Swamps, moss covered trees and our very own police escort down the ten and we find ourselves in the big easy. We left Chad’s place with a vague recollection of what bike riding was and made our way through Houston actually enjoying the cool winding bike paths that carved out the hill alongside the Bayou (small little river). We went through some rough parts of town and down long dust filled big rig ridden roads. We came out of Houston and settled down in Liberty Texas, found a park cooked up some dinner and slept under a playground of a park. After being harassed by some raccoons and hooligans we woke up and started our way toward Orange Texas where this nice lady named Jane bought us some sandwiches and drinks and we got our final taste of Texan hospitality as we took on some night riding into our first century of the trip ( a hundred miles). We landed just on the other side of the Texan/Louisiana border and I bought the guys some waffles for completing their first 100 mile ride. Waffle HOUSE!! We then crept behind the hotel next door and fell asleep in some bushes. The sprinklers gave us a nice wake up call at 3 in the morning and we moved into the dirt and slept in pretty late. After so many nights of just trying to get undisturbed sleep after a long day of testing your body, you are humbled by the small things in life you take for granted. Not many people give a second thought to where they are able to sleep that night or where they are going to get basic essentials like water; every single day is a constant test in finding these things. A lot of places refuse to give you ice and water on a scorching hot day, some people are so used to being manipulated and turned off to the concept of generally honest people that they won’t let you in their bathrooms or even give you nasty tasting sink water. Baton Rouge was a prime example of this, but to contrary belief of people in this world, the majority of people we have encountered have been extremely kind and welcoming.
Anyways, rants aside we set out the next day pretty late, but satisfied with the distance we had covered. The guys and I roll out and end up doing some more night riding to get another 100 miles as we lay just outside of Lafayette, but along the way we had more encounters with people just bewildered with our little endeavor. Jared and I struck up some conversations at a gas station as we were filling up water and end up with 47 dollars from people that just want to help contribute something to our adventure. We tried to convince them there are more deserving people of the money and that we don’t really need it all that much, but they insisted. It is incredible how serendipitous some of our encounters are; not a moment later and we would of never of met these people, would of never of even glanced at them, but a seemingly insignificant moment allows us to have some breathing room in our budget and allowed us to splurge on some good food in New Orleans.
The next day we cover about 85 miles, the first 25 miles were on the ten over this massive swamp, you would look out from the bridge you were riding on and see endless bodies of water with scattered trees with moss hanging from the branches and then before you can take in the immensity of it all I turn around to see flashing blue lights on the shoulder about a mile back. I ride back to see Derek and Jared sitting there and this state trooper in the car trying to figure out what to do. We were 25 miles to Baton Rouge and 25 miles back is the closest exit. We can’t turn around so he gave us the option of getting tickets and our bikes impounded or a police escort off the highway to the nearest exit and directions into the city; we chose the latter, in case it wasn’t obvious. We take a 10 mile detour through the country and evade citations, but were warned to not ride on the 10 again in Louisiana. Luckily we don’t need to ride on it again until Mississippi. So we take the detour cross the Mississippi river into baton rouge, navigate our way through and sleep behind an abandoned school bus and cement truck in a field. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes and the next day we got into New Orleans. The guys and I strolled the city that night drinking the patented Derek Wicks (Patent pending). I got a bit stumbly and fell asleep after drinking some strange drinks with toy alligators in them and wearing beads that seemed to fall from the sky. So after cruising some incredibly dangerous bridges on bikes, parading around the big easy and soaking in the awesome atmosphere our time in Louisiana comes to a close and tomorrow we take a bridge out of town and roll into Mississippi along the coast. Southern hospitality and the overall jovial nature of everyone we talk to here made the experience memorable and the million close calls and constant desperate praying while riding on some roads makes me thank God every moment I can take a breath in this place. God is great. Next milestone is Pensacola, should be beautiful, hope the weather stays nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment