Monday, April 19, 2010

Hiatus

With my friend Mike Tucker, above, unexpectedly so gravely injured and me being 1,000 miles from home, I don't think I can bike safely and would prefer to be around friends and family right now. So I'm taking a break from the MRT for a while. My friend Ben is currently on his way to Natchez, MS to pick me up and I'm looking for ways to head north so he doesn't have to drive all the way down here for us to meet up.

As I've been talking with people over the last day I'm reminded of little anecdotes from the trail that I negleted to mention in my end-of-day wrap ups. I'll share some of those short stories as the week unfolds until a final decision is made on resuming the MRT. I'd like to restart my trip here from Natchez next week, but I won't be able to make that decision for several days.

I'd also really like to express my thanks to the staff here at the Hampton Inn, especially Dominique, who were able to help me out as my situation is so fluid right now.

Thank you all, and please send Mike your best wishes.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Feeling Far Away

This bike beside me and my phone are the only connection with home.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Staying an Extra Day

With Mike in such critical condition, I wanted to stay an extra day in Natchez where I'd have phone service. So two rest days here, I guess.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Mike Made it Through the Night

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102981189744771

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

In Mississippi

Arrived safely Natchez, MS today. Yea, one state done!

Unfortunately got bad news today: a good friend of mine was seriously injured in a climbing accident today. And I just heard this minute that the doctors aren't opimistic. So I don't really feel like blogging tonight.  So just the stats: 41 miles yesterday and 54 today. Weather: hot.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Friday, April 16, 2010

Day 7 - False River

This was posted on day 8.

Got off to a late start today because I couldn't sleep well last night. Funny thing how resting an entire day makes it hard to sleep at night :)

Still got in 78 miles today. 284 overall.

Decided to shortcut the MRT this morning and took route 1 instead of following the the levees around the ox bows of the river. And it was a great choice! With a wide, smooth berm and a strong tail wind I cruised close to or over 20mph for a couple of hours. I'm not deluding myself that I'm a fast bicyclist, because I barely passed a butterfly during that time. Still it was nice to make so many mile in so little time.

Saw a sign for Bayou Goula and laughed cause I thought it sounded like a fog horn: "ba-YOU-gou-la". I included the pic to show the weather I've had for the last week. Gorgeous.

Also saw my second MRT sign on route 1 - which was funny since I wasn't on the MRT at the time. The pic, though, shows on of the later ones. I passed 5 yesterday so they're getting better. Since with today's 5, that make a grand total of 6 signs so far.

Second part of the day was along 77, a curvey road with little or no berm, but beautiful scenery and hardley any traffic. It was really nice.

Like the last bike day, I had another detour, but this was minor in terms of distance, but again had to cross bridges (2 draw bridges, this time) that were closed to bikes - I'm just not sure how closed to bikes they were as one the bridge operators waved to me as I biked across.

I saw my first cemetery where the people where buried under ground - until now it's been in above ground crypts. 

And then a milestone: I crossed I-10! Woo hoo!

Continuing north I came to route 190 and north of 190 the road got narrow and traffic got heavy. Combined with a consistent head wind and just general tiredness by this time in the day, this area was kind of scary. Most trucks stop behind me when they can't pass due to on-coming traffic. Then you can hear their diesel engines kick in as they're finally able to go around me. One truck's driver shouted something at me as he drove by then pulled into the convient store at the end of the street. I could see him get out of the truck and wait for me as I approached.

"Let me buy you a drink" he offered as I approached. (whew, I wasn't in the mood for a fight). Turned out he was real nice. Kieth, was his name. Used to bike all over the area and was out delivering a little west of his usual area. Nice guy.

But the sun was starting to set and didn't want to be biking in the dark again. So I headed out - and on to a much nicer road (thanks, Kieth, for the heads up).

This area is known as False River, a section of the Mississippi (I think) that is now a lake. Reminds me of Chautauqua. That's the last pic.

As I biked, now only 10 miles from my destination I noticed the rear tire was really low. So I pumped it up. And it was really low again in about 5 minutes. So, with the sun going down, I was faced with changing the tire and biking in the dark or pumping it up three or four times and arriving during twilight. I choose the later.

Made it safely to Jim's Campground, which is really an RV park that allows tent camping. Met some nice folks there and was able to shower. Forgot to get a picture there or get the GPS coordinates. So I'll include the fantastic seafood restaurant I'm having lunch at now: 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=30.682754516601562,-91.46340250968933

They've got great cat fish!

Only planning on about 45 miles today, but primative camping tonight, so I'll probably post very little tonight to save battery.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Update Delayed

Sorry, I've got limited battery and signal tonight. Should be better in town tomorrow. So just the nuts and bolts for now:

Biked 78 miles today to just east of New Roads, LA (I can't get an exact fix) and am staying at Jim's Campground.  Can't beat the price, either. For you climbers, it's the Miguel's of RV parks - without the pizza. For you non-climbers, you'll have to ask a climber what that means.

Will have to fix a flat before headed out tomorrow, but don't know what the plans are beyond that, yet.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Posts out of Order, Rest Day, Stats

Had to fix yesterday's "Part 2". If I change the time, I loose the pics. So they're listed out of order. Sorry.

I'm pretty tired today and my feet hurt, so it'll be a rest day today.

Overall Stats
Distance: 205 miles
Days: 5 (4 bike, 1 rest)
Average: 41 miles/day

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Diversions and Detours - Part 2

As I followed the MRT north the traffic was supposed to get heavy once the levee trail ended. But it didn't.

And soon the reason became apparent. The road was closed due to a chemical spilll. The sherrif stopping traffic could have cared less. He said it could be closed a few hours, all day or a couple of days. He had no suggestions for alternate routes. In this area, there's sort of a low swampy area between the lake and the river and there are 3 roads across it. The spillway road, which I was looking forward to using and was closed, Airplane Pkwy which is a divided highway, and I-10. According to the officer I couldn't bike on I-10 or on the parkway. Know what I did? Rode the parkway. In front of other cops, too. Fortunately, the detour only added about 3 miles.

So, back on the trail. Next stop, the Edgard Ferry. Guess what? Closed. Alternate route? The big, scary bridge shown in the 2nd and 3rd pics. This was like an interstate with on and off ramps that looped around and was really high. It also contained grates which my bike could nearly fall through. See the 4th pic? That's looking down across my tire through the grate. Scary, huh?

Finally on the other side I stoppd at B&C Seafood for lunch, but I wasn't too impressed. On to Donaldsonville ...

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Diversions and Detours - Part 3

After leaving B&C it was a quick 38 miles (over some really bad road) to my destination for the day.

Until I was brought up short by a detour sign just a few miles from Donaldsonville. What to do, what to do? 

Well, I was sick of being told what to do so I biked ahead despite the detour and made it into town (the detour is only "sometimes"). And because of a miscalculation on my milage I was going to end the day at about 75 miles rather than 85 like I originally thought. Sweet! Especially since the sun was starting to set. So I followed my GPS to the hotel.

Know what was there?

Nothing!

I was in the middle of a bunch of fields. Sigh. So I called the hotel and the receptionist kept wanting to give me directions to where they were, but couldn't figure out where I was. I kept trying to get her to tell me where she was rather than how to get there, but she didn't seem to understand the difference! Arrgh!

After talking to some locals, it turned out that I'd biked about 7 miles out of town and had to head back - and it was really starting to get dark! I threw on my flashing lights and headed back to town.

Know where the hotel was? About 1 mile into the detour! Hahaha! Oh well. With the extra biking, 86 miles in total. Am in bed now and ready for some sleep.

See ya,

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Diversions and Detours - Part 1

Yesterday's milage revised from 40 to 39.

Good day today, made it to Donaldsonville, 86 miles:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=30.094095468521118,-90.9384137392044

Headed back to the levee trail this morning after stopping by a kwiky mart to pick up supplies. They didn't have what I was looking for but someone saw the panniers and told me all about their trips in Europe. I swear these things are as good as having a puppy - except they don't attract girls. :(

I've included a picture from the top of the levee looking towards the river. Kinda weird, huh?

When I left the hotel, my socks hadn't dried so rather than packing them wet, I improvised: see the 2nd photo? It worked well!

Most of the morning was biking next to the river. Levee on the left, industrial plants on the right and lots of machinery overhead.

Until the first diversion ...

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Great Day in New Orleans - Part 3

As I headed out of New Orleans I needed to find the levee trail from Audubon Park and I couldn't, so I had to lift the bike over some RR tracks, oh well.

While at the park, some guy pulled up next to me and said "I had a bike like that. I really liked it." I asked why he got rid of it, and he said, "It was stolen". I laughed and said. "It's not this one!" He explained his was blue, but he really missed it. He'd just moved to NOLA and had biked here from Virginia.

Later I stopped by Bicycle World and picked up some things. Met a guy named Oscar who works there and who's planning a bike trip to Cleveland this summer. DOES EVERYONE DO THIS LONG DISTANCE? He figures he'll need a month off work: 2 weeks to bike to Cleveland and 2 weeks to bike back. Sigh. Good luck Oscar.

Tonight I'm staying at a Comfort Inn - it's only 2 weeks old and is only $20 more than the local camping grounds (KOA's are expensive!)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=29.977295994758606,-90.28541922569275

Tomorrow is a long day so I'm going to get some rest.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Great Day in New Orleans - Part 2

As long as I was in NOLA I needed to stop at Cafe du Monde and get some beneighs - even though I wasn't hungry. Yum. I thought they were a lot like fair food, though. Still it was nice to sit out of the sun and take a break. The beneighs are served covered in powdered sugar and it was flying everywhere so apologies to the people downwind from me. And I forgive the people upwind from me, too.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Great Day in New Orleans - Part 1

Great day of biking today! Basically biked 40 miles across New Orleans today. I've included some pics across the town and the levee trail.

Even though it was a great day, things started rough this morning. My tent was wet and my clothes hadn't dried overnight. I moved everything into the sun, and while there the tent blew over and tore the rain fly a little bit near one of the supports. I think it'll still keep me dry, but I've probably shortened it's life. Still, at least the tent dried! So I packed it up. On the other hand, my clothes hadn't and today was the day I'd planned on getting more bike shorts. So it was either wet bike shorts (no deal) or non-bike shorts (sigh, oh well).

I'd been wearing my rain pants most of the past day to keep the sun off my legs, and with my tent packed away I had to go to the shower room to change clothes. And wouldn't you know it?! They had a laundry room there - and the the drier was available!

I hurried back to my camp site, grabbed my wet clothes and tossed 'em in! Woo hoo!

(As an aside, the drier didn't stop when you opened the door and I couldn't figure out how to get the drum from spinning. It's harder than you'd think to get get all your clothes out while the drier is still going!)

After fetching my gear and my dry clothes I headed out to of At. Bernard's Park and bike a few miles to Charlies Restaurant and had a big brunch: breaded veal covered in grilled mushrooms, melted swiss cheese and brown gravy; a sweet potato with butter, brown sugar, cinamon and pecans; and green beans cooked with bacon and lotsa garlic, yum! (and I was really full!)

I may not have been eating enough because after that meal at Charlie's I flew into New Orleans where, sometimes, the traffic was really scary. The route Bob maps out in the MRT guide is good, but hard to follow going North. I had to stop a lot. Thank goodness I could get a map on my phone, without it I might still be there.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Rest Day

Quiet day today. It was about 75 with very little humidity and very few insects. Spent most of the day chasing shade or on correspondence that I didn't get finished before the trip - and still have a bit to do.

Wanted to hop on the bike and go exploring today but had to keep reminding myself, "rest day", "rest day."

Shower washed my clothes this evening and am excited to head into the Big Easy tomorrow. Hopefully I can find something to eat there. Here's hoping I can find a restaurant!

I'll be campin just on the other side of the city tomorrow so it'll be a short day again tomorrow - 30 miles I think, and that'll give me some time in the city. Then a long day after that. Power situation for the phone looks good for the next few days, so I'll be able to keep up on the blog.

Love the tent and thermarest! You can see the pond I'm next to in this photo, but no sign of Herbert today. :(

Miss y'all.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Brutal Day Two Done

Am camping at St. Bernard's State Park just outside of New Orleans tonight.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=29.861531853675842,-89.89659011363983

Shorter ride today: about 35 miles, but the last fifteen was pretty brutal, so rest day tomorrow, I think.

This morning was a mixed bag. Fixed my derailluer so I'm glad I'm travelling with my "Complete Guide to Bicycle Repair" book! Then my bike decided to take a dive as I was congratulating myself and as I tried to catch it the spokes ground into my calf and cut bleeding greasy holes into my leg. At least they're in a pretty pattern! Oh and did I forget to mention that my legs got severely sunburned yesterday? I won't include the picture, but they're bad.

It was hard getting on the bike after that - I mean physically hard. My butt's killing me, but still, it was an interesting day.

Started off heading out of Woodland Plantation this morning and had to head two miles south to catch the ferry. The ferry crew was pretty nice and completely free!

Then cruised north on SR-39 along the east bank of the river and in the picture you can see the levee on the right side. That's not swapped. That levee separated me from the ocean, the one between me and the river is way off to the left.

On 39 I flew - having at least a 10 mph tail wind I could practically coast up the road. I was getting sweaty because it felt like no breeze!

Eventually I crossed the levee and was on the ocean side. This meant I had swamp - not beach - on one side. And you can see in the photos that Louisiana has put fire hydrants in the swamp. They also put alligators in there, but I couldn't photograph them, they dove into the water too quickly.

That's also about the time that the wind decided to change direction. I had to fight a head wind most of the rest of the day. Between my sunburn, the head wind and my ass, I was getting really frustrated and was seriosly thinking about walking my bike for a while. I even took a few steps with the bike after crossing a really bad train track, but decided to give it one more try and made it to the park.

So I'm in my tent now posting this after a nap - I must still be tired, though because my writing style is pretty bad tonight.

I really like thermarest I got and the new tent is growing on me. My whole bike fits inside. I'll tale a pic tomorrow.

Been toying all day with the idea of biking in to New Orleans tomorrow, but as I write down today's adventure, I realize tomorrow will have to be a rest day.

Oh, and there's a pond with an alligator in it 10 feet behind my tent. Will get a pic of him tomorrow, too.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Woodland Plantation

This sugar plantation has a pretty amazing history. It was spared during the civil war partially because the owner was a yankee and is the plantation shown on bottles of Southern Comfort. It fell into disuse during the 1900's but has been largely restored in the last decade.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&q=29.58417534828186,-89.82665956020355

I've included pictures of the dining hall, the old St. Patrick's Church that was moved here, the main house, a couple of pictures of the main floor, the grounds and my room.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Cop Story

Am taking pics of the plantation now, but was reminded of a story yesterday.

When I was biking I got pulled over by a sheriff. He got out of his car and asked me if I was headed to Minnesota. I was flabbergasted and said I was but asked how he knew. He told me he'd had lunch with Jen and Alan earlier and they'd told him about my trip. He'd been looking for me ever since! Too funny!

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Friday, April 9, 2010

First Day Done

Got off to a great start today! Alan, Jen and I ditched the less-than-tasty-looking continental breakfast provided by our hotel for a real breakfast across the street. We traded stories about the previous night, which I won't recount here. Let's just say they included an inflatable grenade, 3-for-1 happy hour, platform shoes and a stripper named Lara.

After breakfast we ditched our condesending desk clerk, checked out and headed south. About two hours later the land had shrunk to about 20 feet wide and we were at the Southernmost Point in Louisiana.
And that's when things started going down hill. As we reassembled the bike, it became obvious that the tires that Eddy's Bike sold me (after looking at my bike) didn't fit. They wouldn't turn because they actually didn't fit through the fork in the front and rubbed against the center post in the back. Fortunately we had my old tires with us so we made a quickish swap, adjusted and installed the rack added a water bottle cage and was ready to go. Of course all this could have been avoided if I'd assembled the bike in Ohio. Oh, well.

By then it was nearly 2 o'clock, so Jen, Alan and I posed for a few pictures, hugged, and headed our separate ways - actually the same way - the road only goes north. Still, we weren't together anymore.

The scenery was beautiful Cypuss trees and glades that eventually gave way to an industrial area that focused on charters, cargo or helipads to service the oil rigs. Then became flower covered levees that the horses and cows really liked.

The head winds were pretty nasty outside the levee and I could only maintain about 10 mph, but once inside I was able to cruise along at 16.

At the 12 mile mark I took a break and adjusted some of the gear. I felt really good after taking the break and was shocked when after resuming I had only gone from 12.1 to 12.4 miles even though I had been on my bike for at least 15 minutes! Then, 15 minutes later, I had only gotten to 12.7! If I felt this good and had only gone 3/4 of a mile in half an hour, I was screwed for the next couple months! I wasn't going to get anywhere.

Then I realized I'd inadvertently changed the bike computer to display average speed instead of total miles.

Since I had been peddling around 16 mph, my average was slowly creeping up: from 12.1 to 12.4 to 12.7. When I changed the computer to display distance, I found that instead of 0.75 miles I'd actually biked an additional 11 miles! Now that's more like it!

During this self-induced panic, I realized I must have damaged my rear derailleur while forcing in those oversized tires because it wouldn't hold high gears, instead it just kept shifting up and down. I'll have to look at it tomorrow morning.

So, all-in-all it went pretty well for the first day of riding in months, a bad derailleur and a late start: 45 miles today. Feel pretty good, too, but no campgrounds in sight. Instead I'm at the Woodland Plantation Bed & Breakfast (and apparently dinner, too), woodlandplantation.com. I'll post pics tomorrow, but have included the dining hall. This place is amazing and has no keys for the rooms (but you can lock them from the inside). The staff is excellent and the grounds are gorgeous. Like I said, pics tomorrow.

The owner stopped by while I was having dinner and we got to talking. It turns out another cyclist is doing the MRT in a few days (south to north, like me). The owner's never heard of anyone doing it at all and now he's got two in less than a week! The cyclist is trying to figure out how to get from the airport to the ocean. If only he had as kind and loving (choke) sister as I did.

Maybe he'll catch up while I'm getting in shape, then I'll have some to bike with!  

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

And so it begins ...

Southernmost point in Louisiana.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Headed to the Drop Off

Was really tired last night so didn't post. Went out shopping and exploring with Jen and Alan, but had to go to the bike store, so we split up the party. While on my own I stumbled upon a mini-parade. A jester on stilts kept the cars off the street. Also found a kid named Mystiria who was dressed up like a girl and held a picture frame in front of himself - that was his gig.

Later I met up with Jen and Alan for dinner, but then I headed to bed while they went to the strip club and it sounded like I had a better time! Still, they've got some stories.

Headed to Venice now to start the bike portion of our trip!

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Arrived in New Orleans

Shaved my head - well pretty close to it - the other day in anticipation of the bike ride and a lack of barbers on the river bank.

Mom my was woried I'd burn my scalp.

And wouldn't you know it? We made good time to New Orleans. So much so that we can explore the city this afternoon. So mom, don't worry, I sunscreened my scalp, the back of my neck and the top of my feet.

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Headed to New Orleans

Been driving south all day and just passed Nashville. Pretty town, eh?

-Chris (from his Palm Pre)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Week Minus One

Thanks to a generous severance package from my employer, I'll be able to take an extended vacation this spring. So why not bike the length of the Mississippi River? Over the next two-and-a-half months, that's what I plan to do.

I'd like to thank a lot of people for helping me with this trip, not the least of which include my sister and her fiancĂ© for driving me to my start point near New Orleans, my father for keeping the house going while I'm gone and Bob Robinson for his advice and outstanding book: Bicycling Guide to the Mississippi River Trail (spiritscreek.com). I'd also thanks to my mom, Ben, Lee and all the people at the Cleveland Rock Gym for their generous support. I'll miss you all while I'm gone.

I'm a software engineer and rock climber based in Cleveland, OH and haven't been on my bike (or on the rock) in nearly 4 months now since the winter weather hit. In fact, I've been eating everything in site for the last few weeks as this trip came together figuring I can burn it off while on the road. Follow me as I travel unsupported from the Gulf of Mexico 2,300 miles north to Lake Itasca in northwestern Minnesota. If I make it through the first two weeks, I think I can make it the rest of the way.