Riding into Mississippi

Nothing snazzy about today.

60 miles.
Green, green, green. More green.
Water, water, water. More water.

Rough roads.
Rough roads.
More rough roads.

And then - BUTTER! (smooth roads).

We were teased. Rough roads were punctuated by smooth so we came up with a new road nomenclature.

"Pat of butter" (a tiny section of smoothness)
"Stick of butter" (1/4 mile or so of smoothness)
"Pound of butter" (a longer stretch)
"Case of butter!!!" (can't see the end of the smooth section)

This is what we do on a day of medium length and marginal difficulty.

60 miles is now nothing. Hardly worth a note. Today's forecast suggested wind and rain, but not until later in the afternoon. 20% chance of rain, the report warned. To me, that meant 80% chance of no rain. Winds might get to 20 mph. Or they might not. It didn't rain. The wind was never a problem. Lessons learned for later. Why worry? It might NOT do the thing that scares you.

Four of us started out together. Jan was worried about dogs. Sherry was worried about the rain. Connie was tired. I, well, I wasn't worried or tired. When we encountered dogs Jan learned how to use her whistle - very effectively, it turns out - and she is not worried about dogs anymore. Sherry took off, hoping to beat the rain. Connie poked along with me and Jan is going to have a massage later and that will make her feel better. At lunch after today's ride Sherry was talking about tomorrow's forecast already and is going to try to get going early and to ride really fast to try to beat the rain - again.

Not me. I'll take what comes. Makes it that much more interesting. I mean, if it was all a breeze, well, where's the texture in that? I'll take the bumps and the rain and, yes, even the wind. If it rains I'll get wet. Or I'll have another story to tell. Or it will be a chance to think about how I'm on my bike and not in a hospital. It'll all be fine. It is right now, after all.

Okey doke. I'll jot a note tomorrow from Pascagoula, Mississippi. (Aren't these names fun?)