Description: Today was an awesome day. I finished the ride in Oberlin Louisiana after 80 miles. Not Texas - this is not a typo. The plan for tomorrow is an easy 50+ ride to Washington Louisiana.
Carl and I began stirring at 6:30 this morning and grabbed our own breakfast as the motel did not provide any. We had yogurt, bananas, tangerines, Pop Tarts, and cheese sticks. No coffee and this almost was a major mistake as we both are used to the morning jolt. As we loaded up our gear, we noticed it was still raining outside - crap. By the time we were ready to ride at 8:30, the rain had stopped but it was quite foggy. We had an 80 mile ride planned and knew we had to get moving and soon. We actually rode right past a Donut Palace without stopping - can you believe that? We left Kirbyville and rode through Bleakwood before stopping in Bon Wier for some coffee and some chow at a gas station. I opted for some Nekot peanut butter cookies while Carl jumped on a large bean and cheese burrito - he must have heard that Dayn recommends these. I typically do not do burritos this early. Shortly after getting back on the road, we achieved a major milestone - we exited Texas! That is correct, we escaped the border patrol and had a clean break into Louisiana. For me, I have ridden over a thousand miles in Texas and was ready for some cajun food. After some quick pictures, we rolled forward toward Florida. We then rode through Merryville and had planned to ride another 20 miles to DeRidder for a late lunch. As we came around a sharp bend in the road, Carl yelled out, hey, there are 2 bikers ahead of us. I started twitching and smelled a quick kill as they did not appear to be moving very fast. We looked closely and figured out they were not self supported cross-country riders as they did not have saddle bags. Carl said that I should go ahead and chase them down and he would catch us later. I said, there is no need as these 2 riders were moving VERY slow and we were already quickly catching them. Then Carl said they look like German riders maybe on a catered tour of the US. Then I told Carl that my friends Kevin and Teresa Smit had sorta talked about driving a van down to Louisiana to join me on my trek but then laughed it off. As I got closer, I noticed an interesting picture on the back of both of their jerseys. Then I recognized the picture - it was Wilson with an Arrogant Bastard Ale on their backs. I could not believe it as Kevin and Teresa were just riding along enjoying the countryside. I was shocked and quickly gave Teresa a huge hug and gave Kevin some high 5s. Carl was just watching this all unfold in amazement. Kevin has been planning this from the beginning of my trip and only told one other person for fear his plans would be leaked. After some quick pics to document the event, we all rolled east toward DeRidder for lunch. We stopped at a great restaurant called Cecil's Cajun Cafe. Teresa had to pack up her bike and drive to the motel in Oberlin for a conference call (she was working today) so she ordered a grilled shrimp salad to go. Kevin and I had red beans, sausage, and rice while Carl had an awesome fried shrimp Po-Boy. We washed it all down with some cold beverages and then packed up for the final 36 miles of the day. We took a break at 18 miles at a gas station and then did a time check. Kevin did not have his headlight with him and we figured that we were running out of daylight. We agreed that Kevin and I would blast off to the hotel and that Carl would take his time and come in after dark if needed as he has lights. Kevin took off like a scolded dog and it was all I could do to hold his wheel. He pulled into a head wind at over 19 mph. This type of a pull would surely make Mr Bridenbaugh and maybe Ron real proud. After 12 miles, we realized that Kevin's rear tire was going flat. There were new tires and tubes on his bike - how could this happen?! I asked Kevin who installed them and he would not answer - hmmm. In his defense, the road shoulder was full of trash. After stopping once and adding air, we finally stopped and did a tire change that would rival any NASCAR tire change in terms of speed. Back on the road again, we were racing the sun to the motel - which I love to do. We won as we arrived at the motel just as the last rays of light were hitting the street. The countryside today was surprisingly rolling and with your typical Louisiana swamps. There were a few rice farms and farm raised pine forrests as lumber industry is big around here. Carl rolled in about a half hour later as he stopped for numerous photo opportunities and he rode at a more relaxed pace - remember, he is retired. Everyone cleaned up and we eagerly headed to Roy's Catfish Hut for some home cooked local chow. We all opted for some sort of combo platters that included fried and broiled catfish, fried oysters, fried shrimp, stuffed crab, and hush puppies. The meal included a salad bar and a big bucket of peanuts that you throw the shells on the floor. We had a good and filling meal and a great time talking about our adventures.
Prior to leaving for dinner, Kevin and Teresa shared another big surprise with me - an early Christmas stocking full of goodies. He made up some BS story for our biker community and said that he had a connection on my route to ensure delivery to me. Then lots of folks brought in small gifts and handed them to Kevin for delivery. They had no idea that he was going to hand deliver these to me. Jae hand made an incredible stocking for me and also one for Wilson. There are awesome - thanks Jae!!! Then Kevin proceeded to give me 2 bags FULL of gifts from my friends AND my sister Holly (hi Ed and Nick) who was brought into this scam. I would like to thank every one of you that provided me with the thoughtful and useful stocking stuffer gifts. I also greatly appreciate everyone who has been following my adventure which I will never forget. In no particular order, below is a list of the gifts I received: stockings for me and Wilson, Starbucks Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans, a Starbucks gift card, another Starbucks gift card, a Caribou Coffee gift card, Tiramisu Dark Chocolate Wedges, Beano, Santa on a bike cycling socks, a double-shot of 5-hour Energy, a mini-me Wilson soccer ball (company for Wilson), 2 Cliff 20g Protein Builder's bars, 2 Powerbar Recovery bars, 3 Powerbar Performance bars, 2 mini PayDays, 2 Espresso Love GU energy gels, 7 Mint Chocolate GU energy gels, 2 boxes of raisins, 12 large Snicker's bars, 6 large PayDays bars, a bag of Snicker's mini bars, an 8-pack of Lance Toast Chee peanut butter crackers, 11 Ghirardelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape mini chocolate bars, a 2-pack of hand warmers, a 2-pack of toe warmers, a 6-pack of Stone Pale Ales, 2 large bottles of Stone Arrogant Bastard Ales, and finally.... An iron transfer sticker of Wilson with an Arrogant Bastard Ale for me to put on a riding jersey.
Thank you, thank you all.
Weather: started out warm (60s) with fog and later cleared up some with the highs in the 70s. It was really good riding weather even though the roads were wet early on.
Performance Metrics:
Miles: 80 Trip: 2,018
Total travel time: 9:00 Trip: 205:00 - Kevin slowed us down today
Bike Riding time: 6:27 Trip: 162:28
Avg speed: 12.37 Trip: 12.64
Max speed: 21.73 Trip: 41.87
Total ascent (ft): 527 Trip: 50,840
Avg pedal RPMs: 84 Trip: 86
Avg heart rate: 95 Trip: 112
Max heart rate: 162 Trip: 195
Calories burned: 4,343 Trip: 117,218
Weather Statistics:
High temp 73 Trip: 75
Low temp: 62 Trip: 28
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 13:30
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 3
Wind factor: Against
Total good wind days: 9
Total bad wind days: 18
Misc. Stats:
Flat tires: 0 Trip: 8
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel - Oberlin Inn
Total hotel nights: 25
Total camping nights: 2
Cups of coffee: 1 Trip: 89
Pints: 4 Trip: 42
Mood rating (1-10): 10 - I have new Sherpas and lot to folks to talk to now. I am currently 2 days ahead of schedule.
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