A little history and information about The Trace

The Old Natchez Trace dates back to the early 1700s when sections were Indian footpaths and animal trails. In the late 1700s through the early 1820s traders from the Middle Tennessee and Kentucky areas ("Kaintuck Boatmen") floated their goods down the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Natchez and then walked or rode horses up the Trace to return home.

Each year hundreds of people bike the entire 444 miles or a section of the Natchez Trace Parkway. One of the most common questions asked in the planning process is which direction should we bike: North to South or South to North.

There are several factors to consider:

1. Prevailing Wind - generally the wind flows west to east. The Trace actually goes southwest to northeast so biking South to North will put the wind at your back more often than in your face.
2. Uphill or Downhill - the northern half of the Trace is hillier and has a higher elevation. Elevation at the northern terminus is 710 feet and the elevation at the southern terminus is 160 feet. So, there is approximately 550 feet more descent than ascent going North to South - an average of only 15 inches a mile! The more important question is: if you are biking the entire Trace, do you want to bike the hilliest section at the beginning or end of the trip.

source: www.natcheztracetravel.com

The Plan

      

I am currently working on the plan as we speak, and it is subject to change, but here is the latest.  We will leave Nashville and ride The Trace the last week of May, or the first week of June.  Our son will be doing an exchange program in Bogota, Columbia for 3 weeks starting the last week of May, so the ride will for sure be one of the weeks that he is in Columbia.

We are working with Randy from, Natchez Trace B&B Reservation Service, www.natcheztracetravel.com , and he has been very helpful.  I told him the number of days that I would like to ride the trace and he has suggested the stops and the B&B's that would best fit into MY schedule ( how refreshing).  The Trace is 444 miles from end to end, and I plan on ride around 70 miles a day with the last day being a little shorter.  There will be some additional mileage from stopping along the way to see some sights.

We are starting in Nashville and heading south, there are more hills in the northern part of the Trace, and flatter once we hit Mississippi.  The daily averages really won't fluctuate that much based on the topography, but more so, on where we want to stop/stay along the way.

One of the nice things about The Trace is that commercial traffic is prohibited, and the maximum speed is 50 MPH, and the traffic is generally very light, except around Tupelo, and Jackson, MS. There will be a lot of historical sites along the way that I hope to document, so check back from time to time to see my progress.  I look forward to seeing another one of our great National Parks!

The Decision

I bought the bike, and I always wanted to do some long, multiple day rides.  I have done the Jack and Back, which is a 2 day ride from Franklin, TN to Jack Daniels Distillery and back.  It is a fund raiser for MS, and is the local MS 150 ride, 75 miles each way, and you stay near Jack Daniels, and then go there for a great party that evening.  Not too much fun though, because you get up the next day and ride back.  A great time with your friends, and many that become your friends.  I actually ran into one of my high school classmates on the ride.  I have done other 1 day events, usually from 50 - 100 miles, they are local rides.

But I have never ridden my bike on a multiple day trip into areas that I have never ridden before.  I have been to many cities close to the Trace but I have never driven or been on all of the Trace from one end to the other.

So, I decided to put it on the calendar and make it happen.  Like you, if it's not on the calendar, it won't happen, we are all just too busy to take a week off from life.  

I am hoping that this all goes well and that I will tackle another biking challenge next year, but first one thing at a time.

How it all started, and a little background 2/17/14

So I turned 50 this year, and things have been falling apart for the last couple of years, they just don't work like they used to.  I had knee surgery three years ago, December 2010, and my knee has really never gotten back to where it once was.  I have tried many different things, physical therapy, exercise of all sorts, including the doctor recommended swimming.  Unfortunately swimming just doesn't get it done for me.  I am a good swimmer and once swam across Tampa Bay, yes the actual bay, in a 5K race and did it in an hour 12.  I swam competitively as a kid as well, but it just wasn't working for me, too boring, brought back too many boring memories, I don't know.  So I decided to try some other land type exercises.

So I had been going to the Y, and doing some weights, and some walking on the tread mill, but the tread mill wasn't working either for me.  My knee was actually still swelling form using the tread mill, and it was not comfortable for me on a daily basis being swollen.  The swelling was causing many issues for me during the day as I walk a lot for my job.  So on to the next machine.

I tried several different cross trainers and elliptical, and basically over the past three years, I finally found an elliptical that put less pressure on my knee, and have used it pretty religiously since then.  But the real problem was still there, and that is I hate being indoors, especially exercising indoors.  I really missed biking.

I have been riding a road bike since the mid- 90's, and have owned 5 different nice road bikes over the years.  But since my knee surgery, and it being "suggested" that I sell my rode bike, I didn't own one anymore. But really wanted to get back out there, so I decided I would start to ride my hybrid, which is 14 years old.  Much to my surprise, my knee felt good, not great, but about the same as if I had used the elliptical.  So I decided to keep riding my hybrid and seeing how it would go with more riding and going farther.  Again, it was feeling good.

In late October 2013, I decided to buy the nice bike pictured above.  It's not the "best" bike I have owned, if you are going by pedigree alone, but it sure feels good to me.  It is a TREK Domane, with a little creature comforts for the less serious bike riders, let's face it, I am not going to be riding in the Tour de France.  It is a great bike for me, and that's what counts.

I rode a total of 370 miles in 2013 from the time I bought the bike, to 12/31.  I have a Garmin Edge 500 that tracks my time, distance, and many other stats that you probably don't care to know about.  Not a bad start to riding since I hadn't been on a bike in 3 years.

It's been a very cold winter this year, and it has kept me inside and off of my bike more than I would like, but I still have ridden 210 miles so far this year. My knee is still feeling good, and the swelling has been minimal with the biking, again not 100%, but according to several doctors that I have had look at the surgical notes and MRI's since the operation, my knee is not going to be 100%.  So if that's the case, on to the bucket list.....