56.3 miles 864 feet of climb
The day started when a train rumbled by (the tracks were adjacent to the park where we were staying) at 2:08am. Several of us (including me) were camping on a covered stage and the train whistle was very loud as was the clanking of the rail cars of what sounded like a very long train. The wooden stage on which I had pitched my tent rumbled as the train rolled by.
Train aside, the American Legion group that hosted us at the Veteran's Memorial Park were unbelievably friendly and took great pride in Merryville. Adventure Cycling has used this spot for Southern Tier bike rides in the fall and spring. Other cyclists can make arrangements to stay here, but our group also gets fed in the evening and morning. It is a nice change not having to fix our own food.
We invited the other four baggers to join us at breakfast. In addition to Wendell and Vaughn, who were headed East like we are, and Hannah from Lancaster, PA, and Corrine from Boston, all joined us. Hannah and Corrine are on a self-contained bike trip going from New Orleans to Austin, TX.
After three states of mountains, the desert, and the hill country of Texas (not to mention the chip seal roads and poor shoulders), the flat roads we have been on plus the smooth, practically debris-free wide shoulders have made riding in Louisiana a real pleasure.
We took a break and stopped in DeRitter at the Flat Tire Coffee Co. Stephen joined James and I. I had a great shrimp poboy.
It looked like it was going to rain, but it just was sprinkling. It was cloudy all day.
When we got to Oberlin, James and I stopped at The Crawfish Shack at the edge of town and both had Shrimp PoBoys for lunch. We found out that they had crawfish boils after 4:00 and returned with Mark, Kathy, and Dan. Our server graciously educated us on how crawfish are trapped.
We had both crawfish with Cajun seasoning and shrimp with drawn butter. Excellent food. We ate light (hard to do) because the Oberlin American Legion cooked us dinner (also good). Louisiana is the best food yet for this trip.
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