Sunday, December 21, 2008
OK ESN:0-7458562
This is Steve and I am checking in to let everyone know that I have finished my ride for the day safe and sound.
ESN:0-7458562
Latitude:30.8454
Longitude:-90.141
Nearest Location: Washington St, Franklinton, LA, US
Distance: 0 km(s)
Time:12/21/2008 15:06:58 (US/Pacific)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.8454,-90.141&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
ESN:0-7458562
Latitude:30.8454
Longitude:-90.141
Nearest Location: Washington St, Franklinton, LA, US
Distance: 0 km(s)
Time:12/21/2008 15:06:58 (US/Pacific)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.8454,-90.141&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Day 29 - Saturday, December 20
Description: Finished the ride in Baton Rouge LA after a light 54 miles. Tomorrow the target is Richardson LA and a longer 85+ mile ride.
We were up, packed, and at The Palace Cafe for breakfast by 7:20. This is the same place we had dinner last night. They had the best Community brand coffee to go along with a great breakfast. Kevin, Teresa, and I had sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits and Carl had a plain biscuit and hash browns. I also had a double stack of pancakes to ensure the tank was full. All of our food was excellent. We plotted our route to take a ferry over the mighty Mississippi and end up in St Francisville. Kevin lost the coin toss to Teresa and agreed to be the Sherpa today. His plan was to drive up to the ferry, drop the van, and then ride back to us to join the party. Teresa, Carl, and I started rolling at around 8:15 in perfect riding weather. There were no shoulders leaving Olpelousas but it opened up once we got on Rt 190 heading toward Baton Rouge. Carl (feeling spunky without all of his packs) jumped out front and did most of the pulling in the morning. Eventually, Teresa took over the "pull" position and led the way for the rest of the day. She is a very strong and consistent rider, unlike her husband. Shortly after leaving the Opelousas city limits, a car passed us, waived hi, and then pulled over to talk with us. At first, I was not sure what was going on. It was Gordy Heitzman who is a biker and wanted to know where we were going. He is from Minnesota but is temporarily working on a local FEMA project. He is also a regular in the Iowa RAGBRAI event which Kevin, Teresa, and Carl have all done multiple times. After exchanging web and email info, we rode on. Then we spotted a cajun night club called Bada's Bar which had a sign that said "Biker's Welcome". We wondered if they ment motorcyclists or cyclists. We met the owner, used his facilities, and got the grand tour of his bar including his huge rear deck on the bayou. Off we rolled again with Teresa pulling and the wind at our back. We stopped for lunch at a place called Lottie for some good home cooking. Kevin was supposed to meet us there on his bike but instead arrived in the van. It turned out that all of the ferrys were shut down today and there was no way to cross the mighty Mississippi river by boat. During lunch, we had to recast our plans for the day. The lunch was good as Kevin and Teresa shared a big shrimp po-boy, Carl had a grilled cheese with pickles, and I had a Shrimp sandwich with pretzels. Sherpa Kevin also provided a chocolate milk to me from the support van to help with my recovery. We decided to change course and set sail for Baton Rouge instead of going north. We agreed to stay on Rt 190 which had a good shoulder but was full of garbage and had heavy traffic. Kevin drove toward Baton Rouge to scout out the road and to find us a cheap motel. We rolled on and continued to maintain a great (14-15 mph) pace. Then Kevin called and said there was a 4 mile bridge over a big swamp that had no shoulder and would be a problem for us. He drove back to meet us and the plan was for him to ride behind us with the van with his flashers on for protection. We felt very special with this "escort" service and were glad to reach the other side. Then Kevin raced on to Baton Rouge for a hotel. After 4 miles, we stopped at a gas station for a bio break. As we were mounting our bikes, we spotted another cross-country biker and flagged him down. His name was Tom and he was riding west to San Diego solo. He is riding to raise money for MS. His web site is http://myspacetimebicycle.blogspotcom. I advised him to get better tires and liners to protect against the goat heads in New Mexico and Arizona. After a few pictures and chit chat, we rolled on again. We saw numerous farms, some donkeys, and also some sugar cane fields. One sugar cane field was on fire! There was also miles and miles of road work where they were clearing lots of big trees out of the swamps for a road expansion project. We also saw miles of cool swamps and lots of wind damage from recent hurricanes. Then we called Kevin for an update and he informed us of good news and bad news. The good news was that he found a cheap motel that it was a step above the dirtbag lodging we had last night. The bad news was that he did not recommend crossing the Mississippi river bridge due to heavy traffic and zero shoulders. For the day, we tried to cross the river by 2 ferrys and then by bridge. Eventually, we finally submitted and threw in the towel. We loaded our bikes into the van and got shuttled across the bridge which deeply disappointed Carl and me. However, we lived to tell this story so I guess that is good. We checked into our motel, showered up, hydrated ourselves, and gorged on snacks that Teresa provided. We then headed into town for a good meal. We found a great Cajun/Mexican restaurant called Superior Grill which was packed. They were able to quickly squeeze us in and we had a huge meal. Kevin and Teresa had fish tacos, Carl had a shrimp quesdillia with beans & rice, and I had the Superior Mexican Platter. We also ate about 5 lbs of chips and salsa which was washed down by a few margaritas and Modelos. It was a hopping place and we had a great meal. We then headed back to the motel to settle in, plot out tomorrow's route, and crash.
Kevin gets gold stars for his Sherpa role today as all he did was drive all over the place in the van with the dog. He was not able to turn the cranks at all today. I know it must have been frustrating for me. He said he was anxious about our safety with all of the bad bridges and traffic. This was probably good as I am sure he was sore and tired from the whooping Carl and I put on him yesterday.
Good night!
Weather: Overcast and warm all day with a good 5-10 mph wind at our back all day - the Smit's are good luck! There was a rain cloud just ahead of us most of the day and but we never had any rain. It was very comfortable riding today.
Performance Metrics:
Miles: 54 Trip: 2,133
Total travel time: 6:30 Trip: 219:30
Bike Riding time: 3:44 Trip: 171:11
Avg speed: 14.32 Trip: 12.69
Max speed: 26.99 Trip: 41.87
Total ascent (ft): 174 Trip: 51,099
Avg pedal RPMs: 84 Trip: 86
Avg heart rate: 94 Trip: 111
Max heart rate: 132 Trip: 195
Calories burned: 3,382 Trip: 125,400
Weather Statistics:
High temp 77 Trip: 77
Low temp: 64 Trip: 28
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 13.30
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 3
Wind factor: favorable
Total good wind days: 11
Total bad wind days: 18
Misc. Stats:
Flat tires: 0 trip: 8
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel - Vel Rose
Total hotel nights: 27
Total camping nights: 2
Cups of coffee: 2 Trip: 93
Pints: 3 Trip: 49 - plus 2 bonus margaritas
Mood rating (1-10): 10 - I really enjoyed the day even though the Mississippi river beat me today! Kevin, Teresa, and Carl were a lot of fun and we did move east.
We were up, packed, and at The Palace Cafe for breakfast by 7:20. This is the same place we had dinner last night. They had the best Community brand coffee to go along with a great breakfast. Kevin, Teresa, and I had sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits and Carl had a plain biscuit and hash browns. I also had a double stack of pancakes to ensure the tank was full. All of our food was excellent. We plotted our route to take a ferry over the mighty Mississippi and end up in St Francisville. Kevin lost the coin toss to Teresa and agreed to be the Sherpa today. His plan was to drive up to the ferry, drop the van, and then ride back to us to join the party. Teresa, Carl, and I started rolling at around 8:15 in perfect riding weather. There were no shoulders leaving Olpelousas but it opened up once we got on Rt 190 heading toward Baton Rouge. Carl (feeling spunky without all of his packs) jumped out front and did most of the pulling in the morning. Eventually, Teresa took over the "pull" position and led the way for the rest of the day. She is a very strong and consistent rider, unlike her husband. Shortly after leaving the Opelousas city limits, a car passed us, waived hi, and then pulled over to talk with us. At first, I was not sure what was going on. It was Gordy Heitzman who is a biker and wanted to know where we were going. He is from Minnesota but is temporarily working on a local FEMA project. He is also a regular in the Iowa RAGBRAI event which Kevin, Teresa, and Carl have all done multiple times. After exchanging web and email info, we rode on. Then we spotted a cajun night club called Bada's Bar which had a sign that said "Biker's Welcome". We wondered if they ment motorcyclists or cyclists. We met the owner, used his facilities, and got the grand tour of his bar including his huge rear deck on the bayou. Off we rolled again with Teresa pulling and the wind at our back. We stopped for lunch at a place called Lottie for some good home cooking. Kevin was supposed to meet us there on his bike but instead arrived in the van. It turned out that all of the ferrys were shut down today and there was no way to cross the mighty Mississippi river by boat. During lunch, we had to recast our plans for the day. The lunch was good as Kevin and Teresa shared a big shrimp po-boy, Carl had a grilled cheese with pickles, and I had a Shrimp sandwich with pretzels. Sherpa Kevin also provided a chocolate milk to me from the support van to help with my recovery. We decided to change course and set sail for Baton Rouge instead of going north. We agreed to stay on Rt 190 which had a good shoulder but was full of garbage and had heavy traffic. Kevin drove toward Baton Rouge to scout out the road and to find us a cheap motel. We rolled on and continued to maintain a great (14-15 mph) pace. Then Kevin called and said there was a 4 mile bridge over a big swamp that had no shoulder and would be a problem for us. He drove back to meet us and the plan was for him to ride behind us with the van with his flashers on for protection. We felt very special with this "escort" service and were glad to reach the other side. Then Kevin raced on to Baton Rouge for a hotel. After 4 miles, we stopped at a gas station for a bio break. As we were mounting our bikes, we spotted another cross-country biker and flagged him down. His name was Tom and he was riding west to San Diego solo. He is riding to raise money for MS. His web site is http://myspacetimebicycle.blogspotcom. I advised him to get better tires and liners to protect against the goat heads in New Mexico and Arizona. After a few pictures and chit chat, we rolled on again. We saw numerous farms, some donkeys, and also some sugar cane fields. One sugar cane field was on fire! There was also miles and miles of road work where they were clearing lots of big trees out of the swamps for a road expansion project. We also saw miles of cool swamps and lots of wind damage from recent hurricanes. Then we called Kevin for an update and he informed us of good news and bad news. The good news was that he found a cheap motel that it was a step above the dirtbag lodging we had last night. The bad news was that he did not recommend crossing the Mississippi river bridge due to heavy traffic and zero shoulders. For the day, we tried to cross the river by 2 ferrys and then by bridge. Eventually, we finally submitted and threw in the towel. We loaded our bikes into the van and got shuttled across the bridge which deeply disappointed Carl and me. However, we lived to tell this story so I guess that is good. We checked into our motel, showered up, hydrated ourselves, and gorged on snacks that Teresa provided. We then headed into town for a good meal. We found a great Cajun/Mexican restaurant called Superior Grill which was packed. They were able to quickly squeeze us in and we had a huge meal. Kevin and Teresa had fish tacos, Carl had a shrimp quesdillia with beans & rice, and I had the Superior Mexican Platter. We also ate about 5 lbs of chips and salsa which was washed down by a few margaritas and Modelos. It was a hopping place and we had a great meal. We then headed back to the motel to settle in, plot out tomorrow's route, and crash.
Kevin gets gold stars for his Sherpa role today as all he did was drive all over the place in the van with the dog. He was not able to turn the cranks at all today. I know it must have been frustrating for me. He said he was anxious about our safety with all of the bad bridges and traffic. This was probably good as I am sure he was sore and tired from the whooping Carl and I put on him yesterday.
Good night!
Weather: Overcast and warm all day with a good 5-10 mph wind at our back all day - the Smit's are good luck! There was a rain cloud just ahead of us most of the day and but we never had any rain. It was very comfortable riding today.
Performance Metrics:
Miles: 54 Trip: 2,133
Total travel time: 6:30 Trip: 219:30
Bike Riding time: 3:44 Trip: 171:11
Avg speed: 14.32 Trip: 12.69
Max speed: 26.99 Trip: 41.87
Total ascent (ft): 174 Trip: 51,099
Avg pedal RPMs: 84 Trip: 86
Avg heart rate: 94 Trip: 111
Max heart rate: 132 Trip: 195
Calories burned: 3,382 Trip: 125,400
Weather Statistics:
High temp 77 Trip: 77
Low temp: 64 Trip: 28
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 13.30
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 3
Wind factor: favorable
Total good wind days: 11
Total bad wind days: 18
Misc. Stats:
Flat tires: 0 trip: 8
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel - Vel Rose
Total hotel nights: 27
Total camping nights: 2
Cups of coffee: 2 Trip: 93
Pints: 3 Trip: 49 - plus 2 bonus margaritas
Mood rating (1-10): 10 - I really enjoyed the day even though the Mississippi river beat me today! Kevin, Teresa, and Carl were a lot of fun and we did move east.
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