Training, Tree-Tipping and American Flyers

The annual NOBC spring training camp, held this year at the Natchez State Park, featured unseasonably good weather and great rides.  Although I'd been looking forward to this first road trip of trip of the year, that apparently did nothing to improve my complete lack of preparation.  Friday afternoon I skipped out of work a little early, made a quick stop at the grocery store, and rushed home to stuff handfuls of cycling clothing into my travel bag.  The forecast was calling for everything from the mid-40s to the mid-80s, so I figured I'd play it safe and save some time by just bringing everything I had.  By 5:15 pm I'd picked up Mignon and was heading for I-55 where we'd meet up with Mark to caravan the rest of the way to the park where Pat had rented a few cabins on the lake.  I wasn't really sure exactly where they were, but we ultimately found them.  That evening we all congregated in one of the cabins where we watched the old classic "American Flyers" movie on my laptop.  The plot is pretty thin but I have to admit that I still like to watch that movie.

The plan for Saturday morning was a long ride north on the Natchez Trace.  Since our training camps are generally quick two-day affairs, they are more about getting in a fair amount of saddle time and doing some team bonding, mixed with some casual discussion about the upcoming racing season.  The Trace is basically a long silky-smooth, graded strip of asphalt through the forest with a 50 mph speed limit and very little traffic.  Other than our goal of riding about 35 miles up to Port Gibson, there wasn't really a plan.

I started out wearing arm-warmers, but within an hour they were in my pocket.  The weather was so nice and the road so smooth that it was hard to keep the speeds down, and although I knew my legs were eventually going to pay the price, I just couldn't help but join in.  On the way back, a few of us took a little detour to check out Emerald Mound before riding back to the cabins.  Later that afternoon we took a little hike through the nearby woods where, since there were no cows to tip over, Mark and Mignon started pushing over some of the many dead trees that we came upon.  Amazingly, we had not yet begun to drink the rather large amount of wine we'd brought.  After a great team effort resulted in an excellent dinner we fired up the laptop again to watch Chasing Legends. 

Sunday's plan was to do a couple of laps around the district championship road course in the park and then ride down to Natchez.  We did two moderately paced laps around the short but hilly course and then headed back to the Natchez Trace to ride the 13 or so miles to Natchez.  The weather was even warmer than it had been the day before, and I had to keep reminding myself that it was still only February.  I think the temperature got well over 80 degrees.  Anyway, when we got to Natchez we did the obligatory ride down the hill and up the other side before seeking out a nice coffee shop where I indulged in five dollars worth of frozen coffee, mocha and whipped cream.  When we got back to the cabins (we'd already checked out and loaded everything into the cars) we snuck into the cabin to rinse off before hitting the road for home.

We were up on the elevated part of I-55 near Pass Manchac when I heard a loud noise that I initially attributed to a loose metal bridge expansion joint. I said aloud, "What was that?"  Mignon looked over and said, "I don't know, do you think we should stop and check the car?"  Everything seemed fine, though, so I didn't.  A mile later the sound of the road suddenly changed and I knew a tire had gone flat, which was immediately confimed as the car swerved a few feet in each direction.  By the time we came to a stop on the narrow shoulder I could already smell the burned rubber.  The right rear tire was completely shredded.  Luckily it was on the right rather than the left.  Even better, I was actually able to get the lug nuts off with the diminutive eight-inch lug wrench. To top it all off, there was actually enough air in the spare tire.  So after a quick wheel change I was back on the road fairly quickly.  On the plus side, I finally got my money's worth out of the Sears road hazard insurance when they picked up about 60% of the cost of the new tire.