May 1, 2015
Copyright(c) 2015, Jim Beachy
Picky said yesterday the ride would leave at 10:00 AM. From previous experience, I know he means 10:00 AM. If he meant 10:01 AM he would have said "The ride leaves at 10:01 AM." By the time I finish yesterday's blog, grab a quick breakfast in the hotel breakfast room, and shower, it's time to line up the bike for departure. We are #20 of 24 motorcycles plus a chase car driven by someone who's unable to ride because of a back surgery.
Picky makes it clear that this ride has not been pre-ridden, so join at your own risk. Typically when someone hosts a ride it's protocol to do a pre-ride to account for any special circumstances like road closures, tricky navigational moments, or road conditions. As he's from Missouri, it's hard to do a pre-ride in Mississippi.
Picky and his tail gunner, Dick, have worked together on many rides and communicate via CB to keep the group together and intact. Grant's Canal is the first stop, so we cross the Mississippi into Louisiana and take the first exit.
"I see a sign that says 'Road Closed 1000 feet - Local Traffic Only'" says Picky on the CB. Oops! That's why a route is normally pre-ridden. So several dozen big bikes and one car have to make a loop through a little grocery store parking lot and head back the way we came. There is, however, a sign for Grant's Canal so we carefully ride the bikes into the small parking area and jockey for position.
Grant's Canal is really a non-canal. During the Civil War, Vicksburg was a highly strategic Confederate stronghold: Whoever controlled Vicksburg controlled the Mississippi River traffic. It so happens that Vicksburg is located near the tip of a u-shaped segment of the Mississippi; the union forces felt that by digging a 1.5 mile canal across the legs of the U, they could bypass Vicksburg and gain control of the Mississippi north of here. The location was just out of range of the gun batteries of Vicksburg. The first attempt failed because the river level dropped and left the canal bed dry. The second attempt failed because the river flooded and literally washed everything away. General Grant of the Union forces thought this was such a strategic venture that he ordered a new attempt with the goal of diverting the Mississippi and creating a shipping lane deep enough for any vessel navigating the river. But by this time Vicksburg had build new gun batteries, and the troops were under constant bombardment. Dysentery and other diseases were rampant, half the men died, and the project was abandoned.
Next, Picky leads us to US 65 south at Richmond, LA. This is an impromptu addition to the ride, as he thought Grant's Canal was at a location more distant that 20 miles or so from the hotel. US 65 is a lot like the Mississippi Delta, with flat farmland as far as the eye can see. About 25 miles later, near Newellton, he pulls the group off to the right to view a giant mailbox. How does he even know where these things are? (I ask him later and he says there's a website dedicated to quirky monuments and attractions. The URL is http://www.roadsideamerica.com.)
We find a place where the bikes can loop through another parking lot and ride as a group back to the hotel, some peeling off for lunch. After lunch, this seems like an excellent time for a nap, so that is why there's some blank space in this blog.
At 5:00 PM it's time to mount up and head for Toney's, the designated crawfish restaurant for MACH. I count over 40 people and lose track; when faced with heaping plates of sumptuous, steaming, spicy crawfish, it's hard to keep one's mind on anything else.
Kitty thinks they are a little spicier this year and maybe a little bigger. In one of these photos she's showing that this is her second plate. I'm actually too busy consuming heaping plates of them along with corn on the cob and potatoes to count her plates but I'm pretty sure there are at least three for her and, well, more than that for me. We make this ride every year when we can for the friendships and the camaraderie, to enjoy the fellowship of bikers, but it would be worth it just for the crawfish. The locals say Toney's crawfish are the best in Vicksburg. I wouldn't know, I just eat at Toney's.
Afterwards we once again form a large parking lot circle of chairs, and after dark the "campfire" with marshmallows and popcorn make an appearance for the second night in a row.
Our plans for tomorrow are uncertain. In past years, our Saturday ride has taken us south of Vicksburg, from where we have peeled off to ride the four hours to our son's home in Gulfport. But this year, Picky has chosen a route that will take the group north of Vicksburg, which may move us out of position to make the ride to Gulfport by evening. Our good friends Jack and Tezz have invited us for a quiet trip down the Natchez Trace that would culminate at the Country Store, which has been our usual jumping-off point. So we're not sure which, if any, of these options we will exercise tomorrow.
But we hope to be with our Mississippi family by evening.
GPS Track (gray) - Ride-around Day
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