By Nancy Green
Robin Brooks, a biker on the Natchez Trace Parkway, got a special welcome at the visitors center Monday morning. She had camped out overnight and went to the center as she prepared to continue her journey, arriving just in time for the ribbon cutting ceremony marking the completion of a renovation of the facility.
Brooks, 24, is en route to her home in Seattle, Wash., where she began her bike ride on Sept. 15. From Seattle, she said she rode down the coast to San Francisco, then to Nevada, southern Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and to Memphis where she changed directions to begin the trip home. She began her ride on the Natchez Trace in Tupelo.
When she returns home she will return to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest where she is a wilderness rancher and winter ranger. She said the long distance ride was prompted by a need for a break from her job and a long time desire to see the countryside.
“On a bike you get lots of attention and meet lots of different people. I have always wanted to see the country and experience the outdoors. On a bike is the best way -- go slow and stop whenever you want to,” she said. She travels with a tent, and cooking equipment, stopping at campgrounds along her route.
She said her time on the Natchez Trace has been refreshing and everyone she has encountered has been very respectful.
She said no strengthening of stamina was needed for the bike ride as she was already conditioned resulting from her cross country skiing. She majored in environmental studies at St. Lawrence University in northern New York.
Brooks said she keeps a daily log of her travels and checks in with her family every few days. “My family is very supportive of my riding,” she said.
