DAY 6 / AUSTIN TO NEW ORLEANS RIDE May 21 2015
From Liz: Today was a hot one. The first half of the day Emily and I spent on our own. Unlike most days, we did not have longer than a 9 mile stretch on any road. The area we were in felt very desolate. We would go miles without seeing another car or person. It felt like a movie desert. We rode past a number of crawfish ponds and ended up on another dirt road today. It was the roughest we’ve been on yet and was mostly gravel for 3 miles or so. After we made it back to pavement territory we came across four lounging white dogs on the side of the road. Most dogs chase us. These guys just said, “Hi.” Emily and I both miss our dogs dearly so it was nice to pet a dog for once and not just run from it. We are in oil country for sure. We passed a couple different oil equipment supply places and these crazy drills. We spent most of the rest of the day on the I-90 frontage road. Even though the view was repetitive, we were able to travel at a pretty quick clip which made the miles go by faster. From Phil: Today was another shop stop for me. I made sure the girl’s bikes were good to go before I drove ahead to Lafayette. I stopped into Hub City Cycles to see how things were going. The shop was filled with some sweet Chicago Schwinns and other cool custom bikes. The one thing that stuck out was a replica Pee Wee Herman bike that they built themselves. It’s a super rad shop that’s psyched on what Fairdale has to offer. Check’em out for your Fairdale needs. I picked up some veggie-chicken-salad sandwiches for the girls and met up with them in Maurice, LA for lunch. The girls are making better time every day. I’m really impressed with Emily since before training for this trip she had never really ridden more than 10 miles in one day. She rode with Liz to San Antonio one time before this trip and that’s it. It goes to show you anyone can do something like this. If you just make a plan and set your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. It’s also good if your friends are around to support you! The rain definitely chased us down today. There was no escape. I think we’re just expecting it now. The clouds rolled in and it dumped! Lightening struck and the girls jumped in the van. We waited it out for a few minutes. After the thunder died down, they threw on their rain coats, got back on their bikes, and pedaled through the rain. The rain eventually stopped and the road began to dry. Rain sucks but it beats the heat!
