Cycling the Underground Railroad

DAY 14: AMORY, MISSISSIPPI  Though yesterday was an almost perfect day for pedalling, the forecast for today was grim. Wisdom seemed the better part of valor, so to avoid the "tennis ball size hail," 60 mph winds and flooding (along with the tornadoes and lightning), I decided to hold out in the Briarwood Inn in Amory today and wait out the storm.  For the last couple of hours it has been a deluge, so it proabaly wasn't a bad call. (Now I'm starting to hear emergency vehicle sirens.) The next two planned days are on the short side (25 miles to Fulton and 36 miles to Tishomingo), so I can combine those two days tomorrow into one longer day and still be a day ahead of schedule.  (I may need that extra day if another big storm comes my way.) Check out the water blowing off the roof of the building. Weather for tomorrow night is clear and dry, so camping is on the agenda.

DAY 13:  COLUMBUS TO AMORY Again today I was following the Tombigbee River, more or less.  Most of the time I was on country backroads.   Mississippi backroads and farmland. When I wasn't snaking my way around the rich, black soil of these northern Mississippi farms, I was fighting for my 3 feet on busy highways.  Although Mississippi does have a few more road signs than Alabama (which really isn't saying much), I've yet to see a road with a rideable shoulder.  I've mentioned previously about the stuff folks here in the South tend to deposit by the side of the road.  Today I had a first. Oops!  This magnificent instrument evidently jumped off the back of someone's truck. I'm not exactly sure how to dispose of out-of-tune pianos, but I'm pretty sure this isn't it. But I did see a few road signs, which were helpful.  The older roads today seemed to follow railroad tracks rather than rivers. When this street sign said  "Old" Highway 25, it ...