Day 6 - June 26 - Philadelphia MS to Starkville MS the fast way
Weather: 74F degs (23C) at 10am with 85% humidity. Temperature reached 92F (34C) by early afternoon and then the sun got intense. Heat Index reached 100F (38C) by mid afternoon. Wind was mostly from the west and a little gusty at times.
Distance 73.9 Miles (120kms)
Elevation Gain - 2533 ft (772 meters)
Calories - 4549
Svitz Index - 9.0/10 (sun was intense for the last 3 hours; not so bad in the morning)
Average Moving Speed: 14.1mph (22.7kph) in 5hrs 14min of riding. The speed varied a lot - slow in the towns of Louisville and Starkville but over 17mph (27 kph) on the highway for the last two hours
I was tired of dealing with chasing dogs on the backroads of Mississippi so I decided to risk a more direct route to Starkville via the main roads (MS 15 and MS25). MS 15 was a 2 line highway but after Louisville, the highway was 4 lanes and flattened out.
All of the climbing came early in the day and the last couple of hours was over a relatively flat open road as the dense pine woods gave way to more open vistas.
I thought that I would not have to deal with chasing dogs on the highways but about 6 miles north of Philadelpha, I was chased by three in a sort of pack. On a very busy road, as I tried to kick them away, a car drove up alongside, and the driver shouted "Just shoot them" Huh? I though that he was going to run over the dog on my left but two dogs gave up the case, but one persisted for a few hundred yards. So much for the idea that I would be free of angry dogs on the main highways.
The highway to Louisville was quite busy and had many logging trucks. I noticed that there were fewer of them after Louisville, either because I was now out of logging country or it was getting late on Friday afternoon and they 'logged off" (sorry) early, I hope to encounter fewer trucks tomorrow and Sunday.
The highway passed through a small town Noxapater and the most distinguishing feature there at the main intersection were 3 crosses across the street in front of the hardware store.
By lunchtime, I was ready for more cold drinks having consumed all the liquids I brought with me. In all, I drank about 4 litres of water (with electrolytes), 2 litres of Powerade,1 large iced coffee, 1 large lemonade and 2 litres of water. I got off the highway in Louisville and explored what I hoped would be an interesting place, It was not. The downtown had arcades of empty storefronts and even the local Piggly-Wiggly was closed. The reason was obvious - about 2 miles away on the edge of time is a large Walmart, other retail outlets, and every fast-food place that one could imagine.
After Louisville, the highway was 4-lane and thankfully, all drivers moved well over to the left to give me plenty of space. I had to ride on the main carriageway as rumble strips do not allow riding on the small shoulder. I made very good time, though the pavement was not great with lots of expansion gaps that jolted me constantly.
Getting to Starkville around 5pm, I thought that I might some life in the downtown area of this college town (Mississippi State with 24,000 students). But downtown was dead, and though a few streets have been tarted up, the area is characterized by empty storefronts though the quality of construction of older buildings looks stellar.
At 5:30pm on a Friday, the place was empty. It's possible that the downtown takes on a different character when the university is filled with students during the Fall and Spring semesters but this is one of the emptiest college downtowns that I have witnessed.
Tomorrow promises to be another hot day with the heat index reaching above 100F (38C) with no sign of rain and strong sunshine. I'll need to cover up in sunscreen, and will go straight to Tupelo and commune with Elvis' spirit.
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