Skip to main content

Day 43- Franklinton LA

 Sleeping at Perry’s bike hostel was pretty magical. Frogs and peepers, leaves falling, and acorns hitting the metal outbuilding roofs and sounding like gunshots. I slept until about 1 AM and could not get back to sleep. It stayed 1 AM for a really long time because at 2 AM we turned the clocks back. Sleep did come eventually.

We intended to head out as a group for our 73 miles today, but fate slapped the tandem riders again. Their electronic shifting stopped working and the bike would not charge. This meant they’d have one gear for the entire ride. Not great on a Sunday morning. They did find a place a bike store that was open in the afternoon in Baton Rouge and headed out. 


Sue and I headed out for the first 20 miles. I didn’t take many pictures as the scenery was mostly open fields or thick woods. The day got warm quickly and by lunchtime it was 83°. Outside our lunch stop the zinnias were growing as if it was July.

We are seeing more water but no gators so far. I’m a little disappointed. Maybe as we move east? Also fewer cows today, but the ones I did see were amusing. 


What was also amusing was the scene set up in a field Santa watching over a flock of sheep and waiting for the Resurrection.  I don’t remember that story from  the Bible but maybe I missed it.

Our route took us up and down and up and down all day. I think my legs have forgotten how to climb. By the last 10 miles we decided we were hot and tired enough for a beer. The Sunny Hill Grocery and Grub had no craft beer which is my favorite, but a Budweiser did the trick. I may have to drop drop my beer snobbery.

Tonight we are sleeping in a field behind the Franklinton police department. They have been very accommodating and we’re anticipating a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is our last day of this 12 day stretch. I think we’re all ready for a rest.

Things I learned today:

  • Herrs Hot Sauce potato chips make a great mid morning snack


  • Franklinton Louisiana, population 3581 is the home of the worlds largest free fair. Between 20 and 50,000 people attend this week long event each year.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 7, 2022 at 3:46 AM

    I loved the picture of the Christmas decorations. Debbie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1- Ocean Beach to Alpine

 Day 1 is in the books! Great day that started at Dog  Beach and a back wheel dip in the Pacific. Tad, Kathy, and Charlotte met me down there. It was great to see them as we headed out. The ride was flat for the first 25 miles or so, but hot! Temps were in the 90s with blazing sun and clear blue skies. We separated out early into smaller groups. I found good peddling with Sue and Ann. We also crossed paths with Adam and Kelly, the tandem riders. Our route took us to through Mission Gorge regional park which was absolutely gorgeous. A nice pass that cut through the mountains and made it possible for us to miss an incredible climb. No worries; there are plenty more ahead of us. At 30 miles we made sure we were fully loaded with water and electrolytes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever consumed this much fluid in a single day. Then the climb began. On the map it looked evil, almost straight up. In reality it was less steep than it was long. It was 6 miles at about three or 4% grade. It d...
7 comments
Read more

Day 53- Perry FL

 We had a very windy night which made for a great sleeping. I set an alarm for 1:00 AM so I could see the Artemis unmanned moon rocket launch, but when I got up I found it had been pushed back and well, 70 miles, so I chose sleep over history. It was gray when we got up, and gray as we headed out. And chilly! I wished I’d opted for leggings over my shorts but was happy to have gloves. Small victories.The temp said it was almost 60 – my body threw the BS flag. I was cold all day. Not much to say about this ride. We had a 20 mile bike path that took us off route 98 for a while. We met another Bike traveler named Tony who had been on the road since June 26.  He started in Connecticut and rode to Indianapolis, then back towards Pittsburgh where he rode the trails to DC. He then went to Key West and is now on his way to New Orleans. We asked questions about his gear (there wasn’t much!) and traded a few stories and wished each other well. We got off the trail and crossed the St Mar...
3 comments
Read more

Day 46- Gautier MS

It was a perfect day for an 80 mile ride. We got up really early, planning to get on the road quickly since it was going to be dark by five and we had so far to go. This was no mean feet for me as sleep was hard to come by last night. My bladder woke me at one and four, at which time I was treated to Matt singing the song of his people. And I didn’t need my alarm because the water dripping from the condensation On my tent onto my face was hard to sleep through. Kelly and Adam were on the road by 615. We followed far behind, rolling out an hour later. The roads were awesome right from the beginning. Great pavement and low traffic throughout. Mississippi offered up some treats and some oddities. The first was as we headed into McHenry. On a one and a half mile stretch of road, I counted eight old fire hydrants. And hardly any houses. This roused my curiosity. I passed a man walking a dog and asked him about it. He looked exactly like I expected a rural Mississippian to look, except the d...
1 comment
Read more