Sweet Home Alabama

Today was a really great day of cycling, 55 miles from Tupelo, Mississippi to Florence, Alabama. We started our day with a visit to the childhood home of Elvis in Tupelo:

And then we got back on the Trace. It was an exciting day for cycling since today was our annual Baseball Appreciation Day:

Mary and I decided at the beginning of the trip that this celebratory day would have to wait until the Mets actually won a game so that we could have a proper celebration. Well, as that plan did not work out, we decided to proudly wear our Mets cycling jerseys on a day that the Mets could not lose — they had an off day today (there are several other Mets fans on this trip, but they begged me not to mention their names). I am also happy to report that no drivers either cursed or coal rolled me — they probably saw my jersey and took pity on me. And Kevin reminded us at least six times today that the Cards had a five game winning streak.

But the Mets woes were not going to get in the way of a truly great cycling day. We had perfect weather, mid-60s to low 70s, blue skies and the road was smooth with little traffic. Here are a few pictures along the way:

And here I am at mile marker 300 — only 140 to go until we reach Nashville:

Kevin and I took a detour to visit a line of graves of unknown Confederate soldiers:

We noticed that pennies were placed on the top of many of these graves, which apparently is a custom showing that a visitor has paid respects. We found that a bit ironic given that President Lincoln’s face is on the penny:

We had two relatively short climbs before lunch with max 8% and 10% grades. I worked with new friend Tim on these climbs and felt strong. After lunch, we ended our time in Mississippi and here is Mary barely able to contain her glee crossing into her ancestral state:

Our final climb of the day in Alabama was 2+ miles at a max 10% grade. I felt really good, passing a few of the stronger riders in our group, only for that other Cooperman rider to blow right by me before the summit. Oh well.

At the end of our ride, we had a tour of the Fame recording studio in Muscle Shoals, across the Tennessee River from Florence, where artists such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, the Altman Brothers and many others have recorded hits over the years. Here is a picture of the organ first used in the 1960s, still used today:

And check out the sign outside of the Hampton Inn where we are staying tonight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmfi3UbDPnQ