I didn’t sleep much last night. I rarely do in a tent (although Lily’s tent is pretty fab). Every couple of hours I had leg cramps, smallish ones. The kind that go away but make you dread of a monster cramp to come. It never did. being awake meant that I could at least listen to the barn owls hooting all night.
Breakfast was more than adequate. Jeff made amazing coffee with a French Press. Our group drank loads of it.
We headed out in fits and starts. Virginia was ahead of me on the camp road and stopped suddenly. An armadillo was lying in the middle of the road. She gave it a nudge with her foot and discovered that it was an ex-armadillo. It had ceased to exist. She used her foot to push it to the side of the road.
Back on the road the only other wildlife I saw all day was a large gathering of vultures dining on the remains of a roadkill deer.
The day was planned to be a 48-mile return to the hotel in Ridgeland. The side path near adjacent Jackson was under repair. The Trace has notoriously bad traffic (and no shoulder). I ride without fear but most people tint so we agreed as a group to stop in Clinton after 34.5 miles and use the van to shuttle the group the last 14 miles.
We all seem to be in good spirits and looking forward to an 80-miles day tomorrow. The weather remains perfect.
Miles today: 35. Tour miles: 121.5
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
sounds good so far . We just arrived in St. Louis for the frozen four, including BU. No armadillos so far
I’m surprised there was bad traffic on the Trace – unless you were near one of the busy intersections (Tupelo?). I found the traffic to be very light, and although trucks are prohibited, we saw a few trucks on there! I think they use it as a cut-thru to avoid traffic or to cut mileage.
We could see the traffic picking up. I wouldn’t classify it as bad but others in the group clearly were worried.
It’s a bit of a commuter route in the Jackson area, especially the first 15-20 miles east of I-55.
We were on it today. No problem heading east. Damned pretty road