New Orleans to Baton Rouge

We had been hearing rumors all week about today's mileage. We even heard a rumor of 63. And another rumor of 110. Turns out 63 is the number of miles via highway. 110 on the other hand was the bike route. Marcus and I were sweep, meaning we were in charge of being the last two riders as well as carrying the med kit and spare tire. The day got off to an early start, with a 4:30 am wake up. But, in true B&B fashion it was 6:30, not 6:00 by the time we were all on the road. Before mile 10 Marcus and I had stopped twice for riders with flat tires and once for a train. After having spent more than an hour and a half trying to make it out of the city and on to the Mississippi river trail we finally made it. I have a special place in my heart for bike paths and trails and this one was no exception. 30 miles of no traffic and beautiful river scenery to look at really is a treat. We made it in to first lunch around mile 45 and we're delighted to find that someone had saved us each 2 pieces of "sweep"-za (pizza for sweep). Yesterday, due to the length of mileage fell under the B&B 90-90 rule. Over 90 degrees or 90 miles means we get two lunches. After first lunch is when things started to get dicey. We learned just before leaving that there was a route change due to new construction ahead. We made the detour just fine, but about 10 miles after leaving lunch saw lightening and heard thunder. Unfortunately we were on a pretty high traffic road with nothing but trees in sight. We decided to press on and look for any type of shelter. It began raining and we came upon Maggie and Jay. Jay was fixing a flat so we stopped. Thats when it really started to pour. More lightening and thunder followed and our sense of urgency in finding shelter increased. We had to slow our pace because visibility was very low, but about 2 miles later we saw a sign for a visitors center. We immediately proceeded there, and found 4 other riders there as well. As far as places to get stranded it was a pretty good one. Lots of picnic tables (which I took an awesome 2 hr nap on) and even indoor restrooms, and the best part is lots of space to keep us and the bikes under. Every time we thought it was safe to prepare to venture out we would see another strike of lightening. All in all we were stopped for about 2.5 hrs. When we finally headed back out it was after 3 and we hadn't even hit mile 60. Marcus and I kicked it into gear and were hauling at about 20 mph. We stopped once more for thunder and lightening and by the time we made it to second "lunch" it was 5:45. After cramming in two PBJ sandwiches (which after 12 hours of biking is not appealing, nor is a 5th package of trail mix) we headed out, figuring from our cue sheet that the detour had added about 5 miles, which would mean we had about 30 to go to reach the host. The going was a bit slower as neither Marcus nor I seemed to have a positive stomach reaction to the lack of real food so far that day. The sun started to set in what was a beautiful array of colors in the sky. But it also meant we were running out of daylight. We made a quick stop to see the live tiger on LSU campus and received a call from our leader Ben saying he was leaving with the van to start picking riders up because it was too dark to be riding. I told Marcus that Ben would have to fight me before I got in that van. So knowing we had less than 3 miles left we hauled ass. Marcus' tail light had died so I let him go ahead so we would be more visible to cars coming from behind. The last few miles we rode around 23-24 mph. I'm not sure I've ever been so pleased with myself or in such high spirits pulling into a host. It was about 8:45 when we finally made it. My odometer read 118.5 and I felt like I got hit by a train. But I was ecstatic and a little delirious and more than a little smelly. But I was much better after dinner and a shower. We made it out to a beautiful roof top bar where I spent 20 minutes crushing a water, and I do very much mean water, and then headed back to pass out on my sleeping bag.

Today we worked with an organization called Rebuilding Together. The services they typically provide are ones to help keep elderly homeowners in their homes. However, because it was raining we helped paint the inside of the St. Vincent de Paul food kitchen that often provides meals to elderly people with low fixed incomes. The work was short and the help plentiful so we were finished by 2 which left time for a short run ( And boy, am I out of shape) as well as a nice long shower, nap and the writing of this blog post.