Day # 9 was filled with another day of bad weather but accomplishments also. We started the day facing severe thunderstorms with a Tornado watch. As we left our hotel on our way to the Natchez Trace Parkway we became more and more concerned about completing any miles for the day, because of the severity of the weather. Our final destination for the day was Jackson Mississippi, where everyone was telling us that the heart of the thunderstorms was targeted for that city. When we arrived to Natchez Trace Parkway, we decided to face the weather head on and begin our ride. We became totally drenched just walking from the door of the suburban to our bike rack on the back of the vehicle. The weather was so bad that our tracking system malfunctioned sometime during the day. We agreed that we would ride as long as there wasn’t any lightning. Much of the parkway had large puddles of water with flooding in various areas. It was raining so much; the animals didn’t even come out of the woods. ?
Our bike team was able to complete approximately 84 miles of our targeted 128 before the lighting came. We decided it was too dangerous to ride and packed up to drive to the hotel. However, there seemed to be a glimpse of relief in about 30 minutes so we began to ride again. We finally completed our 128 miles after riding in thunderstorms all day. Even Coach Comar decided to get drenched and ride a few miles on his own to get some exercise. We continue to push forward one day at a time. Believe it or not, we are already at day 9, half way through the trip.
As we reflect back on this ride, many things come to mind that put the ride into perspective. I would like to share one of those things with you that I think is quite interesting. Joe, Eljay, and I were talking and wondered what this ride would have been like if it happened when we were playing football at MSU. If that were the case, we would have been playing in the Green and White game as sophomores in 1970, and would have been lined up on the 50 yard line to have the announcer tell us that 3 former football players from the 1931 MSU Football team were going to ride there bikes from the stadium to Matamoros Mexico. I can imagine that my first three reactions would have been “No way,” “The bikes have to be motorized,” and “How are they gong to carry their oxygen tanks on their bikes?” If you do the math, Joe, Eljay and I were playing in 1970, which is 39 years prior to 2009. It’s amazing what people can do at any age, if they put their minds to it.
We feel blessed to be able to partake in this ride. We look forward to the “Second Half” along with whatever challenges come our way. We are onto Day # 10.
