The Cutoff

The riverfront of Vicksburg, known as the "Vicksburg Front," sits on the Yazoo River.  More precisely, it's the Yazoo Cutoff.  Once upon a time, the Mississippi River flowed by the Vicksburg Front, but one of the big floods of the 20th century--'27 or '37, not sure which--shifted the Big Muddy's course to the west, leaving Vicksburg high and dry.  To restore its access to the Mississippi, Vicksburg got out its shovels and redirected the Yazoo through the former riverbed of the big river.

Most of the time the Yazoo Cutoff has little or no flow, with water backing up from the Mississippi about a mile below the Vicksburg Front.  In this way it is similar to Wolf River Harbor at Memphis.  So I felt right at home as I put my boat in the water here this morning for a long recovery paddle.  I paddled out onto the Mississippi and went down below the Interstate 20 bridge, then paddled up the Louisiana bank.  The conditions were ideal: it was warm with just enough of a breeze to keep me cool, and the river was calm.

Physically I felt surprisingly good considering yesterday's tough trek downriver.  My right pec felt better than it did before the race yesterday morning.  I don't get it, but I'm not complaining.

I returned to the Yazoo Cutoff and took out an hour and forty minutes after putting in.  I headed back up the bluff to where Martha and I were staying, and we prepared for the trip back to Memphis.  And so I proceed from one phase of my season to the next, with a month of hard training planned to prepare for the year's most intense races in June.