Tour da' Delta
Carol Livingston
I got up at 4:00 am this morning. Yes. As in 4:00 and it was still dark this morning. My old riding posse from Tuscaloosa would be riding their Mississippi On My Behind ride starting today at 8:00. My behind would be on Arkansas and the Tour da' Delta ride this morning which started at the same time. As I was heading over to meet my new riding posse from Oxford for our trip over to Arkansas, I had a moment of sheer panic when I drove down West Jackson Avenue looking for an open gas station at 5:20 am. There were a lot of dark ones, but then, whew! I found one open. Make a mental note to self: Oxford is a sleepy, southern town. Be better prepared in the future!
I got to our rendezvous point off South Lamar and found that William Henderson had arrived there before me. He was planning to ride his first century today. I had offered to ride along with him, but Vivian had sent me an email that said simply, "Oh Carol, He's Bad."
The previously establshed Oxford Bad Boys, Rich Raspet and Chris Mogridge, arrived a little later. William thought he might have to return home sooner than the rest of us, so Rich, Chris and I loaded up in the Explorer, and off we headed for Helena-West Helena, Arkansas for the Tour da' Delta. As it turned out, I didn't need that early morning fuel stop after all.
On our way out of Mississippi, we passed through many a "thriving" metropolis, but one was a particularly quaint example of Americana at its finest: Jonesboro, Mississippi. Chris was impressed with this sign in town, so Rich took a picture of it for me.
I had never been in Arkansas before, so here we are crossing the bridge over the Mississippi River. We would become very familiar with this bridge today! That's Helena off to the right.
On the way to Helena, Chris had been regaling RIch and I with the details of his new Mercury time trial bike. He had built it the day before. After changing his clothes between the car doors, he aired up his tires, and then went back to the driver's seat to get something. All of a sudden we all heard a loud "pop" and a "hiss" ... Chris went at it to change the tube.
About the time he got the wheel off, Rich noticed that the wheel did not have any rim tape. I told them about riding the Cheaha Challenge with a guy from Michigan who kept flatting on the way, and how the SAG driver has torn duct tape in half to line the rim, which stopped the flatting problem for the day. William had some electrical tape in his car. Chris set about applying two layers inside the rim. Actually, he ended up changing two flats before the ride started because the valve extender was causing a problem also.
About the time Chris finished fixing the first flat, I heard a soft "Carol?" behind my right shoulder. I almost didn't hear it, but something compelled me to turn around. I saw a very tall guy, and I asked him nearly as softly (just in case he HADN'T said my name), "Me?"
He smiled warmly and said, "I'm John King." He told me that he had been riding around the start of the ride looking for a woman with a red Ridley bike ... and that is how he found me.
Oh my gosh! John is someone who began to read my bike blogs several years ago. Way back then, he contacted me via a message to let me know that the amount of fun I seemed to have riding my bike had convinced him to get out and ride on a old bike he had in his garage. We've kept in touch through email over the years and I have offered a lot of advise and encouragement. I'm so glad he stuck through those beginning months, apparently believing me when I said, "You have to be patient while your body changes." Many miles and three bikes later on his part, here are John, me, and his fiance Letitia meeting in person for the first time this morning.
I was honored and humbled to meet someone who considers me to be his mentor! He is just as nice in person as he has always been over the Internet.
The ride started on the levy along the Mississippi River. The river and the state of Mississippi are behind us. We would travel back and forth over the river several times today. Here are the Bad Boys and I (William Henderson, me, Chris Mogridge, and Rich Raspet) just before the ride started. Gee. I need to get an Oxford Cycling jersey ... you know how OCD I am about being in the uniform of the day!
Here is the bridge we came over earlier on our way to town. Here we are going back over it for the second time. We would cross this bridge four times by the time the day was over.
Once back in Mississippi, we rode around Moon Lake, which is an oxbow lake. There were so many trees along the shore that there never really was a chance for me to get a decent picture. About half-way around the lake, there was a historic store I think from when the lake had actually been a part of the Mississippi River. Across from there was this old church.
We got around the lake in good time. The group I was riding with did not stop at the first rest stop because we could see from a distance that there were no port-a-potties ... and although I said there were trees along the lake, it was just a single thin line of them. Across the road were recently plowed fields, so there was no privacy for a roadside watering session.
We crossed the bridge for the third time and rode back through Helena. There were some really huge expansion joints, and one of my water bottles "jumped" out as we went through town. I had to stop to retrieve it, so I lost the group I had been riding with. I rode alone for a while.
Once through town, I began to climp up through some hills, which totally surprised me being so close to the Mississippi River. I had never seen a map for this ride and didn't really have any idea where I was riding. I was just following the Tour da' Delta signs. A few miles later, I entered the St. Frances National Forest and rode along the top of Crowley's Ridge. When I got home, I looked it up and discovered that Crowley's Ridge is a narrow rolling hill region that rises 250 to 550 feet ... thus my surprise at feeling like I was riding in the mountains. It is an unusual geological formation in the middle of the alluvial plain of the Mississippi River embayment. It is a 150-mile line from southeastern Missouri to where we were on the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most prominent feature in the Mississippi alluvial plain between Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the Gulf of Mexico.
I was a bit disappointed to see that what could have been a very fine route turned to a gravel road just beyond our next rest stop. However, as I entered the park, I was greeted by the cheers of Girl Scout Troup 1337.
Here is a view of the rest stop and the lake.
I left the rest stop after a few minutes, and one of the men, Rich McCord, who had been riding with me earlier joined me on my way out. He had discovered that the earlier group was doing the 60 mile route, not the full century. The short out and back section in the green part of the map represents St. Francis National Forest and Crowley's Ridge Parkway. We were back in the uber flat delta once we got on that road that goes due west ... and the wind became horrendous! Turning onto that L-O-N-G due south segment, it got even worse. Rick and I took turns pulling each other through the wind to the tune of 14-15 mph. We passed one man about half-way to the loop around the oxbow lake, but he was unable to stay with us.
Mercifully, there was a rest stop right after arriving at the oxbow lake. We had caught up with another guy from our earlier group, Mitch, who decided to ride the remainder of the way with us. The man we passed eariler caught up with us at the rest stop and took off with us, but once again, he could not stay with us.
In total, we rode 24 miles into the brutal wind, taking about one half mile turns pulling each other. As you can see from this picture, looking off to the south-west, there was only dirt to block the wind.
Once we made that due east turn, the wind immediately abated from being our enemy and became an allie. It was pretty easy riding from there on to the end. We debated NOT stopping at the last rest stop since it was a mere 15 miles from the end of the ride, but when you have a small group of folks who volunteer their day to offer Support And Gear, I told Rick and Mitch that we needed to at least stop for a cup of water and offer a word of thanks.
After 6 hours and 3 minutes of ride time, here are Mitch, me, and Rick back in Helena. We were the 8th, 9th, and 10th century finishers. Time for some yummy barbecue ribs, fixings, dessert, and some blue grass music!
I didn't see John and Letitia after the ride, but he called me later that evening and left a message that they had seen me riding into town. They couldn't find me after the ride. I had gone into the old warehouse to give myself a birdbath, change into some soft clothing, and get some grub.
As expected, William Henderson hung with the Bad Boys and finished his first century today, thereby earning himself that title also. Vivian was right; he's Bad! I heard through the grapevine that the 24 mile stretch of wind tunnel took its toll on William and Chris ... and that Rich Raspet had pretty much pulled their sore and cramping selves through the worst of it. I think they were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th century finishers.
John and Letitia completed their first metric centuries today. William completed his first full century. And although I wasn't right there alongside you three today, it was an honor to accompany you on your first centuries. That's definitely another bunch of cherries lost!
Iteach...@aol.com
Carol Livingston
I was the bait.