Cycle 35 Miles Slidell through Mandeville

Friday, March 26, the low was 53 degrees and the high gets to 76 which is more than they predict. When I walk I notice Babs and Shirley's RVs are still here. I thought they were leaving on Thursday. I return home to stretch and have a big breakfast so we can hit the trail at 10:55. We cycle est against a northwest breeze in record time to Mandeville Trail Head. Today we go past this next trail head for the first time, only by 2 1/2 miles so we can add five miles to our round trip and get in 35 miles today. There are some nice subdivisions with paths joining the trail.

Bob reloads odometer after lunch at Kickstand Cafe

We cycle back to Mandeville and have lunch at Kickstand Cafe. Today we lock our bikes in the rack so we can eat inside as the air is chilly. We both have Crawfish Pie special of the day after the cook describes it for us. It is an old-fashioned pot pie with its own aluminum pie plate, a crust like your grandmother's filled with crawfish and a heavenly creamy sauce. It comes with a spring salad and cornbread. But they must be out of cornbread as ours comes with garlic bread. Our waitress throws in an Easter cupcake with green grass coconut icing and two jelly beans on top. What a fun treat. This was my first crawfish pie (like the song) and now I know why they sing about it. We enjoy our nice break.

It would be tricky fishing over the high rail on this bridge in Fontainbleau State Park

Three gals on racing bikes come off the trail and into the cafe. We passed them earlier. Their car is downstairs (I figured it was as I saw their huge purses in the cafe--no way they had those on the back of their bikes) with three bikes on a rack on the back. Based on where their vehicle is parked I guess they did 30 miles; Mandeville to Slidell and back. One gal said "Now I think I'm ready for the road." So they must ride long-range on the streets.



There are a lot more people on the Trail today. A white pick-up truck with two guys sitting on the back tailgate with leaf blowers, blowing off the trail, is right in front of us for a ways going back to Slidell. They kick up a lot of dust that we have to eat but are going just fast enough that we can't pass therm. We have seen green dust collecting on our tires all day from the pine tree pollen. One of the three gals in the cafe said "It felt so good to take my contacts out-they were hurting so bad." I'm glad mine are okay. The pine pollen doesn't seem to bother me. We finally take a break in Fontainbleua State Park on the bridge over this bayou where an old boat is abandoned. On the railing I spy an anole, a small salamander who is brown like the post he's on.



I saw a baby nutria run in front of my tire on the way back. We held out for a bench to take a break and had to go 7.5 miles, our longest without a break since we started cycling here. Bob put my seat up 1/2 inch before we left today and my left knee hurts. It must have been too much of an adjustment at once. One-quarter inch adjustments at a time are better, especially if you're going to ride 35 miles! He said our tires were still at 70 psi this morning so he didn't add air. We make 35.01 miles in just under five hours, including lunch. It's 4:40 p.m. and 67 degrees with 45% humidity.