In Memory of Warmer Summers

Tishomingo, Mississippi to Shilo, Tennessee

Friendly horn taps: 1

Miles: 59

Total so far: 1,210

Breakfast/planning session at our campsite in Tishomingo, Mississippi. Note the cold weather gear is out, including gloves and knee warmers.

We reached Tennessee today and put Mississippi behind us this afternoon.  Unfortunately we found ourselves on a very small back road that did not provide a welcome sign of any kind, so I have no picture.  I could have photographed the Tennessee Lottery sign at the country store not too far back, but I try to have a little bit of class when it comes to this blog.

This morning we were on Mississippi State Route 365, just south of Cairo when we had a white Chevy pick-up drive by us very close at highway speeds.  There was no other traffic on the road.  Occasionally bicyclists see drivers do this.  It’s extremely dangerous and massively stupid.

My theory on this is that driver’s are trying to do a “brushback”.  In baseball, a brushback pitch is a pitch thrown high and inside, usually a fastball, to force the batter away from the plate, often to intimidate an aggressive hitter.  I believe that drivers think the highways are not for bicycles.  It’s easy to come to this conclusion because some drivers offer their opinions on this quite loudly, sometimes accompanied by a thrown beer bottle or some other nicety.  Fortunately that’s not very common, but it happens.

16" rumble strips encompassing the white line

You can see in this picture of highway 365, there are rumble strips cut into the pavement that encompass the white line.  The rumbles are about sixteen inches wide, and this particular highway has just a few inches to the right of the rumbles before the pavement ends.  Rumble strips cannot be ridden on by a bicycle without the rider losing two things, first all the fillings are vibrated out of their teeth, and then they lose control of their bicycles.

When rumble strips are used this way, cyclists have no choice but to ride in the lane of travel, i.e. left of the white line.  That’s perfectly legal, but motorists, particularly aggressive motorists get the idea that we should be closer to, or over on the other side, of the white line.  With these sort of rumble strips, that’s not possible.  It’s rare (today was a first for the whole trip), but less than deep thinking hotheads decide it’s their duty to drive by very close to indicate their displeasure with the cyclist using the lane of travel.

Just to put it out there, cyclists are entitled to the lane of travel — the entire lane if needed, in all fifty states.

Other than this unfortunate incident, Mississippi drivers have been extremely nice, but sorry, Florida, so far Alabama has all of you beat for the most courteous (cyclists already know Florida consistently ranks low on courtesy and safety).

Please know I am a big fan of rumble strips — they save lives.  My law enforcement career was in a state where one vehicle rollovers were consistently the highest percentage of all fatal crashes.  They always began with some sort of lane departure.  Rumble strips are a great way to warn drivers of lane departures.  There are ways to incorporate rumble strips that allow for cyclist safety and maneuverability.

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Arnold Cousins

Arnold Cousins