Crossing the Mississippi

Day 22, April 23, 2011, 3 Days, Crossing the Mississippi

Route from Marksville to Farr Equestrian and RV Park, Baton Rouge, LA

101 miles averaging 11.9 mph That makes three centuries in three days – yuck.

Best Moment – I just caught the ferry just in time.  I was the last person to get on the ferry to cross the Mississippi before it left for St Francisville.  Wow!  Then there was the Wyoming sign in town.  Apparently, there had been a Wyoming, Louisiana, imagine that!

Worst Moment – Will these winds ever stop blowing?  There have been wind warnings posted for the Baton Rouge area.  I spent another day of riding into the wind and I am getting tired of it. Today, unfortunately, I never benefited from a tail wind even for a little while.

Today I crossed major rivers!  First was the Atchafalaya River just outside Simmesport.  The bridge was huge – it’s interesting how the levees are built up around major rivers here like the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi.  What a difference in scenery since I left Arizona just over three weeks ago!

 View from Ferry

Bridge over Mississippi

After crossing the Mississippi, I stopped in St. Francisville, a charming, historic town started in 1785 on the hills above the Mississippi.  A coffee shop advertised strawberry pie.  I couldn’t resist. It was very tasty!

The river dominates everything around it.  There are the levees built on either side and instead of bridges at every crossing, there are frequently ferries to transport one across.  I was a bit worried that Neita would have to get on one of the ferries, but fortunately was routed to I-10 and a HUGE bridge.

Then there was the five mile long spillway near Morganza that I’m certain is used for flood control.  Finally in Baton Rouge, I took Scenic Drive to River Road to the RV Park.  The Scenic Drive was anything but scenic (unless, you are interested in industrial parks.)  I went past plants for Exxon, and more plants for Exxon, Honeywell and lots of other industry.

At River Road, other than the LSU stadium, all I really saw was the levee – good thing it is there.  I understand that there are flood warnings out – not because of any rain here, but whatever is going on upriver.  It really is incredible to consider that there could be so much more water in the river to make it flood the levees.

The roads in Louisiana are the worst I’ve been of the trip so far.  They are rutted, pot holed and generally in bad repair.  They are teeth rattling, bone jarring, bicycle wheel destroying.   I think that cobblestone would have made a preferable riding surface.

Scenic, maybe but certainly built in Colonial times and not repaired since. 

Tomorrow is a REST DAY!!!