Slidell Louisiana

I made it into Louisiana today.

Leaving Biloxi I was riding on a sidewalk along the beach. Route 90 didn’t have any shoulder. The sidewalk was safest but also very slow. The scenery was beautiful though.

It was by far the farthest I ever road on a sidewalk. A total of 26 miles. I like sidewalks for the safety they offer but they are so much slower than a road. At least this one was along the beach and there were no crosswalks. It did have some pretty rough sections though.

At the bad sections I would ride along the top the stairs, the narrow strip on the left. At one such place I had to come to a stop while balancing on the 8 inch wide strip of concrete. I was about three feet from the ground and there was way for my feet to reach the ground. So in very slow motion I fell over. I cleared the 3 steps and landed in the soft sand. The bike panniers caught on the second step and tipped the bike over so it came to rest on its seat and handlebars in the sand. For me and the bike it was the slowest and softest “wreck” ever. We both survived with out so much as a scratch. I’m sure it was hysterical to watch. Around 2 the road finally had a big enough shoulder to make it safe to ride and after a quick stop for a can of coffee I started making good time.

I only went around 35 miles, not the 50 I had planned. All the sidewalk riding had taken a lot of time and I had lost my motivation. I stopped for the night just out side of Bay St Louis.

Today was an even better day for riding. Sunny, no wind and it got up to 63. Also the roads were awesome. Not only a huge shoulder but no traffic either.

After leaving Bay St Louis I stopped for a latte at a local coffee shop. I love Dunkin and Starbucks but I enjoy going to local places too. Sometimes I find a place and their coffee is so good I want to live in that town. And that’s how good my Latte was this morning. Rosie kept sneaking under my speedometer and taking sips.

I had my second flat tire of the trip today. I have been 6,036 miles. I think I have been really fortunate.

Today was such a nice day for riding I didn’t pay enough attention to where I was going. I got 7 extra bonus miles. I missed my turn and didn’t realize it for quite a while. I didn’t backtrack but I had to take a few different roads to get back on 90. Once back on track I stopped for water and a coffee drink. I saw in there hot case crawfish boudin. I always like to try new things. Also on the counter they had fresh (I hope) hard boiled eggs. I really like hard boiled eggs and I think more places should sell them. An egg and a piece of crawfish boudin was lunch. It was good but a little disappointing though. It just tasted like sausage.

I’m camped right on the edge of the Tamamy rail trails tonight. It has been a great path so far. I still have another 20 miles of it tomorrow I’m looking forward to.