STL2NOLA 17 – Port Gibson, MS to Vicksburg, MS

Riding from Port Gibson, MS to Vicksburg, MS was a short 40 miles. The weather forecast was for overcast skies all day. I saw this greyness when I got back onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. I expected nothing better for the rest of the day.

On the previous day, I passed a sign at a turnout for a loess cliff. Loess, I learned, is silty soil and it covers much (all?) of the Natchez Trace. The loess is so soft that the trace had worn down by people walking along the Trace, sometimes as much as 20 feet, below grown level. During this day’s ride, I found a turnout for a preserved sunken portion of the Old Trace.

Fortunately, the weather forecast was wrong and the sun had come out.

Imagine walking the 500 miles of the Old Trace from Natchez to Memphis. You might occasionally come across a cabin selling food or with a place to sleep. Mostly, though, you would be on your own. I read elsewhere that barges would come down the river to Natchez; with no way to get the barges back upriver, many of the bargemen would walk north again along the Natchez Trace. Yowza! Those guys were hardier than I.

Riding the Natchez Trace continued to be a pretty two lane road through trees. I was on it for about 20 miles on this day and rode the whole time without earbuds, just savoring the birdsong and the gentle little noises of my bicycle rolling along the pavement.

Than, completely unexpectedly, the trees ended.

From this point on, there were often corn fields or large grassy areas next to the parkway.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, maintained by the National Park Service, is 444 miles long. Every mile there is a nice bicycle parking post, cleverly marked with the number of miles from the southern terminus. We cyclists allow motorists to look at the posts as they whiz past.

Speaking of whizzing past, it is such a relief to be warned that I will need to slow down. I averaged 10.9 MPH on this day, what with all of the hills. It takes awhile for me to reduce that much speed.

I rode 59 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Since I had a photo when I entered the Parkway, I figured that I ought to have one just before exiting.

Next up was lunch. As I have mentioned before, I try to eat healthy when bicycle touring. My body just works better with good fuel. I had seen the Crossroads Store on my route when I was perusing Google Maps. I expected a convenience store but was delighted to find a real restaurant staffed by a very helpful woman. She set me up with a nice plate of cheese and vegetables with a bit of bread (so I would have some carbs to keep me going).

It was hilly and farmland-y riding northwest into Vicksburg, MS. At one point, a car pulled up next to me and slowed down to my speed. When I looked left, the window was down. The driver told me that I was on the prettiest part of the road and wished me safe travels.

I cannot retell this enough times. Absolutely everywhere I have been on my bicycle, people are uniformly welcoming and nice. Just on this tour alone, I have talked to people in upscale neighborhoods of Saint Louis through smaller Missouri cities and into true rural Missouri way down in the bootheel. I have had conversations through northeast Arkansas from the big city of Blytheville to parking lots outside stores in the middle of nothing but fields. I have been in Memphis, Tennessee. I have been in several parts of New Orleans, some that I would take my wife to and a few that I would not; not only were the conversations good everywhere, the food was even better. Louisiana was simply a delight everywhere, and I rode 260 miles through it from New Orleans to Vidalia. I got smiles and helpful advice from everyone from hotel clerks to convenience store cashiers to people that I just chanced upon on the road. I am only 90 miles into Mississippi and have had the same experience here, too, from Natchez to Port Gibson to Vicksburg and several points along the way.

This kindness just fills my soul. If you have a dark view of mankind or the world, take a slow trip through America. Talk to the people you meet. It will restore your faith in humanity.

And as for the woman’s advice that I was on the prettiest part of the road. I think she was right.

Read the rest of the blog posts in this series and see a map of the whole route here: St. Louis to New Orleans