The bicycle ride is over.
I remember 10 years ago as I rode into Grand Isle I felt that I was supposed to feel something deep, monumental, and emotional. I forced feelings that weren't there. This year I decided to just let it happen. No expectations or makeup. Au naturel. (Plus a natural state would help score some Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans.)
I start each morning with headphones and music. The music is shuffled so I don't control what's going to play. Similar to the above paragraph: just let it happen. Currently my iPod has 555 songs to choose from and this morning it went with Jonsi's Kolnidur. In concert the song brought unexpected tears. In the church this morning it brought expected tears. I started to question my day's strategy of rolling with it. I was off to a sad start.
But the tears didn't last very long. While applying sunscreen before the day's ride, I was standing in a fire ant pile.
The route was simple enough. Follow Louisiana 1 south. 10 years ago, Louisiana 1 south was without a shoulder. Chemical trucks, trucks with boats, and just your general Louisiana driver on a road with absolutely no shoulder. I feel I have a good amount of United States bicycle riding experience, so I'm confident in saying that Louisiana 1 was the most dangerous road I've ever ridden. However, Katrina destroyed the road we rode on and the rebuilt road was given a sizable shoulder. Safety dance.
And soon Bayou Lafourche (road left) and the homes/businesses (road right) gave way to what one might expect from southern Louisiana.
Louisiana 1 eventually gives way to Louisiana 1 Expressway. And it's a toll. Perhaps peculiar: there isn't any other way to get to Grand Isle (or a few other towns) without taking the toll expressway. Karen was concerned we wouldn't be able to ride our bicycles on the tollway and she had Slovic make some phone calls to Louisiana's Department of Transportation. The people on the other end of the phone didn't know the answer to bicycles on the expressway and they took our phone number so they could call us back.
When we arrived at the tollway entrance, a kid (probably a few years older than a kid) was sitting on a concrete divider next to a bigger block of concrete covered in a tarp (perhaps soon to be an official toll booth). The kid was collecting the toll money from people who were without a Geaux Pass. (He provided receipts and seemed somewhat official.) We didn't ask him if bicycles were allowed, we just asked, "How much?" The kid seemed confused and asked how much the toll was on bicycles to the concrete block. At this point an older, much more in charge man appeared. He looked at us and we asked him "How much?" After a brief pause, he replied, "Have at it today fellas." And we rode the entire toll expressway for free.
(Sidenote 1: I didn't get the mileage, but Slovic measured the distance of the bridge on the drive back at over 8 miles.)
(Sidenote 2: At some point while we were on the bridge, an official from the Louisiana Department of Transportation called back informing us that bicycles were NOT allowed on the expressway.)
(Sidenote 3: Sidenote 2 is why you should just ask a kid how much instead of calling some suit in a Baton Rouge office.)
(Photo note: The bridge in the background is the same bridge (and expressway) as the foreground. The picture was taken from a very safe location well away from any traffic.)
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