Cycle 48 Miles to Abita Springs, LA

Abita Springs Trail Head Museum
Monday, April 5, there is no loitering today. We have a quick, but hearty breakfast, stretch and load the bikes. At 10:20 we are on the Trail. The low was 63 and the high gets to 76 degrees. It feels more like 85 as the humidity is much higher now. We've been spoiled the past few weeks with one dry front after another. Very unusual for Louisiana.

We cycle west and north about 23 miles, finally making it to the town of Abita Springs where there is a nice trail head. Unfortunately the Abita Springs Brew Pub, our lunch destination is closed on Monday. We tried to Google for it this weekend but never found hours. Another local cafe is also closed on Monday. Mama D's Pizza is open but that's not ideal for cycling.

Sculpture under the grandstand at Abita Springs Trail Head

So we have grapes, apples and trail mix on a bench under the grandstand. Some baby birds fell from their nest in the rafters; maybe it was their first attempted flight gone awry. The Museum at the Trail Head is closed too but I snap a picture of the bright yellow building. There are quite a few people on the trail today. Schools still seem to be off here today and lots of Easter visitors are on the trail; grandparents with their grandkids on bikes. Too bad no place is open to eat.



We decide to cycle back one hour to Kickstand Cafe (soon to be renamed Old Mandeville Cafe.) They are changing the name due to confusion with the Kickstand bike rental shop and ice cream parlor. It seems a lot of folks don't know there's this great restaurant with a gourmet cook up here on the second floor. We sure enjoy it and are glad we found it and also glad we forced our tired knees to climb the two flights of stairs.



It is 2:00 by the time we get back there. They close at 3:00 and we're sure glad we didn't miss lunch. Breakfast was a long time ago and it has been 3 hours and 40 minutes since we left the truck. Over 4 1/2 hours and 30 miles of cycling since breakfast! That's a long time and a long distance with no real food or real rest. Today I try the Tuna Twist (tuna salad in a wheat wrap.) Bob has his favorite Egg Salad and Avocado Sandwich and we split them.



At the beverage counter there is this cute bike plantstand that they have decorated for Easter. I have a fit over it and take a picture. The gal behind the counter who is getting to know us by now tells me to take one of the biker bunnies! How fun. I rearrange my panniers so I can fit a lime green cycling bunny in my pack.

Biker Bunny!

We take a 20-minute break in the sunshine on a bench at the Trail Head across from the Cafe before cycling back against the wind for 2 hours and 20 minutes. We managed a total of 47.5 miles today. We didn't see any gators today. This was the hottest temperature we cycled in since we've been here. It's better for my joints but it sure dehydrates you. So you have to carry more water which makes your bike heavier and makes you work harder. It's 6:15 p.m.and 74 degrees outside with 60% humidity. It's 85 degrees inside the RV when we get back.