We are on a bike ride down the Mississippi...but others in the country are having services to remember their loved ones who perished 3 years ago today.  We were on this same ride in LaCrosse WI in 2001 when the attacks occurred so our thoughts were with the people on the east coast today as we departed Greenville.  We all wore our ABB red, white, and blue jerseys in support of the 9/11 activities and it seemed to have a positive effect as vehicles were pretty much on the friendly side today.  Sometimes it takes something tragic like 9/11 to bring us together and  make us realize how important life is.  Sometimes we have to be reminded not let the little things bother us so much (like why is this bicycle on MY road).  As any day, it was a good day to ride a bike...although our hearts are with those who mourn, by riding we show our resilience as a nation...life goes on and we continue our daily activities unafraid.  God bless those who lost loved ones on that tragic day and God bless America.

OK, I was wrong about yesterday being flat...if you looked up flat in the dictionary, you'd probably find the definition stating, "The road between Greenville MS and Vicksburg MS!"  We did have a couple small hills coming into Vicksburg but until then the only rise in the pavement was the bridge over the Yazoo River about 4 miles out of Vicksburg...there were only a couple of turns also.  Most of the day we were on state highways with light traffic and between cotton fields (right).  A couple days ago, everybody was excited about seeing a cotton field and watching the picking...by this time every year, they are pretty tired of seeing cotton and an occasional commercial catfish pond is reason for excitement. 

The second SAG was at a small store/restaurant in Onward MS.  This small spot in the road was immortalized by Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900s when he came to this area to hunt bear.  Stories say he refused to shoot a caged bear and later the term "Teddy Bear" came into being from that event.  There was a photo op board right by the store that also portrayed the occurrence and I snapped a photo of our own England John and Jack as they posed with Teddy (left).

The morning was really uneventful.  The plan for the day for many was to ride to the second SAG at 65 miles and then have the option to shuttle to Vicksburg to have some time to ride around town or to see the battlefield.  We told them about the battlefield and the many museums in town so we made 3 trips to town hauling riders for an afternoon of sightseeing.  All the ones who shuttled were in town by 1:00 PM and most of those who rode the whole way were in town just after that.   

We are staying in a Casino Motel tonight so some of the riders are going to do some gambling.  Hope they have a shirt to wear tomorrow.  The motel sits right on the river below a bluff where the road is.  It's about a 20% incline down the hill to the motel...you guessed it, we have to climb out of here tomorrow morning.  :-)  It may be a case of "Hike 'n Bike" for some riders.  I tried to get everyone to have a timed hill climb in the morning, but I couldn't get any takers.

Tomorrow we get to ride the Natchez Trace into Natchez.  It's a great ride and it looks like we will have another great day of weather.  Ivan is still not committed to where it's going to hit the coast...we've got to decide if we are going to turn around or go into New Orleans...stay tuned, we'll end up somewhere.  We are winding down this ride...only 4 more days of riding before we get to New Orleans...or somewhere.  Pray for our safe journey and those in the path of the storm.  See you tomorrow.

PS:  I said I'd run some photos of the cotton process...see below.