Cycle 12 Miles on Tammany Trace Trail

Broken treetops from Hurricane Katrina
Thursday, March 18, I slept a grand total of 2.5 hours on a board. I get up and walk and stretch. The low is 47 degrees and it is sunny. Three couples are waiting for the New Orleans shuttle. It leaves at 9:00 today. I go home for a light breakfast. The rest of the morning we vege out and chat. We're so tired after moving. Or maybe it's the time change. Whatever. I took a picture of the broken off tops of the trees here in the RV Park. All of the trees in the area look like this from Hurricane Katrina.

I send an email to our Ohio friends that we're supposed to meet in May. Bob Googles restaurants for lunch. We go to Southside Cafe where Bob has Ahi Tuna Sandwich and I have Ahi Tuna Salad. Wow, a half pound of perfectly grilled tuna with a Shrimp Remoulade dressing (spicy horseradish in theirs!) The place is crowded with 95% of the clientele consisting of men. Our waiter is not a good one; he only told us about one of the soups and didn't seem to know about the others.

30-mile Tammany Trace Trail from Slidell to Abita Springs

We get a paper next door at "Not Just Donuts." Then we head home to don our bike pants, air up the tires, load the bikes and hit the trail. We take I-10 to I-12 west to exit 80 south to Gause, west to Slidell/Carollo Trailhead. The trail has Trace Rangers on motorscooters and little golf carts. We cycle west six miles, past the Bayou Lacombe Bridge. The bridge closes 7:30 p.m. thru 7:30 a.m. and is locked so you have to make it past there before sundown.

Cyclepath and R2D2 on The Tammany Trace Trail

The trail is a nice, paved trail. It is the first Louisiana trail that is part of the National Rails to Trails Network. There is a parallel equestrian trail. And there are 31 railroad bridges. St. Tammany Parish acquired the railroad right of way in 1992. There are 270,000 riders a year; plus two this year! Bob enjoys capturing some pictures of the wildflowers along the trail.

Spanish Moss at a residence along the Trail

We cycle six miles back and it is not until we're about half way back that I discover my brake is sticking. Bob looks at it and loosens it up. Wow! What a difference. I have been a quarter of a mile behind him the whole way thinking "How can I be this far out of shape in only four months of not riding." One adjustment and I'm like a bat out of hell on this thing.







We started at 2:20 and after 12.25 miles it's 4:10. We go home via the Interstate to avoid the traffic on Gause. We park behind the Titanic, leave the bikes on the truck and cover them as we plan to use them again tomorrow. I stretch and take a shower. My stomach starts feeling queasy. I have bowl of chicken soup and lay down for 45 minutes. I decide I'm dehydrated and have a Gatorade. That revives me and I feel much better. We watch a two-hour episode of Flash Forward. It's 8:40 p.m. and 59 degrees with 45% humidity. The high was 64. It was chilly and we wore long sleeves and long pants on our bikes.