Day 34: Chicot State Park (Outside of Villa Platte LA) to New Roads LA

I am writing this the morning of our Day 35 rest day.   The minute we hit the hotel last night, I got busy with personal business, taking a shower, shaving, and going out for real Louisiana Cajun food.  More on this in a bit.

As forecast, the Day 33 ride ended up being another 80 mile day.  As hard as Sandy looked for a hotel sooner in the ride, there were none or none we would want to spend two nights at.  New Roads LA was the closest town with a decent hotel and restaurants.  So off I went…

Yes I need to shave... but Sandy looks good.

The early part of the ride up to about 35 miles was very easy with a slight cross tail wind.  Around Moreauville LA the road direction changed, and the rest of the ride was into a 10 mph wind.  Sandy caught me at ~50 miles for lunch.  I had a fantastic fried catfish sandwich.  

The small town in Bunkie LA
The views were typical for most of the day.

The sign says birth place of Buddy Guy
He was Blue Guitarist and in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Real Louisiana Swamp just as we passed over
the Atchafalaya River

Good Day for Water Tower Sightings

As we were finishing lunch, Disciple John passed by.  Sandy drove ahead to flag him down and we road the last 30 miles together into town.  I am positive this will be our last encounter on this ride with Paul and John.  We are resting and they are pushing for a 5-April finish. 

Good Bye John (Above) and Paul
It was fantastic getting to know you guys.
Call when you want to do an Adventure Race!!!

Dinner last night was at a Cajun restaurant and we are shown real southern hospitality.  The bar tender brought Sandy and I our first ever crawfish to try.  She was stunned when we told her we never had a crawfish.  She got a good laugh watching.   A while later, Mr. Lee came up to the bar.  Mr. Lee is a regular and the everyone said hello to him.  I started talking with him and he had quite a few stories of his path to New Roads.  Mr. Lee bought a 5lb bag of crawfish and had many very large cocktail drinks – they do not use shot glasses.  Mr. Lee shared quite a few crawfish with us, showing us more about how to clean and eat.  He did not suck out the head, I did give it a try.  In the end, Mr. Lee paid for out food and invited us to come have lunch with him today at the same place – we need to be there by 11AM to get a seat.

Mr. Lee showing us what 5lbs of crawfish looks like.
He said this is about 15 minutes of eating time.

The ride was harder than it looks by the profile. The wind played a big part, but I also was looking forward to a day off.  At this point in our journey my legs are in shape, making the mental part the tough part.  I am also nursing a bruised back side and my sunburned, wind burned lip is getting worse.  A day off will help both.  

Today’s ride stats…

Start Time: 8:52 AM Central Time            Finish Time: 3:29 PM Central Time

Elapse Time: 6 Hr. 36 Min.                       Ride Time: 5 Hr. 38 Min.

Distance: 80.6 Miles                                  Average Speed: 14.3 mph

Climbing/Descent: 748/886 Ft.                  TSS: 175

Average Power: 166 Watts                          Normalized Power:  176 Watts

Calories: 3359                                             Ave/Max HR: 114/139 bpm

For food today, I had a Cliff Bar before lunch and the catfish sandwich for lunch.  I also had a banana and Gatorade for lunch.  For drinks, I had about half a bottle before lunch but finished both bottles on the ride in.

The ride plans for tomorrow are simple – none.