Ninety-one miles on the bike took us from wherever we stayed last night to where we are spending tonight (also in a hotel). The days start to run together after awhile. Never sure what day/date it is or where we are. The highlight of the ride was a stop at Fred's Lounge for Zydeco music, in Mamou, Louisiana. On the way, we cycled by fields of crawfish and/or rice - they rotate the "crops". They literally grow crawfish in fields of water and trap them in hundreds of cages, pull up each trap, harvest the crawfish. Once this is complete, they raise rice, then when the crawfish are ready to go back in to start their rotation, they eat the remaining rice plants. Quite an amazing procedure.
With 91 scheduled miles, Jeff figured he might be able to squeeze in nine extra miles for a century ride. So, he would take off five miles before the rest stops and then double back to the group to get the extra miles. He arrived at the hotel with 98 showing on the odometer - close enough, nothing to prove.
Lisa's longest solo ride--well solo with 43 new friends--91.1 miles. Again temps and wind did not play a factor good or bad.
Dancing to Cajun music at Fred's. A C2C tradition, Saturday morning, only play until 2 PM so that a local radio station can carry it live. You walk in and your body involuntarily starts to tap and clap to the music, and before you know it, your feet are moving! It is a lot of fun. Not to mention the head waitress, Tante Sue, who is very elderly but she is bopping around to the music as she serves bottles of "Hot Damn"--yep, you might have to check Wikipedia for that one--which she opens and takes the first sip, then hands you the bottle. We have not experienced this little tradition ourselves, but I have seen it done. Health code violations be damned! : )
Jeff had two punctures today. The first happened as he was riding back to the group before the second SAG stop. A chunk of glass found its way through the heavy duty tire and into the tube. I remember riding over the glass about ten miles sooner and thought I was okay after scrubbing the tire, apparently not. After changing the tire, he had to chase the group down for 25 miles. The second puncture came just before entering Mamou. A stinging insect, not sure what kind, flew into his leg or he rode into its stinger and punctured my skin. No stinger to remove, just mild swelling. Ken had a flat a couple miles out, limped it in with a bit of air. Udi had a spoke break. Judy had a flat 3 miles out. Lisa was the only one without a mechanical issue today--knock on wood and rubbing a lucky rabbit's foot. All of this with our mechanic on medical leave. Good news to report there, the spinal fracture he has will heal up on its own without any intervention, but he will need to wear a back brace. Bubba reports we may see him back, at least to sit and supervise, before the end of the tour. Prayers answered!
Milestone: We surpassed the 2000 mile mark.
UK Update:
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