Cycling Ellen

90.3 miles today
2033.6 total

Sometimes you hear that Friday the 13th can be an unlucky day.  I’d never heard of Sunday the 13th being a challenge but I’ll watch out next time it comes around.

I was late getting to breakfast (I’ll skip that story) and late getting out on the road.  After I put my luggage in the trailer, I dashed back to my room to get my bike.  When I checked the tires, the front one was flat – my first flat of the trip.  Jane, my roommate and friend, stuck with me as I went through the process of changing it.  I never did find what caused it and Michelle warned me that it might flat again.  I finally left the parking lot long after everyone else had left with Jane and Ann who had been waiting for me.

The first few miles were great.  I was nervous about flatting again, especially when the road surface got rough but my new tube seemed to be working fine.

After the sag stop at mile 20, I headed out alone so I could burn off some of my extra energy.  Before the next sag at mile 40, I came upon Cheryl and Jane I. who were having some trouble changing Cheryl’s first flat of the trip as well.  Now, the expert, we worked together and Mary came along to help finish the process with us.

On I went alone through beautiful fields of rice paddies and crawfish ponds.  I stopped in Mamou at a gas station where a woman answered my questions about the crawfish.  Little did I know then that I’d be eating them tonight.  A WomanTour rider who lives near here showed up with huge bags of crawfish and some local beer to wash them down.  I learned the process of ripping off the bodies and peeling back their skin.  I got a taste of the brains, considered a delicacy.  While we were eating the local media showed up for pictures and interviews.

So why was the day unlucky?  Well, we actually had a little bit of everything.  There were some tailwinds and there were some headwinds.  There was some of the smoothest new roads we’ve seen and there were several miles of torn up under construction dirt roads that were rougher than any chip seal.  There were dogs that were in fences barking and there were several dogs that came out and chased me (good thing I’ve gotten faster!).    I rescued a turtle by standing in the middle of the road so a truck wouldn’t run it over and I lost my bike computer sensor in the process.  I was riding with Ann at the end of the day when she broke a spoke (and so did Sue I heard).  There were also several flats and tire blowouts.

In the meantime, Michelle was supposed to start a little break from guiding.  Linda is taking over her job for a few days while Patty, a WomanTours guide for years, was arriving to cook.  Instead, they discovered that the starter on the van was broken and it was Sunday.  Arda’s husband drove 2 hours from Navasota to come pull the trailer here.  Fortunately, they found someone to work on the van after church and they got here by 5:30 or so.  When we arrived, there was no luggage with clean clothes, no computer to do my blog, no book to read and no rooming list to find out what rooms we were in.

Eventually, all turned around with a crawfish feed (thanks Nancy and Sister Carla!), a dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door and clean laundry.  We’re in comfortable beds at a Holiday Inn tonight (we hear tomorrow will be down a notch or two into the unrated category of motel).  It was a beautiful day with great scenery and that’s how I want to remember this day. Why did the turtle cross the road?