So yesterday when I said it rained – it didn’t rain all day. But as soon as I started to get dry, it would start to rain again. That was the exhausting part.
I discovered that while riding in it was exhausting (and filthy – it took a lot of scrubbing to get my legs clean!), it also had a nasty effect on the roads.
Louisiana has a trail system that goes for many miles in between towns. On a good day, I suspect you can ride through the lush green trees without seeing a road for hours. Though it was a clear day, I would not call this a good day, at least as far as “trail riding” in Louisiana is concerned. The GPS kept trying to make me get on the trails, but as near as I could tell, there was no trail. Randy checked several times in the car, and where he could turn onto roads, they quickly turned into mud bogs. So I stayed on the road. But taking the trails would have been 6 miles shorter than the roads.
Ultimately I had to climb some hills that I hadn’t expected, and the six miles didn’t kill me, and we made it to Winnfield. I got the bike cleaned up and the chain re-lubed and into storage, with a grand total for 9 riding days of 651 miles.
We got into the car and started driving home. I crashed HARD. About two hours into the drive I woke up and instinctively looked at the back of the car, where I saw – nothing. Sweet Randy, upon hearing my gasp, taps my hand and says, “It’s in storage.” I still panicked every time we stopped and I came out to the car and didn’t see the bike, thinking someone stole it or something, but eventually I just got used to it.
Folks – I have 1,227 miles left in my ride. I have come 2,573 miles. I will complete the next 1,227 in two stages instead of three, and barring unforeseen issues will be done before my 50th.
