Cycle 45 Miles Tammany Trace Trail

Wednesday, March 31, I read until 3:00 a.m. I couldn't sleep so "Looking for Peyton Place" seemed like the next best thing. I read in the paper here yesterday about a networking website for people who like to read and share their book lists.Library Thing. Maybe I'll check it out. Anyway I still was up at 8:00 on a board. No dallying today. We hit the trail by 10:35.

The van to New Orleans' French Quarters left at 9:00. We should be having beignets at the Cafe du Monde right now! It seems the van driver already made an agreement with another couple to leave at 9:00 a.m. this morning and not pick them up until 8:00 p.m. tonight as they wanted to enjoy dinner at a nice place. Sounds to me like they're having breakfast, lunch and dinner there. We thought it was too long of a day so we'll sign up for another time. Instead we hit the bike path. That probably saves us a bunch of calories. Speaking of which, Bob calculated that we have cycled off enough calories in the 3 1/2 years we've had our bikes to lose 46 pounds. Why the heck have I gained four pounds? The bottom line is that I ate enough extra calories from being so hungry after cycling that I barely broke even. Bob says it kept me from gaining 42 pounds!

Today turns out to be the warmest and pretties day since we've been here. We make it the 15 miles to Mandeville in a record 1 hr. and 20 min. That's mainly because we only took one break. Well, except for jumping off to try to see a 5 1/2 foot alligator that a gaggle of young boys spotted sunning on a log by the side of the trail. The gator dove in just as we rolled up. Probably because the kids were yelling so loudly. Sure wish I could have gotten a picture. They were all so excited. On our way back later this afternoon a big ol' cajun guy in a redshirt heads down the embankment right at that same spot with a fistful of fishing poles. Yikes!

We take a short break at the Mandeville Trailhead then buzz by the cafe to see the special board for incentive. Today's special is Chicken Parmesan over Spaghetti. Thus motivated we cycle 7 1/2 miles out and 7 1/2 miles back in 1 hour 30 min. The wind was with us the whole way out. I am setting the pace today as Bob's seat adjustment seems to not be agreeing with him. This is our first cycle in shorts here, actually anywhere, in quite a while. It's way more comfortable than long pants. Either way we have our padded bike shorts underneath (Pearl Izumi's for you aficionados.) Crossing Hwy 59 was a terror with high speed traffic coming around a blind curve.

We are really tired 2:00 p.m. when we get back to the Kickstand Cafe after three and a half hours with no food; just grapes and half an apple. On Wednesday a group of ladies plays bridge here and they are all back again. Bob has his favorite Egg Salad and Avocado Sandwich on 7-grain bread. I have Chicken Salad over spring greens with walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette. I picked up a Northshore Gazette in the lobby that talks about Liz's Where Y'at Diner nearby on 190 just west of here. We'll have to try it.

Smoke seeps onto the Trail from a construction site burning felled logs

The cycle back is tough against the wind the whole way. I forgot to fill the water bottles at the trail head in Mandeville so we have a pint of tea for our two-hour trip back. I'm not to tired to hop off and get a picture of the flora since we missed the 'fauna' shot earlier this morning. About 2/3 of the way back we see the two little dogs that we saw the other day who were running around loose. They are skittish but finally come up to me but steer clear of Bob. We make it back after 6 hours and 20 minutes for a total of 45.03 miles.

Back home we cover the bikes on the back of the truck and crash in the living room to read the paper, have leftovers and watch Human Target. Steve, our Elgin neighbor, calls around 7:30 from Mitchell, NE, where he is attending his sister-in-laws' funeral. He was wondering where we might be. It was nice to chat with him. Sounds like they rescued another Cairn Terrier, Peaches.