Dateline: Brookhaven, MS
Tonight the stars are out as if they actually fell on Alabama.
2 nights ago in Forest, AL I was almost right on the train tracks. Last night I swapped the train for the plane as I was under amost touch down @ airport. If any landed during the night I slept thru them. The jets were like the small Friendship size. Loud party outside in the enclosed pool area but I fell asleep quickly. Thinking about the party: wouldn’t it be something to get a bunch of big dance b-ball fans & rent out something in a motel & just watch the games and be guys?
Slept in. Today is a drive up to MT Zion trails, per their card, “the biggest little trail in Mississippi” Drove mostly back 2 lane blacktop along the way. Spring has sprung here as the trees are leafing, dogwoods are in bloom, these purple vine flowers sweet smelling, and poison ivy is leafed. I stopped roadside to take pictures of soil. I walked past the mostly decomposed carcass of a red fox. I broke off a front paw with intention of letting it continue to rot on my bike rack until just bones were left. i carried it many 20′ engulfed in putrid smell and abandoned the idea. Further up the road I came upon a freshly slaughtered armadillo and took pictures of that. I have a highway smashed animal collection.
I stopped @ Home depot and scrounged 2 pieces of oak board to prop up the bed. Last week after the hinges broke I wedged the bed upright w/ my foam roller. I no longer heard the banging sounds. The new hinges quieted the sound some over the old ones but still there. I figured if I could support the bed over the hinges that I could eliminate the cause of the noise. Boy, the van is almost concert hall quiet now. My speed used to be based on how much noise I would put up with on bad pavement. With the bed noise gone I lost my speed gauge. I caught myself driving faster than I like to poke along at.
Being a minority… .
Made the MT Zion TH. A truck followed me in. Johnny Sharp, a local, who learned from Johnny Smith that I would be here today and Johnny guessed right. Hung in parking lot talking w/ Thomas, a new rider, & Shannon(?). Chris Lesser from Bike Mag visited here and wrote an article about trails awaiting print. Johnny lead me out on ride. Trails are yellow for beginner & white for advanced. i asked to ride the beginner first to loosen up & get a feel for their ratings. There are some killer man made stunts here that I wanted to work up to or avoid all together. Johnny Smith built most of the 7 miles of trail on 20 acres he leases from the school system. Beginner was that. The advanced loop had some man made features and a few “hills”. Johnny told me about this section we were going to do that had a couple twists & then an uphill between 2 trees. I followed him and he stopped a little ways down trail and I asked where the hill was. This will be remembered as my comment on their trails.
I rode just 1 lap so as to not challenge my sore leg. Met Lawrence during ride. All of us hung at the comfortable TH. Johnny Smith was on way from a race. He showed and we all visited & told stories.
Poison ivy is leafed out in woods.
Flying insects followed the light into van. Put mesh curtain across door long after all comers joined me. Sleeping here in quiet woods @ TH