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.