Back to Biking!

My last journal post (March 10) found me downstate at the Red Bluff Gran Fondo ride on a beautiful Spring weekend. I was laying out grandiose plans for upcoming cycling events to ride in and was calling it “The Road to BBB”, because everything led to the 13th annual Bikes Blues & Bayous event on August 1st. Then everything changed! In fact, we all got blind-sided by a global pandemic called COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus. Whatever you call it, the last few months have seen everything change for everyone and that is no mean exaggeration.

It’s only been the last couple weeks that I’ve had the energy or desire to think about cycling again. And I realize there are some biking items on my “To Do” list that I left undone. So, I’ll try to make up for lost time and get back to biking with this post.

After the Gran Fondo in March, Bo Bourne (Red Bluff director) had invited me to meet up with a small group of cyclists on the Natchez Trace to ride for the filming of Phil Gaimon’s next YouTube episode. Phil is a former pro cyclist turned YouTube celebrity with his “Worst Retirement Ever” series. I’m still kicking myself for missing that opportunity, as the resulting YouTube video proved to be very well done and an excellent promotion for biking in Mississippi.

Kudos to Bo Bourne for enticing Phil Gaimon to come to our state!

Richard Beattie

May 24, 2020

Greenwood, Mississippi