Where to Pee?...or finding the Loo!

Great day today. Cycled over 30 miles - a milestone for this novice. Started on the Natchez Trace at mile marker 102 and headed North. For those not familiar the Natchez Trace goes from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. Two lane highway, mostly wooded and cars should not go more than 50 mph.Very smooth ride going up, with very little wind. I started just after 3pm and I was thinking as I was riding about how calm the Resevoir looked.(See photo left). I remember from my 

Ross Barnett Reservoir

sailing days that the wind was strongest between 9-11am and 1-3pm. Something to do with the alignment of the moon and sun. So after 3pm it dies down-a good time to ride. When you ride long distances you get to think about many things. I noticed all the dead large trees on the side of the road and in the woods along the Trace. I thought what a great Boy Scout project and maybe even fundraising opportunity for the Scouts to contract with the National Park Service to remove the old trees and they could chop them up as part of their Merit Badge requirement and sell the firewood to benefit their Troop activities. Obviously the older boys would need to do this, and I'm sure for preservation reasons the Park Service would want some trees to naturally decompose, but there sure are a lot of trees out there. As I got to mile 15 on my ride I pulled over to pee. Now I have never hadan issue on the golf course finding somewhere to  hide and visit nature.



Natchez Trace Looking North

 Especially when the course does not provide lavatories. But where do you go when on the side of a highway with the possibility of a car driving by any second. It really is a dilema. Cyclists are programmed to consume adequate amounts of H20 to prevent dehydration, but all that water has to go somewhere. I know some of you are thinking this is way TMI (too much information). But if I want you to keep reading my blog, I have to make it somewhat interesting!! Anyway I hid behind the tree to the right. Not easy when you're in tight cycling shorts with suspenders.... As I was saying, it was a great afternoon , low 60's and overcast.I completed 30.2 miles in 2hrs 12 minutes with an average speed of 13.2 mph. Burned 960 calories. Ate oatmeal (porridge on the other side of the pond) before the ride, and two bananas, raisins, six fig newton's and a tube of Goo (packaged energy mix) during and after the ride. Climbed 1657 ft in elevation that got my heart rate up a couple of times, but never out of breath. More later.....