Old Jackson Town

I guess the fact that I had taken the day off from work must have been in the back of my mind this morning when I ignored the alarm. The next time I looked over at the clock it was already 6:30, so I knew there was no way I'd make it out to the levee by 6:40. Didn't stop me from trying, though. Knowing I'd be a few minutes behind the Friday group, I settled into a nice pace at a reasonable 21 mph. I was actually surprised that I was only about five minutes late for the start. Somewhere out near Williams Blvd. I caught a glimpse of the group about a minute up the road, so I knew they weren't going all that fast. I rode back with the group, but only after hearing "you were late two times this week. One more time and we'll need a note from your parents." The big news of the day? They guy with the running shoes showed up with a pair of Sidi shoes and new pedals. That's progress!

So we drove up to old Jackson, Mississippi this afternoon with my father and stepmother. We're staying at the old Edison Walthall hotel, which is right on the old Tour le Fleur criterium course. The crit course was always one of my favorites. I'm not so sure about the hotel, though. The air conditioning in the old part of the hotel was not working, and it was musty, moldy and hot in there. Of course everyone was booked into the newer section, where the airconditioning was doing its best to overcome the triple-digit outside afternoon temperature. So we headed out to the Macaroni Grill for an early dinner and polished off one of those big bottles of "proprietary" house Chianti.

I'll try and slip out early tomorrow for a couple of hours on the road before returning in time for the 2 pm wedding out at Mississippi College with a reception at the old train depot here in town. I think I'll head north on State St. and head for the Natchez Trace where it starts up again.