On Thursday we biked the Longleaf Trace. This is a Hall of Fame trail and a designated National Recreation Trail, paved atop 43 miles of abandoned Mississippi Central Railroad line.
Beginning along the Leaf River in Hattiesburg, next to Southern Miss University, the Longleaf Trace traverses landscapes that range from the bustling heart of Mississippi’s third largest city, through longleaf pine forests, to the rural farmland that predominates in this area. It was 89 degrees today, so we split the trail into two rides.
We started near the beginning of the trail at a station closest to our trailer and did a 16 mile ride into Hattiesburg and back, which included a loop around the old downtown. Our pace was about 11 mph on this lovely flat, shaded trail, with only light breezes. And with the humidity, riding a bike in the south actually feels better than sitting still because of the passing breeze. This trail was straight as an arrow, with excellent pavement.
We then put the bikes back in the truck, and went out to the far end of the trail for our second ride in the afternoon.
While the morning ride featured forests and urban landscape, the afternoon ride was all about pastoral farmland, hay crops, and cows.
The trail was still straight but with a gentle rise and falls. We traveled 18 more miles on our bikes during this afternoon ride, bringing our total miles on the Longleaf Trace to 34 miles.
It was a great day! Here are our comments:
- Sue: “The canopy of the trees, and cloud-cover, made for a beautiful ride through the Mississippi backroads.”
- Ted: ”Trace means trail, so this is the best trace we’ve ridden on this trip.”
Sue has two ReLive videos for you to enjoy:
PS: About dinner last night…. Just like when we’re in the southwest and we seek out great Mexican food. Well, in the south, it’s got to be BBQ! So we dipped our taste buds into the Murky Waters Restaurant in Hattiesburg and thoroughly enjoyed dinner and it’s leftovers for the next day – here’s the menu: murkywatersbbq.com/
Can Donna and I just fly into murkywatersbbq? My kind of food.