ST: Day 19

Daily Miles: 83.3

Total Miles: 992.4

Max: 20.5

Avg: 12.6

Time on the Bike: 06:36:29

Last night the Patriots won and are going to the Big Game. I went to a sports bar and chatted with a nice guy for a long time that was sitting next to me at the bar. His name was Jimmy. 

Jimmy lived in Baton Rouge and worked for the railroad. He was feeling good and conversation came easy for him. He talked to me about LSU and football and admitted that he hoped the patriots win the Super Bowl, mainly because he hates the Atlanta Falcons. He was a good guy and even picked up my bar tab after ordering me some boudin balls, a Louisiana snack, which are kind of like meatballs but with pork and fried in a dough, and accompanied by some kind of horseradish sauce. Long story short, pretty awesome. Thanks Jimmy for treating me to some beers and tastes of Louisiana. You are a fantastic guy. 

I rode out around 7:30 this morning. It was highway 61 all the way out. There were quite a few cars and trucks and semis on the road and no shoulder initially. There were two lanes at least so people, if they wanted, could go in the left lane and pass me courteously. Most people did this. Thank you. There were a few bad apples of course which earned them a middle finger and a big fuck you for not giving me enough space while passing me. 

Louisiana has the worst drivers and roads but somehow the people are the friendliest and most giving. A true mystery wrapped in a conundrum and trapped in a maze. 

After I got out of the city about 15 miles there emerged a giant shoulder on 61 that was a pleasure to ride on. I crossed the Audubon Bridge, a sweet suspension bridge, over the Mississippi River after hanging a left on highway 10. 

The roads were getting quieter and farmland soon appeared and everything seemed to be righting itself. Then I heard a massive “spleash” and a “wooble wooble” and I was thrust out of my pleasent thoughts. I stopped and looked at a giant screw that had impaled itself in my tire.  

I let out a few expletives I’m not proud of and pulled over into the grass. It was my rear tire of course. I fixed it up and was going again in 15 minutes. Hate flat tires.

The afternoon took me on some really pretty deserted country roads that followed a few rivers. I didn’t see any of them because of the levees but I’m sure they were lovely. 

My time to cover the miles today was slow and hard as I had a headwind of greater than 10 mph all day. Headwinds are the devil and I don’t care for them at all. 

Tonight I’m staying at the Rabalais Seafood Market, owned by Simmesport residents Ray and Debbie, who let cyclists passing through stay at their restaurant. Ray and Debbie are nice people and I talked with Ray a lot at the restaurant. He is a big Trump supporter and it was interesting hearing his thoughts on everything. We tend to live in a cacoon of our own ideas and ideals but sometimes it can be beneficial to sit down with someone who has much different views from your own to see where they are comming from.We watched Fox News and chatted and it amazes me how different Fox News is compared to CNN. It’s true that you can really find news that aligns with your thoughts and fears which in turn strengthens your assertions on your beliefs. It’s a positive feedback loop of ideaology and it’s not hard to understand why our country is so split down the middle. We subscribe to the things that are familiar and make us feel safe and warm and cozy and deject ideas that don’t align with our thoughts. I don’t understand why this is. Is there no middle ground? Black and white has no room for greys and shadows and the intermingling of things. It’s all just one thing or the other. Yes or no. Water or fire. Pick your side and pledge allegiance to your ideals. Learning about other points of view is outdated and has gone the way of the dinosaur. Roar.