The four cyclists at the Natchez Visitors Center Thursday morning were certainly not the first group to stop in town for bit of history and culture as they followed the Mississippi River down the Natchez Trace.

They may, however, have traveled the farthest to do so.

Gunter Schuster, Juttoc Muller, Klaus Ganzer and Angelika Grannemann, all from Munich, Germany, left Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 31 to begin a three-week trip bicycle to New Orleans.

Fighting the 100 degree-plus temperatures was a problem, Ganzer said, but recent cooler temperatures have made the 700-mile ride more pleasurable.

&uot;We’d start at 6:30 in the morning, and take many breaks,&uot; he said. &uot;We’d drink 10 liters of water a day.&uot;

Even a few mechanical problems along the way did little to curb the group’s mood.

&uot;We could write a map on bicycle shops on this tour,&uot; Muller said. &uot;Many broken spokes.&uot;

Good old Southern hospitality made both the heat and the broken spokes easier to deal with, she said, as people were often helpful when the group needed directions to a bicycle repair shop.

&uot;The language, we don’t speak so good,&uot; Schuster said. &uot;But that’s been no problem.&uot;

On one particularly hot day, he said, a passing motorist noticed the German flag on his bicycle. The woman passed without comment, but later returned with ice water and curiosity about the flag.

&uot;The people have been the best part of this trip so far,&uot; Schuster said. &uot;Most people drive past us slowly. That was not so in California.&uot;

Although this is the quartet’s first trip through the South, they have made a few American jaunts in the past — first a trip from Seattle to San Francisco and two years later a trip from San Francisco to San Diego.

A ride through Canada was last year’s adventure, as the group rode from Halifax to Quebec.

&uot;Every year we get a little slower,&uot; Schuster said, smiling a little tiredly.

The group usually spends about seven hours a day on the bikes, with the rest of the day reserved for sight-seeing and relaxation, Muller said.

Their favorite spot on this trip has so far been Memphis, &uot;but we haven’t been to New Orleans, yet,&uot; Muller added.