From Janie:
Tuesday, October 23. From Oxford (home of Ole Miss) to Grenada Mississippi.
I started the day on the bike, riding through the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford MS with Jody. Very hilly. Some confusion about the route early on. A bout of nausea that had me off the bike and into the car. Yes, I think I would have felt better if I'd thrown up. No, I didn't manage to do that.
Jody found the route again - a bike path closed to unauthorized (read that 'non-University') motorized vehicles. Peter drove to where the end of the trail came back to the road, and we waited there for Jody to rejoin us.
Here is part of why Peter is such a good photographer: size matters.
Looking east across the hay field, with the large lens on the camera.
[Photo of Peter Doran]
The hayfield, outside of Oxford, Mississippi.
The route followed county and state roads through a number of small towns. Parts of Mississippi are so impoverished it's shocking - even if you think you know what to expect. Parts are not impoverished, particularly as we got farther south. Much of Mississippi - outside of the cities and bigger towns - is quite beautiful. And remarkably less hilly than Missouri and Tennessee. Rollers all. Not big climbs.
Jody, riding through small town Mississippi.
[Photo by Peter Doran]
Jody, out in the soon-to-be harvested cotton.
[Photo by Peter Doran]
After lunch (PBJ out of the car - no restaurants anywhere), I decided to get on the bike. Not feeling great, but it doesn't make sense to let the days slip by. After this route, we have only 15 more routes. The end of the ride is rolling nearer. (And sooner than we would like.)
After being chased by three dogs last Friday, I was aware of all canines. Way too aware. Hyper-aware. Uber-aware. Stupidly aware. Did I mention I was aware? Dogs were barking everywhere. Well, of course they were. We were, after all, riding through rural and semi-rural Mississippi. Jody had just passed me on the bike, Peter had just passed me in The Little Darkness, when I came around the corner and spotted three huge, ferocious dogs. And just as quickly, they spotted The Little Darkness going by. They raced along the edge of the road, barking. Did I mention that they were huge? And barking? And three of them? Three is a pack, right? Did I want to be set upon by a pack of Mississippi hounds? No, I certainly did not.
I stopped. Backed up the road. I could see Peter stopped in the road up ahead. But not coming back. Waiting. I called him. 'Don't laugh. Just come give me a ride past those three dogs.'
'I didn't see them.'
'Just come back.'
'OK. Be right there.'
And back he came. And drove up next to me. Laughing. 'Janie,' he said. 'Those aren't dogs.'
I looked again. They were much smaller. Amazing, shrinking, ferocious canines.
'Come on,' Peter said. 'I'll drive right by you.'
I did. He did. The three ran by the car, barking. Then a bigger dog, some kind of hound, paced the car for a hundred yards or so. 'I've got your back!' Peter called out the window. And he did. The dogs on one side of The Little Darkness, me on the other. Peter laughing hard enough, it's a wonder he kept the car on the road. Here they are, the little monsters:
Amazing shrinking ferocious canines, behind the electric fence.
Caution. Objects in photo aren't much bigger than this.
[Photo by a laughing Peter Doran]
The third and most ferocious canine.
[Photo by a laughing Peter Doran]
By the time Peter pulled over, I was laughing, too. Not as much as Peter and Jody, who had stopped to watch, but still. One of the most fucking ridiculous moments of my life. Geeze! Seriously? That's what scared me? They didn't even come into the roadway! And not so big, either!
No photo of the hound. He was bigger, really. Ask Peter, when he stops laughing, he'll confirm that. Bigger dog. But running with his head up, tail up and wagging, not barking. Not so scary . . . yeah, yeah, yeah, not so scary because he was on the other side of The Little Darkness!
Cars and trucks went by, but I wasn't afraid of traffic anymore, because I'd moved on to dogs. Next I needed something to keep me from being afraid of dogs. (If you don't remember Eddie from the movie American Flyers you're missing one of the all time great dog-chases-cyclists scenes of all times. 'He got my shoe!' 'Wanna go back and get it?' 'No!')
'Elephants,' Peter recommended. 'If you see an elephant, you won't be afraid of the dogs anymore.' Jody just laughed some more. Smart asses. I'm riding with smart asses.
No, I didn't see an elephant, but thinking about them got me to reconsidering dogs. Maybe I didn't need to be so scared . . . Then another quarter of a mile or so down the road, I watched Jody get chased by another dog. I stopped and watched. He rode back to get me, getting chased again. Encouraged me on. No, really he egged me on. Laughing. So, less afraid now I was thinking about elephants - and watching Peter in The Little Darkness, making a silent statement that no, he was not going to come back and guide me past this next dog - I rode on. Jody rode behind me, yelling, 'Ride faster! Ride faster!' I rode faster. Peter jumped out of The Little Darkness with his camera, but by then the dog was in the road behind us, and he couldn't get a clear shot. He had to settle for this:
Job well done. Those pesky cyclists are gone, gone, gone!
[Photo by Peter Doran, one of the smartasses]
Wish I could say I rode a lot on this day, but I didn't. The adrenaline helped for awhile. ('Dogs scared the crap out of you,' Peter joked. Yeah, they did. Ha, ha, ha!) A deer ran across the road in front of me. I wasn't scared. Squirrel, too. Not scared of that either, despite Jody shouting out warnings between laughs. Ha. Very funny guys.
A little farther down the road, Peter stopped to put my bike on the car. Jody was too far ahead, I was riding pretty slow, and there was a mangy stray on the highway. And that was the end of the riding day for me.
Jody had a frustrating Garmin day, but that's really his story to tell, not mine.
There was more wildlife to be seen, including this guy, who was circling generally over the area of the ferocious canines. I think he figured that if the little dogs ever actually caught a cyclist, she would be too big for the dogs to eat and there would be plenty left.
Buzzard.
[Yet another remarkable photo by Peter Doran]
One of the things we've seen a lot of in Mississipi is kudzu. Nasty stuff, climbing up and killing bushes and trees. Taking over fields. Climbing telephone poles. Covering abandoned buildings. Without vigilant effort, this invasive species would take over all of the south. Can't handle the cold northern winters, and we Yankees should be grateful for that.
Janie, by the kudzu.
At least this wasn't chasing any faster than I could ride!
[Photo by Peter Doran]
Jody, on a rural Mississippi bridge, fall colors in the background.
Note the swamp you can see through the trees.
[Photo by Peter Doran]
Janie, those aren't dogs!
~Peter Doran
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