My wife went to Memphis to play in a bridge tournament and I tagged along to bicycle and to do some street photography. During our week in Memphis I did three rides on a bicycle that I rented from the Peddler Electric Bike Shop located on south Main Street in Memphis. Josh at bike shop was very helpful in recommending routes. My rental was a Trek 7.3 FX hybrid. It is a decent low-end bicycle that is light and reliable enough for day trips.
My rides totaled about 120 miles. The first was a short 15 miles along the Mississippi River due to my needing to drive to the airport to pick up my lost luggage in the morning. My next was a 58 mile ride that took me east on Madison Street to pick up the Shelby Farms Greenline trail. I rode the trail and took an excursion through the park. I picked up the Germantown Greenway along the Wolf River and rode to the eastern trail head.
The most fun ride was the last one of about 48 miles that took me north toward the Meeman Shelby State Park. The Strava route was given to me by Josh at the bike shop. The route was helpful, but in the future I would use a phone mount on the handlebars. I was stopping frequently to check the route on my phone, keep my bearings and avoid missing a turn.
The route began at the hotel on Main Street and ran north along the river, using the same trail that I explored on my first day in Memphis. At the end of the trail I hopped onto a local road that took me past a small airport. The route wound through a poor residential neighborhood where I was chased by a dog. Usually they go after your ankles, but this dummy decided to try to cut in front of me. He got a fine tire burn on his rear quarter before squealing and running away. He will either change his tactics in the future or stop chasing bicycles.
A little later down another block three children delighted in chasing me. I wasn’t going very fast and they had fun racing with me. We came to the imaginary line drawn by their parents and they suddenly dropped behind and stopped. I waved and said goodbye.
After leaving the neighborhood, I rode through countryside with a mix of farms and residences. Both varied significantly in quality. There were both shacks and gated estates. I wanted a grocery store or something where I could purchase a snack. I brought a package of cookies, but longed for something more. I passed two places that were closed and boarded, a possible testament to the economic heath of the Memphis area.
The ride was enjoyable and the rolling countryside was fun to ride. The roads were in great condition and the traffic was very light, especially since it was a Saturday in late March. I was watching the clock, the mileage, and the weather since rain was forecast for the late afternoon. After studying the route during one stop, I decided that it would be prudent to take an alternate route to cut my ride short by a few miles. A little later that turned out to be a good decision.
With about twenty miles to go I discovered the Shelby Forest General Store. The place was hopping and all of the guys wore baseball caps. Everybody was friendly in the nicest way and happy to strike a conversation if you looked at all interesting. Of course, my cycling gear including my bright green jacket made me stand out. After I ordered a hamburger and placed my name on the order, everybody who worked there remembered me as “Ed”.
After my food stop I rode another five miles or so and had a flat tire. I was very happy that I carried a tire repair kit and necessary tools. The amber glass shard causing the flat was easy to find. I got the tube out of the tire and prepared it for the vulcanizing cement. My little tube of vulcanizing goop had never been opened before. I pierced the seal and began to squeeze. Nothing came out. I rolled up the tube and found it empty.
When I began to work on the bike I had noticed a truck pull into the driveway next to the patch of grass where I was working and drive to the barn about fifty yards from the entrance. I decided to walk down there and ask for some of the vulcanizing cement. The entrance to the barn was strewn with beer cans and cigarette butts. One guy was standing near the door smoking. Another guy came out and approached me. He was filthy and had greasy smudges on his face. We spent some time defining terms because I couldn’t remember what to call the vulcanizing cement.
“I need some of that glue stuff to repair a tire,” said I.
“What stuff? What are you gluing?”
“I have a flat tire and I’m trying to patch it.”
“Oh. Wait here.”
He disappeared inside for a while and came out with a can of vulcanizing cement.
“Don’t use much. Bring it back when you’re done.”
It worked fine and a got the tube patched. I walked back down to the barn to return the can. This time there was nobody outside. I called out something stupid like, “Sir? I brought your can back.” Reluctantly, I entered the barn to find the two of them “praying” over the engine of a beat up wreck of a car. I handed the can to the guy and left quickly.
Back on the road I pedaled for about five minutes and felt rain drops. I had ridden through a couple of passing squalls, but this rain felt different because the sky was much darker. I stopped and put on my rain jacket over my cycling jacket.
It rained heavily during the final fifteen miles of the ride. I didn’t care that it was raining. I was satisfied with myself since I was prepared to fix the tire and to protect myself from the rain.
This was the first test of my rain jacket and I found that it is the best rain jacket I have ever owned. It’s a Marmot jacket that cost a couple hundred dollars. It rained hard, but I was only getting soaked below the waist where the jacket didn’t cover me. To my good fortune, the wind had shifted and I was riding a brisk tailwind.
I dropped the bike at the shop and wasted no time getting out of there when I saw a trolley in front of the store. That is the spot where they turn around and head back to the hotel. Unfortunately, the trolley engineer was not ready to head back and I stood at the stop freezing before he finally started toward me. Thankfully, the trolley was heated and I found a seat right above one of the heaters.
At the hotel I found out how cold I was. I stripped down out of my wet gear and got into bed under the covers. After a while I realized that my fingers were numb and not responding quickly enough. I got up and wrapped my hands in a wet, warm towel. It didn’t take long for my fingers to begin to tingle as normal blood circulation returned. A warm show completed my recovery. I realized that if I didn’t have the rain jacket I might have suffered hypothermia.
Overall, I found Memphis to be a bicycle friendly city. My rides were all memorable. There are some crazy busy streets, but there are also alternatives with less traffic to get you where you are going on a bicycle. Josh at the bike shop gave me a Memphis & Shelby County Bike Map that is available for free online and from visitor centers around town.
These are some other great places that my wife and I enjoyed: Graceland, Sun Records, the Bass Pro Shops pyramid, the Peabody Hotel duck march, Huey’s for great hamburgers, Westy’s for great pub food, and B.B. King’s Blues Club for the best ribs that we had in Memphis. Be sure to ride the trolley on Main Street. Beale Street and Mud Island Park are great places to just hang out.
If you have the opportunity, try Memphis.