to Slidell where we will enjoy being with family and I will have three days of rest.  Looking forward to both!