On the road under the hot Mississippi sun.

Because of historical meanderings, the Mississippi River now flows about one mile west of the official MS/AR state line. I disliked the idea of riding all that way and not crossing the mighty Mississippi River, so I rode with the judge and crew about 10 miles to a fireworks store near the west end of the two-lane US Hwy 82 Mississippi River bridge for my 2.2 mi, nine-minute "preamble ride" across the Mississippi River to the actual starting point at the MS/AR state line. After waiting until no car or truck headlights were visible, I proceeded carefully high over the Mississippi with a grand view of the mighty river in the faint early light. The bridge continues for about one mile over floodplain wetland and right through the state line where I paused for about 10 seconds before starting again on the official ride across Mississippi. The already warm temperature of about 75° F felt comfortable at this point with a self-generated 20 mph wind. Actual winds of 5-11 knots ranged predominantly from SSW to SSE all day and were not a significant factor most of the time, although when the road veered southward or the winds shifted to the SSE, I could definitely see and feel the negative effect on my speed. Nevertheless, after battling headwinds during three of four previous record attempts, I had high hopes of finally averaging well over 15 mph.

I rode my Litespeed Teramo titanium bike with mostly 10 speed Ultegra components, Speedplay X2 pedals, Ritchey WCS compact crank assembly, SpeedCific wheels and hubs built by Mike Garcia of Odds and Endos, and Veloflex Pave tires for the entire ride. A special note on clothing: the bib shorts and jersey were not the best choice as they were fabricated of a slightly heavier and tighter weave than really suitable for the conditions. I found myself debating during the ride whether to change to lighter-weight clothes, or save the time involved by continuing on with the slightly warmer clothes. In hindsight, I believe that was a significant mistake.

Feeling the heat, but can I get another one of these "liquid foods" down?

After a rather small breakfast of Ensure Plus, orange juice, and part of a doughnut, I consumed about seven eight-ounce bottles of chocolate Ensure Plus or similar energy drink during the ride. The Ensure tastes pretty good and each provides 250-350 calories and plenty of sodium, magnesium and potassium. I also ate a couple granola bars, three bananas (always tasty), and a PB&J sandwich. Besides water, the only other drinks were several bottles of Gatorade.

With UMCA Official Judge Mark Cristy and crewchief (and wife) Mikki Eddlemon in the follow vehicle, and crewman (and father) Joe Eddlemon in the support vehicle, I set forth with high hopes of finishing the 182 miles along US Hwy 82 in 10 hours and change. After averaging about 18 mph for 40-50 miles, the dream of a 10-hour ride quickly evaporated in the Mississippi heat, humidity, and (later) hills. As the Mississippi sun rose higher and higher, I rode on, but with inevitably greater difficulty. Optimizing food, water and salt intake began to be a difficult problem. At about 70 miles, the first heat-cramps began to be a real nuisance, not to say a threat to the success of the crossing attempt.

Disaster nearly struck at 75 miles, when one of the many speeding vehicles driven by a completely inattentive young man nearly killed himself, judge, crewchief and rider as he almost rammed the slowly moving chase vehicle from behind. Only swift action by driver Mikki Eddlemon averted a violent and fiery tragedy. As it was, even though the left lane of the four-lane highway was completely clear, the speeding car's driver slammed on the brakes, throwing the car into a wild spin that sent him careening towards my bike in a shower of flying gravel, burning rubber, and dust before sliding harmlessly off the shoulder and down a grassy swale. From the crescendo of horrendous sound I heard behind me, I really thought I was a dead man. When I finally saw him spinning around and around to my right and a little behind, I then feared he would most certainly roll the car and kill himself. Except for each of us briefly believing this to be our last moment on earth, we were all fine. While I waited on the shoulder of the road for about five or six minutes, Judge Cristy checked on the young driver - his total concern was for himself and his car — who didn't even ask if anyone else might be hurt. He said he feared he was just about to total another car! Right after we resumed our ride, he flew by us at top speed, honking his horn and waving to us as he passed. I could not believe his tires, suspension, and reckless attitude could have survived such abuse!

Small town Mississippi traffic.

A few miles later, more painful and debilitating leg and foot cramps came in fierce swarms, forcing frequent stops to try to stretch and massage out the cramps. Stopping and dismounting with full-blown cramps without falling was quite a trick. At least the cramps periodically distracted me from my painful right shoulder and arm, seriously injured in a crash the previous month. By 85 or 90 miles, and for many more thereafter, just finishing the state crossing was clearly in jeopardy. Then, for about two glorious hours, a wonderful thunderhead kindly interposed itself between the brutal Mississippi sun and the old guy struggling to ride on. Leg cramps continued to come in waves, but at least the lone rider began to hope he would not have to abandon the attempt altogether to ward off dehydration and life-threatening sunstroke.

The sun returned, the rider slowed, and he began to wonder how he could possibly continue for the remaining 60 miles or so. I learned a lot about subtle shifts of body geometry, weight and force on the pedals to mitigate or stop incipient cramps, but it definitely slowed my pace even when I managed to keep going without a stop for massage or stretching along the side of the road (the road side massages of an old guy in spandex by an attractive woman must have provoked some interesting speculations by passing motorists). Fifty miles to go so slowly turned into 40, 40 into 30, but at every milestone, the finish seemed impossibly far away. Finally and mercifully, at 7:26 pm, and in complete darkness, I rolled slowly to a stop at an Alabama Department of Transportation construction sign by the headlights of the chase car. After congratulatory hugs, handshakes, and photos, an uneasy feeling that this sign may not be on the actual Mississippi/Alabama state line prompted me to wearily remount my steed once more and toil on until a more definitive sign was found. Sure enough, 0.4 miles and 7 minutes after the false finish, a bullet-riddled sign declaring "Alabama State Line" materialized out of the darkness. That was more like it. I felt a lot like that sign looked.

The real deal — crossing the true MS/AL state line a little after dark.

Three days later, I told my son, Kirk, that I didn't think I would ever try a ride like that again; it was just too painful. With the wisdom of one who had hiked, climbed and kayaked over the years with his dear old Dad, Kirk replied with a knowing gleam in his eye: "Dad, you have the same essential gift, possessed by every high-altitude mountain climber who ever climbed again and again: a very short memory . . ."

In retrospect, what seemed an ideal, relatively safe highway, was something else altogether, simply because most traffic traveled at the highest average speeds I believe I've ever witnessed. We never saw anyone pulled over by the police, even though many vehicles appeared to be approaching or even exceeding 100 mph. Moreover, several drivers tried to pass the support/follow car and bike on the right shoulder, a maneuver that killed a fellow rider back in Tennessee just a few weeks before.

My heartfelt thanks to my crew captain and bride, Mikki Eddlemon, the UMCA official, Dr. Mark Cristy of Oak Ridge, TN, and my father and crewman, Joe Eddlemon of Knoxville, TN. My wife's and father's generosity in time, encouragement, and support, and Dr. Cristy's diligent and very professional service as the official UMCA Judge were absolutely essential to the success of this record attempt.

I would like to dedicate this crossing of Mississippi to my dear Mother and Dad: the lovely Germaine Eddlemon, who is a bit under the weather right now, and the steadfast Joe Eddlemon, who not only crewed on this effort, but also financed the project as a birthday present for me.

Official Record: Mississippi W-E, 182.6 miles, 12:38, 14.5 mph
Start: US 82 bridge over the Mississippi River at the AR/MS state line
Finish: US 82 at the AL/MS state line
Official: Mark Christy

Eddlemon, a retired environmental scientist, has climbed the highest mountains in Africa and Mexico, and twice broken the record for hiking the 70-mile length of the AT in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the last time becoming the first hiker known to hike the trail in less than 24 hours. In the course of his adventures, he has had sometimes exciting, sometimes simply terrifying up-front and personal encounters in their own element with bears, wild boar, tidal bores, rattlers, cottonmouths, gators, moose, bison, wolves, caribou, muskox, giant arctic hare, rabid foxes, baboons, black widows, tsetse flies, giraffes, and assorted other of God's creatures.