Thursday, September 30, 2010

Crossing The Mississippi River

I started today on LA 190 again, instead of using the Adventure Cycling Maps. LA 190 is a more direct route and I eliminated two river ferry crossings.  Once again I was on wide shoulders, flat terrain, blue skys and cool temps.  The hummity has been unseasonably low.

I took the bridge over the Atchafalaya River, then crossed the spillway on a 3 1/2 mile flat bridge about 25-30 feet above the ground with no shoulder and a concret guard rail.  The causeway was 4 lane, light traffic and Vicki followed with flashers on.






There was miles of sugar cane fields on either side of the road.

Crossing the Mississippi River at Port Allen presented another challange, but traffic was lite on the bridge and I rode safetly into Baton Rouge (captiol of Louisiana) around 11:00 AM.


For the remainder of the route through the city, traffic was not as bad as rush hour, but still heavy.




 We had lived in Baton Rouge for five years, and have many good friends here, who wanted us to visit, unfortunately we had to pass on the invites.  When cycling I have to keep going and even my route can change due to traffic.
                                                                                       GEAUX TIGERS!!!

After Denham Springs, Hwy 190 became two lanes with a very narrow shoulder.  For safety we dropped down at Walker to I-12 and after a few miles on the Interstate I was "pulled over" by a very friendly policeman. I was informed that I could not ride on the Interstate, so with lights flashing he escorted me to the next exit. 

We then turned south for a short distance to eastbound LA22 - this turned out to be a blessing for a lovely ride through the Scenic Byway.








We (Vicki) saw this sign and was wondering if it was meant for us!!! We did not see any bicycles and we were a little early, so kept on going!!!!

Day 18 of Riding:
Total Daily Miles: 110.4
Total Ride Miles: 1872.9
Total Davily Elevation Climb: 525'
Daily Ride Time: 8 hrs.
Average Daily Speed: 17 mph

1 comment:

  1. Cruising right along. Bike night looks like it would've been fun. Only until 10P though. Go Pop-a-wheelie!

    ReplyDelete