Day 25: St. Francisville to Franklinton, LA

Distance: 84 mi (135 km)
Cumulative Distance: 2,238 mi (3,601 m)
Average Speed: 16.7 mph (26.9 kph)
Climb: 3,895 ft (1,187 m)
Cumulative Climb: 114,362 ft (34,858 m
Flats: 1
Cumulative Flats: 14

There are not a lot of pictures today, so we are dedicating today’s message to the many wonderful people we have met on our trip. We have had help from countless people and virtually everyone has been friendly. America is made up of millions of wonderful people.

Two nights ago Hope, the desk clerk at our Best Western, helped us out in many ways, including doing three loads of laundry, with a little help from us, in the hotel’s commercial machines, because there was no guest laundry facilities.

When we got to St Francisville, LA yesterday the road our hotel was located on was under serious construction, making it all but impossible to get to on bikes. A local police officer came up as we were figuring out what to do, and ended up giving us a police escort through the side streets of town to get us to the motel.

Last night we went out to the rustic Magnolia Café in St. Francisville. It is a mile or two from the Mississippi River and seats about 10 in its small bar and maybe 20 in the inside restaurant, but has large screened porches and open air patios. A local Bluegrass band, Trouvere, which means musicians with day jobs in Cajun French, was playing on the largest screened porch. This caused the night’s crowd to greatly exceed 100. Everyone was friendly and having fun listening to Trouvere’s lyrics, like “Fireworks and cold beer, Americas a great place to live.”

The land we traveled today was dryer and hillier than we expected for Louisiana, and we did not get many pictures. The blooming azaleas continue to be the scenic highlight. These are lining the main street in Jackson, LA.

Day 24: Ville Platte to St. Francisville, LA

Distance: 122 mi (197 km)
Cumulative Distance: 2,154 mi (3,466 m)
Average Speed: 16.1 mph (25.9 kph)
Climb: 3,072 ft (936 m)
Cumulative Climb: 110,467 ft (33,670 m)
Flats: 0
Cumulative Flats: 13

We rode on flatlands in rural Louisiana. We saw many small dwellings, many just single-wide mobile homes on cement blocks, most with a collection of decrepit vehicles and farm implements scattered about. The most common feature was DOGS. They all had dogs; some penned in the yard, some on leash and quite a few running free. We got barked at a lot by big dogs, yapped at a lot by little dogs, but didn’t get nipped. The dogs seemed to be very possessive of their territory, stopping at the property line, in most cases, with the assumption that they had successfully defended their territory.

We new met another group today, Ernie from Hamilton, ON, Ben from Bristol, CT(?), Jennifer from Seguin, WA, Karen from Redwood City, CA and Bill from Estero, FL all doing the ACA (Adventure Cycling Assn) tour from west to east as we are. We also met Dennis Dorman, a Sunrise Beach Club Rotarian from Lake of the Ozarks, MO (that’s Missouri for the uninitiated). He too is doing the ACA west to east and is soliciting support for the Rotary International campaign to eradicate polio. He did a bit of a mini-interview with each of us and said it would be on his website (blog?) which is www.ride4polio.com. He had left San Diego on 1 March (with a break for Easter) so considered us to be “hammering” the route.

Today we crossed two big rivers; the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi, above.

The Atchafalaya is big and the Mississippi is, of course, huge. The A crossing was on a large bridge, our biggest hill of the day, and the M by ferry. We timed our M arrival perfectly - rode right onto the ferry and disembarked on the eastern shore about two miles from our destination, St. Francisville. The town was founded in 1785 by a group of Capuchin friars on land granted by the King of Spain. A monastery was built, destroyed by fire shortly thereafter, but the village that grew up took the name bestowed by the Capuchins in honour of St. Francis of Assisi.

The roads today were windy and of varied surface; some was very smooth and some was bone shaking. Winds again mostly adverse, but because of the many direction changes, we did have some tail winds for a while.

Our group is doing very well together. We seem to be like minded in our approach to the ride, not having even minor disagreements on distances to go, speeds or stops. We’ve settled into a routine of switching drivers every ¼ or 1/8 of the days ride depending on the overall length. On the long ones, the chance to rest your bones for a few miles is always welcomed.

Day 23: Kirbyville, TX to Ville Platte, LA

Goodbye Texas, Hello Louisiana

Distance: 119.4 mi (192.2 km)
Cumulative Distance: 2,031 mi (3,269 km)Average Speed: 15.6 mph (25.1 kph)
Climb: 4,765 ft (1,452 m)
Cumulative Climb: 107,395 ft (32,734 m)
Flats: 2
Cumulative Flats: 13

After some heavy rain last night, the day started out dry but damp. Within about an hour, we passed into Louisiana. The sun came out, and the remainder of the day was beautiful. The terrain was hilly for the first 60 miles and then flattened out again. The roads in Louisiana were rough, but not down to Texas standards. The shoulders were rough and scattered with debris which greatly contributed to two flat tires we had today (Dave & Keith).

The wind was strong in our face all day and made the 119 miles testier then we had hoped. We have now passed the 2,000 mile mark and are well on our way to an early arrival in St Augustine. We finished the day in the heart of Cajun country and are looking forward to some fine Cajun cuisine for dinner tonight!

The scenery was not particularly picturesque so the photos today focus on road conditions, tire repair, and Dave’s modified bike seat - it seems that the expensive new saddle he purchased in Austin has not solved his painful derriere problem.

Also included in the photos is another artful nature picture taken by Gaby.

Day 22: Shepherd to Kirbyville, TX

Distance: 92.1 mi (148.2 km)
Cumulative Distance: 1,912 mi (3,077 km)
Average Speed: 16.6 mph (26.7 kph)
Climb: 3,254 ft (992 m)
Cumulative Climb: 102,630 ft (31,282 m)
Flats: 0
Cumulative Flats: 11

We had a pleasant last day in Texas. The roads were generally good, the terrain flat, and the winds mild, though in our face for almost all of the 92 mile ride. We went through the pine forests north of Beaumont on long straight roads lined with trees.

The main industry here is logging and we saw dozens of logging trucks going in every direction during the day. Many areas along our route had been clear cut.

Gaby picked a nice shady lunch spot along busy US 96. We could smell a paper mill in the distance during our lunch.

As we get closer to the bayous, the flowers change. We saw our first azaleas, which are in bloom, just like at Augusta.

Day 21: Navasota to Shepherd, TX

Distance: 76.8 mi (123.7 km)
Cumulative Distance: 1,820 (2,929 km)
Average Speed: 15.4 mph (24.8 kph)
Climb: 4,603 ft (1,403 m)
Cumulative Climb: 99,376 ft (30,290 m)
Flats: 0Cumulative Flats: 11

Today may be called “expectations dashed”, as Lee labeled it. We had expected a fairly easy day with our planned distance of only 75 miles. Turned out that the combination of “the flat lands east of Navasota” (see the first picture), wind in our face and road surface made the day more difficult than anticipated. You know the old adage about not saying anything if you can’t say anything nice - here is what we have to say about the shoulder of almost the entire road today: _____.

The countryside changed from the flowered fields to the Sam Houston National Forest, what the Texans in these parts call the piney woods.

We mentioned in the blog yesterday that we had met Etienne from the northeast of France. We rode a short distance with him again today, and as yesterday again offered him water and a GU. For those unfamiliar with it, GU is an energy gel, about the consistency of yogurt, that comes in many flavours. One packet, 32 g, has 100 calories; is tasty and effective. According to Dave’s GPS, we are expending somewhere between 2700 and 4800 calories a day each, so we do need the intake. (Justifies the desserts too!)

Day 20: 20 mi E of Austin to Navasota, TX

Distance: 101.7 mi (163.7 km)
Cumulative Distance: 1,743 (2,805 km)
Average Speed: 15.3 mph (24.6 kph)
Climb: 5,548 ft (1,691 m)
Cumulative Climb: 94,773 ft (28,887 m)
Flats: 0
Cumulative Flats: 11

The weather gods continue to be kind to us. The threat of rain today never materialized and a high pressure system looks like it will keep it West of us for several more days. A foggy start soon turned sunny and beautiful with southeast winds being only an occasional problem. It was our last day in the Texas hill country and we can look forward to some flatland riding for quite a few days to come. We won’t miss the hills, but the countryside today was beautiful. Large lush “gentleman” ranches lining the roads with spectacular vistas and with the fields swathed in beautiful blue bonnets and Indian paint brush flowers. Beautiful horses, cattle, and Texas Longhorn steers were inside the manicured fences. It was a wonderful vision of Texas. It almost let us forget another dose we got today of terrible Texas road conditions.

We had a picnic lunch in Round Top in a park with a distinctive German flair as the photo shows.

Along the way we encountered a Frenchman, Etienne, who had biked from Cancun and was now headed along our route to the Mississippi where he was planning on heading North along the river, then East to Richmond, VA and then North to NYC. A six month journey by himself carrying all his gear with him. He mentioned that he had run across many bikers doing the Alaska to Patagonia ride - these people amaze me!

Finally of note to all you “Bubba” people, today we passed Bubba’s group of fourteen riders who had left San Diego on March 14th, ten days ahead of us.

Fur mich war es schon, einige deutsche Worte zu sehen, wie man auf dem Photo sieht. Unser Freund Etienne der von Cancun kam und noch weiss Gott wohin wollte, kann einen nur zum Staunen bringen.

Keith kummert sich um unsere Unterkunft jeden Abend und das ist auch kein einfacher Job. Oft gibt es in diesen kleinen Nestern nur 1 oder 2 Motels und wenn man anruft , meldet sich niemand. Aber Kieth hat es bis jetzt immer geschafft, uns ein Bett zu besorgen. Vielen Dank Keith.

Day 19: Wimberley to Austin, TX

Distance: 63.9 mi (102.9 km)
Cumulative Distance: 1,641 (2,641 km)
Average Speed: 15.9 mph (25.6 kph)
Climb: 2,776 ft (846m)
Cumulative Climb: 89,225 ft (27,196 m)
Flats: 0
Cumulative Flats: 11

We had a new experience on our trip today, RAIN. Thankfully, it misted/rained lightly for our short 64 mile trip to Austin. The benefit was that after almost three weeks in desert conditions, the rain and 93% humidity re-moisturized our dry, chapped skin and lips. On the negative side it makes the roads more slippery and with mid 60 temperatures being wet is not really comfortable. We need to get use to it with rain in the forecast for the next 7 days.

The rain limited our picture taking so we have fewer photos, today. One of the best sights was the ornate Court House we passed in Lockhart, Texas.

We also found a new hazard today, grooved pavement. We went through an area where highway resurfacing is beginning, our butts would dearly have loved a new smooth surface, but we got the first phase of resurfacing instead. The vibration is worse than the very bad roads we had a few days ago. Thankfully, the intermittent grooving accumulated to only a mile or two in total.

In the evening, Dave's 72nd birthday was celebrated with a complimentary crawfish dinner, courtesy of his fellow bikers, at Pappadeux, an excellent Cajun fish restaurant (which Lee missed because he spent a fun afternoon with his brother's family). The birthday celebration was therefore extended to the evening by sharing our best bottle of wine. This meant that Dave had to work late into the night on the blog and on his mapping job. He had been unable to do any work in the afternoon because he was doing a lot of fun and successful shopping in the Austin bike shops!

Day 18: Kerrville to Wimberley, TX

Distance: 86.9 mi (139.8 km)
Cumulative Distance: 1,577 (2,538 km)
Average Speed: 14.8 mph (23.8 kph)
Climb: 5,542 ft (1,689 m)
Cumulative Climb: 86,449 ft (26,350 m)
Flats: 0
Cumulative Flats: 11

We were told about the Texas hill country and we’re in it. Hills, of course, mean up and down. Today we had a net descent of 857 feet but still logged a climb of 5,542 feet. That just means a lot of pumping up those hills. As you know from our blog, we only tabulate the climbs, but for the record, our total descent so far is 85,747, so we should be about 700 feet above sea level. The GPS, from which all this data comes says we’re at 1000 feet, it works out quite closely.

Winds were not favourable today, so on top of the climbing, we were often into wind. Made for a working day.

Last evening at the bike shop we met three ladies on same Southern Tier route as us. They left San Diego on 21 March, had sag support from their husbands for the first several days (over Emory Pass), but are now on their own. They are doing well! The bike shop was a good one; we got new brake pads for Gaby, a new larger seat pouch for Lee, cleat covers for Dave and stocked up on energy supplements.

Today we saw numerous deer. There are fences, about six feet high we estimate, on either side of the road. The deer, in beautiful line astern formation, generally sail over them. However, we saw one buck take a tumble after miscalculating, tangling in the top wire, landing and skidding several feet on his chest before recovering and heading into the woods. Must have hurt!

The country is much more prosperous, touristy, and generally more picturesque than the previous few days. Quite a few pretty streams and, of course, a lot of dry creek beds at the bottom of all those hills.

At Sisterdale we stopped at a winery, no we didn’t do any sampling.

The highlight of our day is our Cabin. Keith has taken over the reservations desk and makes the arrangements for the next day’s accommodation. It sometimes takes some time to find a place that will cater to our needs, and he often has to make several calls and then try and negotiate a reduced price. Today he outdid himself. Our “Cabin” has huge living/dining room, full kitchen and three bedrooms. Gaby won the master suite with its four poster bed and huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. She kindly let Keith soak in the tub (without her).

 

It was the Masters so the guys had to watch a bit.

Desert was one-half glllon of ice cream split four ways - well Gaby didn't really get that much! We had to use styrofoam take out trays from Marco's restuarant where we had had a great meal. Blue Bell Cookie Dough ice even tastes great off styrofoam.