Day 39: LaFayette to St. Francisville, Louisiana

Day 38: LaFayette to St. Francisville, Louisiana
Miles: 88.59 ------------ Total Mileage 2,225.84
Theme: What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference a day makes. Another long day - we started early as once again we wanted to get in as many miles as we could before the heat of the day. But let me share with you how the start of our ride went. Katherine and Ruth left the hotel first. We had to go left out of the hotel on a really busy road. Ruth went first and then Katherine. Next - Lisa, Tex, Liz and were about to get on the road. Lisa suggested that since we only had about a tenth of a mile to go before we had a left turn, perhaps we should ride on the side walk. Sounded like a good idea to all of us, so we called to Tex, ride on the sidewalk. Just as she started on the sidewalk - a car came up behind Katherine and Ruth. The car slowed down as the road was extremely busy and the driver couldn't pull out and pass them. Unfortunately another car came up suddenly but didn't notice the car ahead was going rather slowly. The second car had to slam on his breaks -- and went up onto the sidewalk. This all happened in a split second - just as we had told Tex to ride on the sidewalk. Tex just turned and looked back at us --- like sure put me out on the sidewalk. I wish I had my camera out because her look was too much! Fortunately no one got hurt, no cars crunched, Katherine and Ruth had no idea anything had happened. Once we got over the shock, we all cracked up everytime we thought of telling Tex to ride on the sidewalk!

We flew down the road today. Tex was feeling much better and Tex, Liz and I were cruising. We quickly got to the first sag and before we knew it we were at the first or two big bridges that we had to go over. Tex was in the lead, followed by me, then Liz. It is an interesting perspective riding a recumbent up a steep bridge - it looks like the rider in front of you is going to ride off into the heavens!

We got up and over the bridge without trouble and on the other side was the Sag. We got water and some snacks and headed off to the next bridge. Now this next bridge was 3.5 miles long with no shoulder - so we had to be escorted across. Because we were in the first group of the day the WomanTour Van and Trailer was our escort. Carol asked me to ride in the front with Alice (my recumbent sister), following us were Nancy and Liz, Lise and Tex, and then the Young Pup - followed by the van and trailer with it's flashers going.

Even with an escort to block traffic, the cars and trucks still whizzed by on my left side - and it was a bit intimidating. After a bit though I noticed that no more cars and trucks were coming. Liz mentioned something about a wide load back. I looked in my mirror and saw that indeed there was a truck hauling a very wide load. Because it was so wide, it couldn't pass the van, so in effect the entire road was blocked and we no longer had any cars passing us. We went as fast as we could - but I am sure the cars behind the wide load weren't too pleased to be going 15 miles an hour. Oh well, we felt safe and got over the bridge without incident! I told Alice this was just practice for our last day in Florida when we actually get a police escort in to our final destination!

And down the road we cycled - with big grins on our faces. Young pup was off and running - and the rest of us continued on at our own pace. Like yesterday the terrain today was pretty flat, but unlike yesterday we didn't have to contend with the wind. What a relief that was. We were suppose to hit the next sag at around mile 60, but because those of us in the front were so far ahead of those at the end (we were all very spread out on the ride today) we weren't sure that the sag would be able to get in front of us. At mile 60 we called the Sag and said not to worry about us, we would stop for lunch at a place called: "Not Your Mama's Cafe." It was suppose to have good regional food. It was on the route, so it should be easy to find --- or so we thought.

We got to the town of Morganza and turned right and went for a bit - but didn't see it. There was a small store with a deli, but nothing called "Not Your Mama's Cafe. We went a bit further, still nothing. We checked the directions again and realized that the restaurant was a left turn, not a right. Oh well - we decided to go on rahter than bactrack for lunch. We could get something more substantial to eat later. Our only concern was making sure we had enough water and that Katherine (our Sag driver for the afternoon) wasn't worried about us. We tried to call her - but no cell signal. We decided to go on and try to call her again a few miles down the road. But before we could, she passed us. Young Pup had not had a Sag stop since mile 20 and really needed some food and water. Katherine had a call from Young Pup and was on her way to get food and water to her. So it all worked out and we caught up with the two of them (The Sag and Young Pup) just about 5 minutes up the road.

We had to take a ferry at around mile 80 to go over to St. Francisville. So once again, we got back on our bikes and pedaled away. The ferry runs all day at 15 minutes before and after the hour. At one point I looked down at my clock and thought maybe we could make the 1:15 ferry - if we really pushed it. I mentioned this to Tex and she was game, so I decided to catch up to Lisa (Young Pup) and see if she was game. She saw me coming zooming up - and the race was on! Pup was amazed at my speed and said "You've really been holding back." I just smiled. We raced to the Ferry and literally made it just in time. As I walked on, I looked back and saw Tex - now we just needed Liz. And up she popped over the hill. We were all on, the gate was closed and off we went.

It felt so fun to just go all out, full speed ahead. There is nothing better than going all out - such a sense of freedom and power. We all were flying high as we rode the fairy across the Mississippi! One of the guys who works on the ferry took a photo of the four of us. We were quite proud of our accomplishment!

On the other side we rode into St. Francisville. What a charming little town. Liz was staying at the St. Francisville Inn - right in town. Lisa, Tex and I still had about 3 miles to ride to the Butler Greenwood B&B. We decided however to get a bite to eat before finishing up for the day. There was a restaurant called the 8 Sisters - and so we went there. Lots of good food on the menu but the thing that caught the eye of 3 of us was the Bread Pudding. It was good! I figured that would tide me over until dinner. We parted ways with Liz (Eva, Marge and Katherine will also be staying at the Inn - while the rest of us will be at the B&B) and rode on to the Butler Greenwood B&B. What an amazing place. But I am going to have to wait to tell you about that tomorrow. It is late and we have had 3 long days in a row. Tomorrow is a rest day --- so I will fill in more details then. It has been a fabulous day. What a difference a day can make -- yesterday was long and hard in part because of the wind. Today was long and a great riding, no wind, and lots of laughs!