Day Forty: missed turn, melville venting, ferry, gravel, no rooms

I slept for 8 1/2 hours last night, and I slept GREAT. Who would've thought?

Of course, my experience at the Bamboo Motel would not have been complete without hearing someone in the next room having sex. It's almost cliche. The walls are paper thin, and I heard them enter the room as I was loading my bike.

The walls are thin enough so that you can hear every word being spoken in the next room. I could've heard every word they said... if they'd said anything at all.

I think it was Austin, but didn't want to knock on the door to find out. I just slipped away into the morning.

But not before taking this picture. It was taken by placing my camera on the floor in front of the door. There's quite a large crack under the door.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

My knees were a little sore yesterday, and even more sore today. It's not too surprising - I've pedaled 254 miles in the last three days. This morning, for the first time on this trip, I took some ibuprofen.

Four miles past Mamou the road was blocked off.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

The woman wearing the orange vest and holding the STOP sign said they were pouring "powdered cement." You could see it floating through the air down the road. She said it's really not good if it sticks to you.

Hmmmm.... I wondered if it would make me hard.

She said I could take the next road. She was unsure if it was gravel or dirt, but was sure it would get me to Ville Platte. "You can't miss it."

I hate it when they say that.... I never saw it.

I'm attaching a picture of the map, though I'm not sure if you can see it very well. My new route took me east on 104, south on 29, east on 1167, northeast on 103, southeast on 10, then north on 10/182 into Washington. (the red line is where I'm SUPPOSED to be riding)

From mark on a bike 08 3

At one point I saw a sign that said "End Maintenance," but I think it was placed there accidentally. For them to have ended the maintenance, they would've had to start it first.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

Here are some pictures along the way.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

I kept seeing flooded fields and wondered if they were rice patties or something.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

Until I saw a giant stack of traps and realized that they're some kind of seafood farm.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

I stopped for lunch in Washington and listened to the happiest people I've met anywhere. EVERYone who came through the convenience store/cafe was laughing, smiling, teasing their friends....

...and I love listening to the Louisiana/cajun accents.

In Lebeau I left the ACA route. It goes way north to Moreauville, then back south to Morganza. I can trim 42 miles off the route if I cut straight across at Melville.

From Lebeau I went through Palmetto and reached Melville at 3:00. Imagine my surprise when I found that there wasn't a bridge... there was a ferry.

Imagine my dismay when I saw the sign: FERRY CLOSED

That means I have to ride south to Krotz Springs, get on 190 East to Livonia, then head northeast again to New Roads.

Oh well... it's just pedaling. I head back the way I came and into Melville.

I had actually planned to take a break in Melville. As I was leaving I thought I should stop and refill my water bottles and maybe have a small snack.

There was a conventience store at the edge of town. I almost didn't stop, but knew I had some miles ahead of me so decided to make this a fifteen-minute rest stop.

There were two women in the store, the cashier and another woman who appeared to be just hanging out there. I bought a drink and as I was paying for it the cashier asked where I was going. Then she asked where I started. I told her some about my trip and and eventually mentioned mentioned about how disappointed I was that the ferry was closed.

"Yeah," she said, "It doesn't open until 4:00."

My eyes widened... "Huh?"

The other woman said, "Yeah, they close down in the middle of the day."

So, I wouldn't have to make the run around after all. I'd just have to hang out in Melville for an hour. That didn't seem so bad. Knowing I'd be here a while, I said, "Melville seems like a nice town."

The two women, Courtney and Linda, simultaneously looked at each other, then looked at me. "That's cause you don't live here."

At that point I felt like I was watching a tennis match. Back and forth, back and forth, they took turns talking, sometimes finishing the other's sentence.

"If you live here, EVERYbody knows your business."
"That's right. Everybody in town knows you're in this store right now."
"And they know you're travling across the country on your bike."
"They're askin' each other if he's a FBI guy, comin' in on a bike."
"And some of them are saying that we're dating."
"Did you SEE how long he was in there? Just hanging out and talking to her."
"People are just bored cause there ain't nothing to do."
"And when they try to put up something nice,"
"Like a pool hall or a game room,"
"People just tear it up. They got no respect."
"They got no respect. And don't EEEEVEN think of doing good for yourself."
"That's right. If you have any money, they think you're a drug dealer."
"Of course, if you got money, you probably ARE a drug dealer."
"Yeah, there's a lot of drugs."
"But most of the people just get drunk."
"And EVERYbody's on disability."
"Or Medicaid."
"Or both."

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

Eventually, one of them laughed and said, "Sorry to vent like this. We got nobody else to gripe to except each other." Then they both laughed. I think my visit was cathartic for them.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

I decided to leave a little early in the hope that I might get on the ferry and convince them to leave five or ten minutes early. When I got there at 3:40, the captain hadn't arrived. There were a couple of other guys there, and one of them chatted briefly between the chores he needed to do to get the boat ready to leave.

He thought I was crazy.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

This is the Atchafalaya river, the swiftest river in the country according to Linda.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

The guy on the boat did warn me that I have some rough road ahead of me. I already knew that. When I looked at the map it was a dotted gray line, which means gravel. However, I had no idea just HOW bad it was going to be. The gravel wasn't so bad, but it was sand and gravel. It was like trying to pedal on a beach. My rear wheel was out of control, sliding all over the place and sometimes spinning. My wheels cut deep ruts into the road as I pedaled.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

This continued, at 3-5 mph, for five miles.

By the end, my knees weren't just sore, they were starting to hurt. Riding on that type of surface really takes a toll on knees.

I hooked back up with the ACA route in Morganza, having painfully cut 42 miles off my total mileage.

A picture I took just before arriving in Morganza. I tossed my glove down so you could get some perspective on the size.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

I thought about camping in Morganza, but I still had just enough time to make it to New Roads if I didn't dawdle. I pedaled strongly, and my knees grew worse.

Today is Halloween. When I arrived at the hotel, I saw a truly scary sight.

From Mark on a Bike 08 2

...especially because it's almost dark outside.

I went inside and asked the lady about the sign. "Oh," she said, "That's just for the FEMA workers. We have some rooms we keep open."

I checked in and asked her about a good place to eat. She directed me to Lucky Pierre's for some good seafood.

After a shower and some clean clothes I pedaled down the street and entered. The police officer on duty caught up with me as I was walking down the hall and told me that no bags were allowed in the restaurant. This establishment is actually a casino/restaurant, and he said he'd be happy to hold it for me. Since he had a police officer's uniform on and a big gun at his waist, I thought he was pretty legit, so I took out my money, credit cards, cell phone, and PDA, leaving him holding the bag.

In the restaurant I finally got some good cajun food.... Crawfish Alfredo. Crawfish... to me, they'll always be crawdads.

I was really thirsty, and kept refilling my drink. After I finished, I picked up my handlebar bag from the police officer and rode back to the hotel where I promptly took some ibuprofen for my knees.

When it was bedtime, I had some trouble falling asleep. I wonder if it wss the four Dr. Peppers I had with my meal.

80.49 miles
11.7 average
22.3 maximum
6:51:33 time
2021.3 total