Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Day Three ~ Collinwood to Saltillo


A beautiful 88 miles of riding today. We rode through cool, overcast weather for much of the day before the sun broke through and toasted our skin just a little bit.

We rolled in to First Baptist Church in Saltillo, Mississippi ~ which is a big enough facility that many of us found floor in a private or semi-private room to sleep on.

After being shuttled to a couple members' homes for showers, we were blessed by plentiful food provided by a generous congregation. And tonight, there's no official program. Some of us were able to get the group's laundry done, which (let me say) is a tremendous blessing. Other than that, and a few other chores, we have an evening mostly free to do what we want here in this big-church-in-a-small-town facility.

Some of us seem to be going to bed early, some went out for ice cream, and most seem to be simply spending time together. It's nice to mostly just relax after a long day of riding.


We were graced last night by a guest, even as we were guests at Collinwood UMC. Someone met Faith in town, and invited her to have dinner with us and to stay with us overnight. By the time we met her, Faith had ridden over 2000 miles on her bike, and had hundreds more miles to go.

She had started in Florida, headed west to Texas, made her way back east a little way, and found the Natchez Trace. She'd made it as far north on the Trace as we had made it south.

One eternal maxim might be that no matter how involved and devoted a person is to their particular passion, there's always someone more hardcore. Sure, we're doing something that many people probably wouldn't ~ but our ride is supported (we don't have to carry our own gear), we know where we're going to stay and where our food will come from every day.

To take the bold step that this woman has taken, setting out completely on her own and trusting that she'll find what she needs is, in my opinion, respectably bold. I hope she finds what she's looking for.

Tomorrow we'll ride to Houston, MS, where we'll stay two nights, taking the day Thursday to work on three building projects.

Let the adventure continue.

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