MACH.19 - Saguaro Country, Day 5: On the Interstate

Saguaro Country, Day 5
On the Interstate
Thursday May 2, 2018

Into each trip some Interstate seems to arrive. Today is one of those days. We depart our beautiful hotel at about 8:30 AM, say goodbye to the Rocket City, and point the fairing toward Vicksburg MS.  We avoid Interstates when we can, but trip parameters for this tour will call for some of those on both ends of the trip.

Once out in the city, I notice a pleasant sweet, heavy aroma that I associate with a flowering plant. We've experienced this on other trips this time of year, and soon identify the white shrubby trees lining the Interstate as the source. It's a pleasant and aromatic ride through the otherwise unremarkable Alabama countryside.

The temperature shown by my fairing thermometer hovers at a pleasant 84 degrees, like it's gotten stuck there.

I check the weather radar on the GPS screen and there's a strong front about 100 miles west of our destination and moving eastward.  "Looks like we'll hit some rain this afternoon," I say into the headset.

Nevertheless we roll south and west, and by afternoon the front has disintegrated and we arrive in Vicksburg around 3:30 PM.

Some of our friends are already there, and more friends, new and old, roll in as the evening wears on.  Good friendships and shared rides all over the US over a period of many years.  We share remembered stories of how I became known as Diesel Boi on an ill-fated ride in the Texas Hill Country, stories of rides across the country for the most improbable pretexts, and gatherings in Texas or Louisiana or New England.  Our shared experiences make for a close-knit feeling even though most of us don't see each other but once a year.

There's a group of four, riding in from Texas,  who post they have a bike with a battery casualty and some residual problems, stranded about a hundred miles west of Vicksburg.  It's a bit of a damper for our circle of picnic chairs in the parking lot.

We missed this gathering last year, and we are poignantly reminded of those of our group who have passed on. Roger and Gibby in particular are large in their absence, both taken in their prime by lung cancer.

Tonight, our small group of about 20 friends remember.

We've traveled just under 400 miles for the day, and a little over 1,100 miles for the trip.

Friends swapping stories at MACH.19, Vicksburg MS

SpotWalla trip breadcrumbs, Days 1-5