dateline: Ruston, LA

I was unmolested last night in the mall parking lot. Before I went to bed I saw a security vehicle in the parking lot on the other side of perhaps a city street dividing the mall lot and he wasn’t contracted to my side. Good sleep.

Up & @ it driving interstate as it has usurped the parallel 2 lane. Hit Ruston under lowering skies, warm & getting a humidity sweat coming on. Stopped @ Turbo Goat LBS for ride info. Brad told me if I see a guy driving a white park vehicle in the park it might be James, the trail builder & a park official of higher standing: Park Director. I paid the $1.50 entrance fee and instructions to the bike parking lot. Forecast is for t-storms throughout the day. it is almost rain.

I find a level place to park & frantically gear up. I take off looking for the advanced color brown marked. i see only begineer sign. Another fine howdy doo: can’t find start of trail. Climb biggest hill on park about 50′ but pretty steep. Decided I was going wrong way & rode back down & followed signs for beginer loop and shortly found brown signs. Sweeping among trees. fairly flat but those constant 15′ vert climbs. Rode 20.36 miles & climbed 2058’vert per the garmin.

Part way thru the trail stumped me and I was riding confused. I saw a white park truck coming my way. I flagged him down 7 asked if he was James. He said Yes, he asked if I am Craig as he read my LOCO forum posting last night. He asked if he could ride w/ me. Sure. He drove to shop to get geared up. He built the trails back in ’92 and they are the same. SWell built & have ridden well. he armored parts w/ red clay that when cured almost beads up the rain which I would soon learn. Home trail & he smoked riding a gary fisher 29r suspended. He was a former motocrosser and suffered thru 2 back surgeries because. We rode the brown trail 2x. Pleasant ride enough that 2nd lap seemed like new.

James negotiated w/ me for a trade work camp site. He offered me the role of XG host as they haven’t had one for 7 years. We settled on me cutting out roots on a section of trail and cutting overhangs. I preferred to add something to the trails. Just after I started it poured down rain, big drops falling w/ great speed & saturation. I worked on cutting using a curved cutting blade attached to a long ax handle. Some roots cut easily but for every gimme there was one that made for multiple cuts. My hands & forearms are fatigued making typing gross motor skills. Worked for several hours sometimes in rain. I removed my tshirt and tied a bandana around my forehead to keep sweat from my glasses that became rain streaked & essentially useless for vision correction. Chopped some roots. Rain settled pollen leaving film on puddle remanants. Drained quickly. packed red clay remained firm.

Camped in a site in xg w/ electric hook up. I am plugged in. Severe weather warning James told me when he visited later. He is concerned that a tornado might happen and to be aware. Weather radio picks up a fuzzy station.

Leg is responding to Naproxen.

Forecast is for possible heavy t-storms on my travel path.

Shooting for Fruita April 23 for their Mtn bike festival. Next state is big ol’ Texas.

dateline: Monroe, LA

Slept well @ TH of MT Zion trails. Used bug netting to keep the noisey fliers out. Might have been a mosquito or 2 but I didn’t count or scratch. I culled my winter riding gear from my current clothing to join my Pisgah Works wool jersey.

Plan is to drive up to Jackson & seek medical advice on my leg. I made the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, made contact w/ the admitting person and was out the door @ 12:35 w/ a clean bill of no additional clot. Couldn’t explain source of pain but gave me a script for Naproxen. The Ultra sound woman said it was a knot. The Dr didn’t comprehend the folk definition. The waiting room was filled when I left. The DR suggested I take it easy for several days. OK, SO I rested today and drove West to LA.

Crossed the Mississippi River, back west after 6 months absence. Soon I will see the Rockies.

Picked Monroe, LA as my stopping place because it is a larger town w/ internet access. Mall parking lot.

Forecast is for T-storms rest of week. I hope to ride Lincoln Parish park that is reviewed highly before it rains.

Land is flat & wet, lots of agriculture.

Stopped @ XG E. of Vicksburg. It saw Civil war action w/ Sherman’s troops working their way to Vicksburg. Older people developed XG & sold it to their son. She said that there has been a memeber of their family on the land since 1833.

Purple fowers are whisteria and smell so sweet.

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