Natchez Trace

Quoted message said:

I just noticed at cnn.com that the Natchez Trace is finally completed having
begun in 1938. Has anyone biked it? ... I wonder has bicycle
friendly the Trace is.

I bicycled the Natchez trace from Nashville to Jackson in 2002, and
wrote up a trip report: http://www.mvermeulen.com/natchez/index.htm

As far as cycle friendliness goes:
-- ~50mph speed limits
-- not much in way of shoulders
-- I had no problems, not a large amount
of traffic and all well behaved.
In contrast to some of the surrounding roads I have cycled in that
area, traffic was much better behaved.

So I'd score it at least "moderate" on the bicycle friendly scale.
This aside from the fact I bicycled ~100 miles or so with a spark plug
instead of my right pedal...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 20:00:24 -0400, "Tom or Mary" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I just noticed at cnn.com that the Natchez Trace is finally completed having
begun in 1938. Has anyone biked it? They mention in the article that people
can drive, bike or horseback the route. I drove on the Blueridge Parkway,
and it just did not seem that it was bicycle friendly. I wonder has bicycle
friendly the Trace is. I ride on lots of different roads, but the Parkway
just struck as a place bikers would avoid maybe because of all the drivers
who look at the scenery, but pay not attention to the road.

Thanks

Tom

If you don't mind my asking which part of the blue ridge parkway did you
ride? What time of day? What time of year? I'm thinking about some one-day
rides in off season - I'm told only mid summer, fall until after leaves
change are not good time, otherwise it's good. Not sure if I believe. Did
you have ayny close calls?

On the Natchez Trace, you mean the Highway, of course. You don't want to be
sharing anything with horses - bikes must yeild to horses, horses make
mess. I'd think otherwise it should be cool. Picture of cyclist on Trace
homepage showing the cyclist on the parkway

http://www.nps.gov/natt/pphtml/activities.html:

LLBean says lots use it.

http://www.llbean.com/parksearch/parks/html/4239gd.htm

HTH.

jj

Mike Vermeulen said:

So I'd score it at least "moderate" on the bicycle friendly scale.
This aside from the fact I bicycled ~100 miles or so with a spark plug
instead of my right pedal...

Sounds like there's a story there -- want to tell?

Pat

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This aside from the fact I bicycled ~100 miles or so with a spark plug
instead of my right pedal...

Sounds like there's a story there -- want to tell?

On a Saturday afternoon, around mile 240 of the Natchez Trace, my
right pedal sheared off. There were bike shops in Tupelo 25 miles
back, but likely to be closed when I got there and also heading the
wrong direction.

The next town not too far from the trace was Houston Mississippi, 13
miles ahead. With a little bit of work and walking an occasional hill
I was able to find my way to Houston. No bike shops here. No public
transit. No obvious car rental. It was Saturday afternoon and things
were likely to be closed Sunday. I had a rental car reserved in
Jackson (~120+ miles away) on Monday.

I went into the Walmart in Houston to see if they sold bike pedals.
They did, but unfortunately I found out the 1/2" pedals for Walmart
bikes was different threading than my 9/16" road bike. I made another
try to find an other alternative before going back into Walmart again.

This time I was on a mission to find something with 9/16" threading I
could use instead of a pedal. I bought a piece of plumbing pipe and
also the longest spark plug I could find. The plumbing pipe didn't
stay in the threads. On the other hand, the spark plug did seem to
fit. I figured out worst case, I'd ride ~40 miles back to Tupelo and
get myself from there to Jackson.

I stayed overnight in Houston. Sunday morning I started off. The
spark plug worked. My shoe would occasionally slip off, but with some
practice and relying the toe clip on the left pedal, I was able to
ride ~72 miles of the Trace to Kosiusko (including some pouring rain).

On Monday I set off early again and continued my journey with spark
plug. This part of the Natchez Trace was flatter and I was getting
better and riding with the spark plug. Without too much difficulty, I
got my way to Jackson and found a local bike shop after ~65 miles. I
replaced the plug with real pedals and rode to the airport for end of
my trip.

I wouldn't recommend using spark plugs instead of a right pedal but
when one needs to improvise it did seem to work. I'm certainly
happier doing that than I would have been limping back to Tupelo and
taking a bus or something to Jackson...

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

I used to live in Mississippi, and jogged the trace a number of times, and
biked a small portion of it.

Great place in the fall and spring. Nasty in summer, but hot weather
doesn't really bother me for some reason. Flies are a nuisance.

No traffic problems, until you get around Jackson, where it runs close to
I-55.

DO NOT attempt the trip close to dusk or at night. The trace has no lights,
most of the parkway patrol go home at 8. I do not know if it is as
dangerous as it was when I lived there, but pity the poor fellow who had to
leave his car to walk for gas. Most of the removable parts of his car where
gone by morning.

Other than that, beautiful country, very very flat. It seemed like there
were places where you didn't have to pedal for miles - the earth sort of
just rotated under you.

Send me a note if you have questions I'll try to help.

"Tom or Mary" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I just noticed at cnn.com that the Natchez Trace is finally completed
having
begun in 1938. Has anyone biked it? They mention in the article that
people
can drive, bike or horseback the route. I drove on the Blueridge Parkway,
and it just did not seem that it was bicycle friendly. I wonder has
bicycle
friendly the Trace is. I ride on lots of different roads, but the Parkway
just struck as a place bikers would avoid maybe because of all the drivers
who look at the scenery, but pay not attention to the road.

Thanks

Tom

My wife and I rode the whole Trace from Natchez to Nashville and back
(including the almost finished new sections) in mid-March to early
April of 2005. We went self-contained and found it to be one of the
nicest and safest rides that we had ridden. The speed limit max is 50;
commercial traffic is prohibited; and those who want to drive fast can
take alternate routes. We found that the drivers were curteous and most
would slow down and follow us until the road was clear to safely pass.
Despite the road having no shoulders, it was one of the safest 1000
mile trips we have done. The section around Tupelo was busy at rush
hour, but not bad by Phoenix, Arizona standards. The new section around
Jackson is great. The round trip took us 23 days including 6 days off
for rain and fun. You can leave your car safely at Natchez Trace State
Park in Natchez, or at the Loveless Cafe at Nashville. And camping is
free!