May 15, 2021 Cow Pie Slalom

 

 

May 15, 2021

 

 

There have been lots of winds so I feel I need to lay on my humans so they won’t fly away.

Yesterday, when we were on our bike ride, we met a gentleman that told us about a bike ride with the Boy Scouts.  So, this morning we thought we might hook up with them.  With less than a cup of coffee inside us, we headed to the levee going south, away from the city.  It is about 6:30 am.

There is a low mist hanging over the grounds on the left.  It is quite cool but sunny.  Green grass, grazing grounds, bee boxes, trees.  It is all bucolic southern America.  Somewhere in the distance, wood is burning but it is not offensive.  It actually smells good.  The trees in the river on our right go quite far out.  Occasionally, there is a road leading out to the real river, over the schmutz.  Egrets are feeding.  About 5 miles down, we cross a cattle guard.  Cows are on our trail wishing us good tidings… Or are they laughing at us as they deposit droppings on the trail…  Old cow patties, and fresh cow patties to be are all around.  We slalom around them as best we could till we crossed the exiting cattle guard.  It seems that each cow has its own personal egret.  I guess when the cow moves, the dragonflies come out and the egrets move in. 

After 8 miles, we see the Hotel L’Auberge.  The bike trail goes right into their valet parking.  The boy scouts are right across the street.  They offer a hearty breakfast…  donuts and banana.  There were two different rides offered.  One was 22 miles.  It went to the city, which we did yesterday.  The other is 43 miles.  It is on rural roads through farmlands and by bayous.  There is a shortcut that would cut about 10 miles off of that.

Since we had already ridden over 8 miles, and were going to have to add that same amount to go home, we figured we would do the southern route with the shortcut.  We were the only ones with electric bikes.  Everyone else had road bikes… nice road bikes… and they were talking about their century rides (100 miles).  Their bikes weigh 15 pounds and have tires the size of a monofilament.  We have tanks… that don’t maneuver well… mine weighs 65 pounds, Spouse’s is 80 pounds.  We have fat tires.  FAT tires… With our hearty breakfast behind us (two donut holes and a half of banana), we were ready.   When we started, Lance Armstrong and those skinny bikes left us eating their dust!  Actually, by the time we got to their wake, the dust was already settled!  Heck a 3 year old on a tricycle could probably leave us in the dust!  But we soldiered on.

We are on a rural road with beautiful pastures.  The few cars that pass are well aware that bikes are allowed to use the entire road and they are quite respectful.  We take the shortcut which takes us along a bayou and some more homes.  Hmm, someone dumped an easy chair.  Oh there is an armadillo carcass.  After about 6 miles, we realized that this was a lot more than we were going to enjoy on just two donut holes, so we turned around and headed home.  When we saw we could get up to the levee instead of the road, we went for it.  It wasn’t paved at this point.   HA HA HA you hot shot skinny tired road bikes!  Take that!  Bwaaaahaaaa!

AS it was, it was about a 30 mile ride.  We came back, cleaned up and drove back for our jambalaya lunch.

We then decided to drive the trail in our truck… Without the shortcut, it winds through countless farms.  We pass the Plaquemine Ferry, but not one car is around so it can’t be too busy.  We then follow the loop on Bayou Paul Rd.  This winds through neighborhoods where the dinky places might have slightly less than an acre of property.  Turning onto Manachac, there is a bayou on the left, and a mix of properties and more bayous on the right.  It is slow driving as we look for critters, and sure enough, we come upon a small gator resting on a log.  Next to it is a dead something.  We were trying to figure out what it was when a really big gator started munching on it. A turtle sat on a log watching the show.  All is fun in the bayou. 

Further down, we saw a house that is basically sitting in the bayou (a la Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean).  It is vacant now…  no kidding!  There were people kayaking through the bayou exploring.  Looked like fun.

Although it would have been fun to cruise this bayou on a bike, two donut holes would not have been enough fuel.  We would have petered out right where the gators could get us…  It was a good thing that we turned around when we did.  Our crotches thanked us for that decision too!

Back at Hannah, a little snooze and neighborhood visits topped off the day.