Sunday, May 6, 2012

May 6, 2012. Port Allen to New Roads, LA. 36 miles.


Here are Carolyn and Pat,both from Vermont, but I think they did not know each other before this tour. Carolyn rode her first century ride yesterday, and Pat (on the right) finished the ride as well. Although it was not her first century, she had only ridden her bike 100 miles TOTAL this year before this trip. It's hard to train in Vermont with all the snow...

Luggage was all loaded by 8 AM, and that's when we left. Cheryl, from California, was our SAG driver today. She is a quilter when she is not cycling around the country.


The levee was on our right today as we pedaled north. In a few places there were cattle grazing on the levee. It makes sense to me, rather than mowing the grass!  I stopped at 9:10 to call my riding buddies in Michigan and thank them for forcing me to ride harder than I would have on my own.... but I forgot about the time change, and instead of catching them at breakfast they were riding... I laugh when Fred checks his average speed after every ride, but I was very pleased to see that I averaged 14.3 MPH on the century ride yesterday and had to give them the credit!
We were on the same road just about all day. It was smoothly paved, but with no shoulder. Right after my phone call this monster farm equipment came past taking up the whole width of the road. For the most part people were considerate of our safety. Dianne, Marni and I rode together all day.


As we were coming into New Roads we saw "Ma Mama's kitchen", and choses that for our lunch stop. It was great! I had gumbo and iced tea, as did Dianne. Marni had lobster bisque and crawfish risotto.


Before we were done the rest of the cyclists started coming in. Jane got a very warm welcome!


There were several gigantic cakes in the dessert case and we duscussed having a slice. An Elvis impersonator showed us the huge slices that people at his table had in to-go boxes, but we decided not to indulge. We had to get back on the bikes after all...

It was just a short ride to the hotel, and we were able to check in early. Now it's cooldown time. I am having issues with the heat and humidity... When done riding I spend the rest of the day in air conditioned comfort, except for dinner, which is always outside, but it is usually cooler by then.

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