Days 21 & 22 De Ridder to Washington to St. Francisville, La

Day 21 Distance:  90 miles
Day 22 Distance:  105 miles

Congratulations to those of you who correctly answered "pig" in the first round of Road Kill trivia and have moved on to the final round. What is the most unusual animal found on the side of the road.  This loveable, yet prehistoric looking mammal is indigenous to the Southern states. (Hint:  the first 3 letters of it's name is the same as a human extremity)

Today was an awesome day.  Despite another 2 flats on the same back tire, I knew that I would eventually make it to St. Francisville which is on the Eastern side of the Mississippi River.  Because of  it's size you have to cross the River on the I 10 at Baton Rouge which would be akin to suicide by bike or travel North and take the ferry across.  For some inexplicable reason, crossing the Mississippi was a significant milestone for me and everyone who drove their car onto the ferry was probably wondering who the crazy, sweaty dude was wearing spandex and running around the boat like a kid at Disneyland.

  

Today completes the 5th of 7 sections along thhe southern tier.  2,227 miles traveled to date

A question was posed as to the best food that I've had so far.  Tonight was good.  I ordered a crawfish salad which came with 4 big crawfish adorning the plate.  Never having eaten one before, I was wondering where the meat was.  I finally asked the waitress how to eat the damn thing.  She couldn't believe that I didn't know.  Well I must have asked too loudly as soon the 2 tables on either side of me were lending pointers on pinching off the tail and twisting the meat out.  They sort of tasted like salty, unwashed shrimp.  But the best food that I've had is a toss up between the Gumbo that I had last night on a deck on a bayou and a taco spud in Livingston, TX.  The taco spud is a huge baked potato, bigger than any of us have seen before, split open with all of the taco fixings and anything else you want to add.

Cycling in Louisiana, a Survival Guide.  The Dog, "man's best friend!"  You will be glad to know that the canine population down here is prospering.  Maybe it's the climate; maybe it's because no one owns a fence and the dogs get lots of exercise by chasing anything that happens to be in the street in front of their property.  I stayed at a great bed and breakfast last night.  The owner made me scrambled eggs and sausage withe orange juice and pastries.  I left feeling so good, so peaceful and content only to encounter the first dog assault not 20 minutes later.  Basically the towns are 20 to 30 miles apart with back country roads in between.  Every so often you'll get to a cluster of 2 or 3 houses and you know that at least one if not more of the homes has loose dogs.  To survive, I've broken the dog encounters into 2 categories.;  The first is where the dog is on the porch or along side the house.  As I approach the dog comes tearing toward the street.  This is the most common and happened at least 20 times today.  It literally got to the point where I would just say, "here we go again".  The key to surviving this attack is to recognize that your coming up to the homes. (daydreaming is not allowed)  Increase your speed to 15mph.  No faster as you dont want the dog to get the right angle on you.  When the dog starts running towards you, increase your speed slightly.  By time he reaches the road, you are just slightly in front.  And that is the key in a nutshell; once you are in front, the dog is powerless.  He can't bite the wheel.  He cam't bite the back of your foot which is spinning at 80 rpms.  I've found that once your out in front you can have some sort with the dog.  Let's see how fast the big black one can run, let's see how far the brown pit bull  can go.  The fastest dog today was 17mph and most dogs can't run much more than 199 yards. 

The second encounter and much more menacing is when the dog is in the street waiting for you.  The best approach is to aggressively speed up to about 20 mph and head straight for the dog.  He will not know which way to go.  About 10 feet before impact veer off to the side which gives you more room.  This should get you slightly ahead of the dog and then you're home free.  The problem is when you are not focused on dogs and they sneak up on you.  I had just entered a small town and was noticing that the back tire had a slow leak.  Suddenly there was a large black dog right up next to my right side. I stood up and started pedalling and he ran along side for 1/2 a block.  That's when I realized that most of these dogs are just looking to have fun.  If this dog really wanted to take a bite out of me he could have easily done so.  From then on whenever a dog started chasing me we both had a good time.  The dog is getting a little workout and it's helping me stay focused and keep my speed up.

Once I saw this I immediately turned off my Thumps. Then I thought maybe a free night in lockup wouldnt be so bad.

I cught these 2 lovebirds having sex right out in the middle of a field.  They got bashful when I put the camera on them.

Crop dusting is common.  There are rice and corn fields mixed in with the occasional ranch    

This is "who Dat" Nation. Home of the Super Bowl Champs.  People laugh when I say I'm a Charger fan cuase we gave Breese away