Day 21 Aberdeen MS (140 miles)

What a difference a day makes.  Today was 140 miles in the saddle and over a vertical mile of climbing - a tough, tough day.  On paper, this was the hardest day east of the Mississippi.  Make no doubt about it - it was extremely hard. Yet, it was so much better than yesterday.  Today was the day you'll remember six months or six years from now.  It will make you forget about the exhaustion and pain.  It will tempt you to come back and do the whole trip again.

A front passed through Mississippi last night.  And while they were under severe thunderstorm advisories to the south of us, our area was clear and cool (bordering on cold).   In addition to the challenges brought about by 140 miles of biking and all that climbing, our route for the day had over three dozen turns.  We'd be biking the backroads, several of which were unmarked (i.e., no name for the road).  We took off as a group with temps about 50.  I was in short sleeves - I'm tired of arm warmers.  It was cold, especially since our route kept us mainly in the shade.

As usual, the fast group was working a pretty nice pace.  I was doing well... staying in the second position behind David until we hit one too many hills.  David has a great wheel (i.e., a steady pace) and was occassionally glancing back to see if I was still there.  He seemed to slow for me just when I needed it.  Personally, I find a wheezing guy hanging right off my wheel to be rather annoying... but it didn't seem to bother him.  I managed to hang with the group (in a quarter mile kinda way) until the first SAG at mile 40.  The roads in Mississippi run the gamut from very bad chip seal to near perfect.  And there is no rhyme or reason why one section of road is so bad, and the next section is golden.  The one thing they have in common: no shoulder.  That may be why we've been routed through these backroads.  Biking on busy highways with no shoulder is pretty dangerous.

The terrain was rolling farmland and woods.  Very picturesque and clean. For the past few days, you could see and smell the honeysuckle.  Everything is green and/or in bloom.  The evidence of the recent heavy rains is all around.  The only "downside" to this area (apart from the steep hills) are the dogs.  Every farm has several dogs that are bent on protecting their section of road.  I've always been able to outrun dogs, but a few riders have been bitten in the past.  They're taking no chances.  The best dog story today was when a dog was chasing Wolfgang; he looked at it and yelled "SIT!"  The dog stopped in its tracks and sat.

After the first SAG, I just didn't have the energy to keep up with fast pack.  I dropped off and was enjoying the scenery, when my chain hopped off on a steep climb.  It is no problem getting it back on; you just get your fingers greasy.  Rick found me, and we spent the rest of the day biking together in a pretty leisurely fashion. We kept a decent pace (about 17-18mph), but weren't in a big hurry.  We could actually carry on a conversation for most of the day.  Rick stopped to take pictures of a (sorta) large black snake, and I stopped to take pictures of cows.  To each his own.

A few miles from the final SAG (which was at mile 117), Rick and I were stopped to refill water bottles from the mechanic van.  The riders behind us caught up, including Mike, Karen and Jay who were riding sweep.  Jay hung back to chat and pace us to that SAG (see pic).  The road was empty.  Just really pretty country roads.  Temp was about 75.  Sun was shining.  Wind was behaving.  And we started picking up the pace.  As soon as I could see the SAG van, about a quarter mile away, I said "Wanna race?".  Before Jay could respond, I was out of the saddle and pedalling for all I had.  It was a flat section of straight road.  Jay was tucked down tight, while I was swinging my bike from side to side.  It was going to be close (I'm sure he was sandbagging), when Jay lost his chain.  We had topped off at over 30mph.  For an old, big guy on a flat section of road... that was pretty good.

From the final SAG to the motel, Rick and I weren't in any particular hurry.  The motel was on the far side of Arberdeen, so we got to see the town.  Like a lot of farming towns in the South, it has seen better days.  A lot of stores, especially on Main Street, are closed.  But there are some very nice antebellum homes and the town is clean.

For dinner, eight of us hit a tiny cafe specializing in burgers and catfish.  Randy snuck away and picked up the tab... cause that's just the kind of guy he is.  Conversation was great, and we all talked about how great today was and how much we all hated yesterday.  Such is life on the road when you're biking.  Your outlook is effected so much by the weather.  That day it rained, sleeted and snowed... that was one for the record books; something to brag about for years.  Yesteday's wind, on the other hand, was just miserable.

Like I said, today was one of those days that is going to tempt me in the future.  However, this is a question that comes up a lot among the riders: Could you do this ride again?  For me, the short answer is: No.  The long answer is: Nooooooooooooooo.   I have a feeling that these last six days are going to do a lot more to persuade me to change my mind.  Especially the bonding part.  But I've done those first seven days twice now, and they are killer hard.  But maybe... if we could get everyone to come back...