Day 43: Bogalusa, Louisiana to Wiggins, Mississippi

Day 43: Bogalusa, Louisiana to Wiggins, Mississippi
Miles: 60.26 ------------ Total Mileage 2,446.23
Theme: Outrunning a Thunder Storm

We were told last night at the map meeting that the weather for todays ride wasn't looking so good. They said we would most likely be starting out in the rain and the hope was to get in before the thunderstorms began (usually in the early afternoon).

Lise and I shared a room last night - and because she and Nancy had a run in with a dog yesterday, she asked if it would be okay is she and Nancy rode with Tex and me. Needless to say we were pleased that they would want to ride with us! Lise had some good road rash from her fall, but our wound specialist - Katherine dressed it again this morning. All is looking good - on the wound front. Lise was having trouble with the bandage staying on, but she is happier now that she has some Duct Tape holding everything together (much to Katherine's dismay!).

Breakfast was ready at 7:00, and lo and behold - no rain. Well it had rained some during the night, but no rain as we ate Linda's breakfast. The clouds were moving very rapidly and the branches at the top of the trees were being whipped around from the wind, but all seemed good. Once we finished breakfast and packed our snacks, off we rode. Within the first few minutes three cars (going in the opposite direction that we were) had an accident. Fortunately other than extremely dented cars, no one was hurt. Once we got out of the town of Bogalusa the scenery was once again quite lush and beautiful. The terrain was mainly rolling hills, so the cycling was pleasant. Within about 5 miles or so - we came to the Mississippi state line. We are rapidly ticking off the states now that we are through Texas. Of course crossing a state line means a margarita party tonight!

Lisa - Young Pup was driving the sag today. Everyone was riding well. We were all hyper alert for dogs today, but for the most part we didn't have any problems this morning. Once I stopped because a little dog wouldn't stop coming at us, but other than that I don't recall too many other issues with dogs today! Our main goal for the day was to try to beat the thunderstorms. The clouds were quite black and the air was thick - so everyone was strictly business as they were riding today. It's all about getting in before we get thunder and lightening. There are some tornado warnings in the area as well. As we were approaching mile 17 - all of a sudden Young Pup was there with the Sag. A little earlier than usual, but what the heck. We quickly learned that she was there because - yes you guessed it, there was road work on our route and we had to find an alternative. Needless to say - there was a collective groan.

Lisa had called Carol and Linda who had just finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes and had put away the snacks, but they were still back at the hotel parking lot. Lisa told them of a possible alternative - but they needed to make sure it was fine before we were okayed to go ahead. They told Lisa to take the sag and check out an alternative route. Lisa left us with a box of donuts that the hotel owner had bought for us that morning. That brought smiles to some faces! Mainly however we all stood around, looking at the scenery, checking out the lone grave across the way, watching the donkeys in the distance chase one another, and worrying about the weather. Lisa got back and said she thought she found a route but had to call Linda and Carol before we were cleared to go ahead. We were all waiting to pedal off when she said "You might as well settle down as you can't go anywhere - Linda and Carol need to check it out more." There were some very unhappy campers! There was talk about just going ahead anyway - but eventually everyone settled down and we waited. Some played games, others talked, and some did some Yoga.

The winds definitely picked up and the skies were getting darker the longer we waited. In the end - once again the detour delay cost us about an hour. On a day when you are trying to out run (or in our case out pedal) the weather, an hour can seem like an awfully long time! Finally the sag phone rang and Lisa took down the directions of our new route. Everyone gathered around the Subaru with their pens and papers and took down the new directions. We were relieved to be going again. The good news was that even though we lost an hour, our new route didn't add distance to our ride today!

Off we all rode - happy to be moving again. It did take a mile or so though to get the lactic acid out of the legs again. We had to ride on a fairly busy road but I have to say the Mississippi drivers were extremely courteous and often held back until they knew it was clear ahead. I wish all drivers were this considerate! Tex continued to lead our foursome - and we were holding a good pace. It didn't take long before we came to the sag (20 miles past our unexpected hour rest). As we were coming up to the Sag I felt a couple of raindrops. Tex, Nancy and I decided to put on our rain jackets. We got a few snacks to eat and then headed down the road without further delay.

Victoria was just behind us and so I went up the Nancy, Lise and Tex and said "What do you think of slowing up a bit so Victoria can ride with us?" Everyone was 100% behind that idea as today was not a day to ride alone - given the weather conditions. As so the "Royal Court" was back with a couple new additions! Within about 5 minutes we stopped as those of us who put on a rain jacket were getting more wet from our own sweat under the rain jacket than we would get even if it rained. Off went the jackets and on we went. We had a few rain drops but not enough to wet your whistle! As we rode we had fun singing songs, making up new lyrics to old songs etc. Nancy and I came up with a hybrid of the shows Survivor and Amazing Race that would done on bikes. We might have to pitch the idea to the Hollywood Gang when we finish the ride!

Before we knew it we only had 10 miles left, then 5 miles. We ended up reaching the hotel shortly before 1:00. For the most part we stayed dry - and the storm is suppose to hit tonight and be done before we head out in the morning. Once again we have been very fortunate! We will eat at a Mexican restaurant just across from the hotel as it is too windy for Linda to cook in the trailer. But we will have margaritas in the hotel before we go for dinner.

We ended up calling our group of riders - Team Wolf today. Victoria has picked up the nickname Lone Wolf as she often rides by herself. Team Wolf rode together well and we all are in safe and sound --- and we did beat the storm. Can't ask for much more than that --- other than margaritas!