September 29, 2012

West Memphis, AR to Helena, AR.

Distance 85 miles, all on my bike, 13.2 mph average speed, ride time 6:24, actual time on road 8 hours 18 minutes.  Expenses $10.34

Have you donated to National Multiple Sclerosis Society yet? If not here is the direct link to my profile page where you can make a donation and end this world of MS:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=1782261&pg=personal&fr_id=17893&s_tafId=230714
your donation will make a difference, please help. Thank you. The Old Guy

This is going to be my longest distance in a day for this second half of my adventure along the Mississippi River, according to the MRT Guidebook the terrain should be flat so an extra 10 miles or so over what I normally try to average should be doable.  As I rode out of the Day’s Inn parking lot I was excited to see an American Flag blowing to the south, a tailwind at last.  Yah!  After 4 days of strong headwinds I’m going to have a tailwind, this is going to be a good day.  Also to my surprise there was very little traffic, had I missed a day and this was Sunday instead of Saturday, nope checking the calendar on my cell phone it was Saturday.  Within a half hour I was riding along on back country roads surrounded on both sides by a sea of cotton, took a picture for you.

I’ve arrived in Cotton Country, a sea of cotton as far as the eyes can see.

About 20 miles into the ride I came to an intersection which had an MRT sign but it was pointing me in a questionable direction, north?  Checking the MRT Guidebook map I shouldn’t have any turns heading north but as I made the turn there was another MRT sign with an arrow pointing toward the road I was exiting.  OK, I thought to myself maybe the road I’m turning onto goes a short distance north then makes a jog to the west and then heads south.  It sure would have been nice if the Arkansas Department of Transportation would have posted a Highway number sign along this stretch of road in either direction but there was none.  I rode north nearly 5 miles before I came to a road heading west and at the same time spotted another tenth of a mile ahead of me the first highway sign “SH 147 North”.  Great!  I’ve just added 10 more miles to an already long ride day.    I swung Spirit around and headed back south with a vengeance.  The good of it my anger powered me the 15 miles to Hughes, Arkansas in under an hour.  Arriving in Hughes I realized just how much of a blessing it was connecting with Corporal Chamberlain in West Memphis as there was little more than a diner, a farm implement dealer and a few closed and or boarded up buildings in Hughes.  The diner did serve up a pretty good a BLT sandwich though I can’t say the waitress’s service was much good.  While at the diner I phoned my Warm Shower host again and still was unable to reach him at any of the three phone numbers he had provided, all I was able to do was leave yet another voice message and hope he’d get back to me.

Rested and with a full tummy Spirit and I trotted easily the next 20 miles to the community of Marianna, we were making great time averaging nearly 14 mph and not expending a great amount of energy doing it either.   While taking a break in Marianna I finally made contact with Kevin Smith, the Warm Shower Host.  My heart sank when he said his son was home from college and there might not be a place for me to stay but at least I’d be able to take a shower, have a meal and do laundry.  At least, that is what I thought I had heard him say.  This news sent my stress level up several notches and for the first time in a week I had indigestion all the way to Helena.  Once in Helena Kevin had instructed me to call him from the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant and he’d come there to meet me which I did.  To my surprise Kevin arrived at Wendy’s in about 5 minutes, pulled in next to me, opened the rear hatch of his Toyota SUV and was ready to load Spirit and my gear into it.  It was pretty obvious to both of us Spirit and my gear weren’t going to fit.  I asked how far it was to Kevin’s house and he said about a mile away but up two and half hills.  What are a couple hills after having ridden 84 miles, the last 10 miles of which had a few hills but none of them very strenuous?  So told Kevin it would be no big deal to ride Spirit to his home.  Kevin said OK and but he’d drive slow acting as a SAG vehicle warning vehicles to slow down, which was very thoughtful.  Arriving at Kevin’s home he immediately made me feel welcome, told me he’d work something out for sleeping arrangements.  He then introduced me to the family, first his son Nate, then wife Sissy (the bike rider in the family) and twin 13 year old daughters Virginia and Carolyn.  Kevin then went on to tell me he had to make a run to a Lowe’s about an hour or so drive away and would be gone most of the evening.  We only got to visit a few minutes before Kevin had to leave but I already liked this guy, there was something special about him.  Sissy took control, showed me where I could shower, offer to do my laundry and told me she planned to fix pasta for dinner in order to carb me up for tomorrow’s long ride.   Sissy also had a bike pump I used to top off Spirit’s tires.  After filling the tires I asked if it would be alright to store Spirit under their carport for the night in case it rained.  Sissy said sure but it wasn’t forecast to rain.  I told her with my luck it’d rain.  After my shower, Sissy threw my clothes in the washer and began preparing dinner. While she was cooking she suggested maybe it would be better if I brought Spirit into the house and put it with their bikes not because of rain but just in case someone would come around wanting to make Spirit their steed instead of mine.  She didn’t have to ask me twice, losing Spirit would be like losing family not to mention it would end my journey.  Nate appeared from downstairs and said he was going to a friend’s house for the night and he’d prefer not to stick around for pasta.  I got the feeling Nate was making it easy on the Old Guy to have a bed to sleep in.  Like his folks Nate is a likeable outgoing compassionate guy and handsome, too.  Bet he has the pick of the girls wherever he goes.  After dinner, I helped Sissy do the dinner dishes as their dish washer was broken.  We visited at length about bike riding; she just took up the sport five years ago and is an ardent enthusiast.  She’s looking forward to when Kevin and her will be able to do a little bike touring.  Sissy even did her first “Century” ride this year.  The evening flew by and we were surprised it was 11:15 when Kevin arrived home.  Sissy told Kevin it was great visiting with me and that he and I were going to enjoy getting to know each other.  With that Sissy said she was calling it a night.  Kevin and I decided we’d call it a night too and would visit in the morning but before we realized it another hour had gone by.

Kevin had a life changing experience when he graduated from college and decided to canoe the length of the Mississippi River that was 28 years ago.  It took him three and half months to make the trip and he had no idea when it did it what a profound affect it would have on his life.  Same as with me it was a life changing experience almost Spiritual in fact.  Kevin saw the stark reality of extreme poverty of folks living along the Delta of the Mississippi River and vowed he would do everything in his power to make a difference.  He landed a mediocre job in the office of one of Arkansas’ US Senators, proved himself to be a competent staff member and advanced to a higher position fairly quickly, and then later he took a position in the Clinton administration and last as an Arkansas State Senator himself.  Kevin was the driving force for creating a Delta Regional economic development program, similar to the very successful Tennessee Valley Authority.  The downside he hasn’t yet been able to convince the US Congress to fully fund the plan to help the area prosper.  Kevin likens the funding to putting a band aid on a trauma wound when a compound bandage is needed but still headway is being made.  I was so enthralled listening to Kevin talk he promised we’d visit more at in the morning while he prepared me a French Omelet.  Another talent of Kevin’s he’s an accomplished Gourmet French chef.  With the promise of a great breakfast he led me to the basement where his son’s man cave was located.  I went to bed feeling once again to having been blessed with meeting an extraordinary family.

Arkansas Razorback smoker, Arkansasans love their hogs

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