Mississippi

Day 20: Monticello AK to Indianola MS: 108.8 miles, 14.7 mph, 791 feet of climbing, 5955 calories

We entered absolutely flat bottom land. What was advertised as an easy ride turned into a long, slow slog into a headwind. Empty fields, fallow for winter,  lent a dreariness to the day.

I have such ambivalence about the Deep South, focused on race. Seeing cotton fields ready for harvest made me wonder how it would feel to pick it by hand. Going to the football game, watching the integrated Indianola Academy dominate, left me wondering about the public school team in this 80 percent black district. I wish I could go to the BB King Museum. If I’m going to have the blues, I’d like to honor the legends. So I hum old songs by

Albert King and Mississippi John Hurt.