{"id":23315,"date":"2018-05-03T21:22:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T01:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=23315"},"modified":"2018-05-03T21:22:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T01:22:35","slug":"day-19-thursday-may-3-breaux-bridge-to-livonia-louisiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=23315","title":{"rendered":"Day 19. Thursday, May 3 – Breaux Bridge to Livonia, Louisiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another 7:15 start this morning, but the 70\u00b0 temperature felt much cooler than yesterday, low humidity and a light breeze out of the south east, helped. \u00a0Our back road out of town passed small homes\"\"<\/a> and pretty farms.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Nine miles into our ride we reached Henderson\"\"<\/a> and the north turn (into Atchafalaya National Heritage Area), we had been looking forward to ever since encountering the south wind, days\/weeks ago. \u00a0We were almost giddy with the idea of a tailwind on this long northbound stretch along the levy.\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 A quick jaunt to the top of the levy,\"\"<\/a> to see if we were missing anything\"\"<\/a> and then we were off. \u00a0Just as were settling into the saddle, ready to enjoy smooth sailing, we hit dirt,\"\"<\/a> and not<\/strong> pay dirt<\/em>, our pavement had only lasted two miles!<\/p>\n

We bumped along the gravel road, struggling to stay upright. \u00a0A couple times we had to dismount to walk our bikes,\"\"<\/a> pedaling just too treacherous. \u00a0It was such a waste of a quiet and scenic route. \u00a0Just as we thought things could not get any worse, \"\"<\/a>not this, this<\/em>…\"\"<\/a>…we had come too far to turn back now, but to play it safe we walked our bikes to the top of the levy. \u00a0Our rocky, terribly rough road, was slow with several cattle guards\"\"<\/a> thrown in for an extra rattle. \u00a0Angry looking bulls\"\"<\/a> with sharp horns did not even phase us. \u00a0After almost 20 miles, “vacation homes” appeared along the Bayou Courtableau Outlet Channel,\"\"<\/a> we hoped it was a sign of true civilization, or at least a paved road.<\/p>\n

Duckies had never been happier to turn into the wind along a busy highway.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Five miles later, we dropped into the town<\/em> of Krotz Sprngs for lunch.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0The shaded streets felt like air conditioning, but there was no food to be found. \u00a0One pedal stroke from rejoining our highway, we found a place to stop for lunch. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0We would need our rest and fuel to get over this next bridge.\"\"<\/a>But the owner of the cafe, insisted we not proceed via bike. \u00a0The bridge ahead of us was not the problem, but the following four mile stretch over the bayou offered no shoulder. \u00a0An hour of rest and ready to go, we politely declined her offer. \u00a0She chased us out of her cafe and insisted we load the duckies in her truck; there was no saying no. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0The bridge was worse than we thought, absolutely NO shoulder and the lanes were unusually narrow; \"\"<\/a>we were happy Claudette saved us from what would have been a big mistake.<\/p>\n

Once back on the road, \"\"<\/a>even pedaling the shoulder seemed too close to the traffic. \u00a0Forty five miles later we pulled into our stop for the day. \u00a0It took 15 minutes to determine the room they had booked for us, did not exist. \u00a0A mile later we checked into the next hotel, newer and more comfortable, but internet was almost non-existent.\u00a0 Dinner would not be much better! \u00a0A short walk away was the only place for food. \u00a0Equipped with a bottle of wine (in a plastic cup) we “enjoyed” (with plastic fork and knife) Salisbury Steak for dinner. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0When you are hungry and tired, everything is good! \u00a0It was only a 43 mile ride today (shorter tomorrow), but it had beaten us up. \u00a0We will<\/em> make up for this, soon!<\/p>\n\n\t\t