Collin and Smash Ride Bikes Across America

We're currently in Oberlin, LA (50 miles from Texas) in the Fire Station House. We stopped for lunch at a church and checked the weather report, thunderstorms and rain through the night. Since I've been fighting a cold (booo hiss) we decided to putter over to the library, and then find a place to sleep BEFORE the rain hit, thus saving us a trip to the laundry mat first thing in the morning with half our clothes wet. We were soon greeted by Donnie, a volunteer firefighter who told us that they [fire department of Oberlin]house bikers that roll through all of the time. We met Lawrence the fire chief, and made ourselves at home. We did see them roll out with the engine, a tree fell on a house, and the resident's truck, and their car too! (Truck good, tree bad...)

Here are some highlights from the last week, with more to come soon from Collin.

Coming into New Orleans felt like we were going to pedal ourselves straight into Lake Pontchartrain before actually getting there. The horizon there is just water, there's only a tiny strip of land that'll take you to New Orleans along the Gulf.



Collin called up friend and coworker Chris Cook who gave us some good information on places to check out in New Orleans, and where to eat.

We explored the french quarter and the city park before stopping for a bite at Liuzzas. I had a shrimp po'boy, some oyster spinach soup, and some tasty jambalaya.

During lunch Collin contacted Ben and Kate, who lived in the Bywater neighborhood and had responded to our request on Warm Showers. Yay! Ben is an freelance illustrator whose biked all over the place, east coast, west coast, and has been in New Orleans for just a couple of months. You can check out his awesomeness here! Kate is an artist whose paintings and artistry really inspire. We enjoyed crashing at their shotgun apartment and hanging out at the local bar listen to spoken word poetry.

The following day we also stopped at Iron Rail, an anarchist bookstore which you should visit if you're passing through...

Rain, rain, cold and wind leaving New Orleans, and HWY61 was well...a *bit* dangerous. We had to take the full lane otherwise risk passers coming too close and too fast for comfort. After passing the NORCO oil refinery we found a place to sleep at a boat launch vowing ever again to ride in the pouring rain. HWY61 continued to worsen as we got closer to Baton Rouge turning into shoulders with giant pitted cracks that were several inches deep every 3 feet. YUCK. Another scary stretch on the HWY.
But! We did find a spot to sleep in that smelled like Christmas. Collin enjoyed stacking the trees around us just for fun,and we slept well.

Lots of Mardi Gras floats on the road headed to parades all over Louisiana...


The bridge out of Baton Rouge to cross the great Mississippi constituted the last stretch of 'oh please, let us make it through this unscathed' roadway moments in Louisiana. This bridge has no shoulder, and required us to take the lane, headed up and then dropping down out of sight lines.



We traveled on towards Opelousas in hopes of finding a local bar to watch the superbowl, which of course would be conveniently located next to someplace we could sleep, 'cause being out on the road after the game seem...unwise no? We stopped at a gas station and met a nice fellow who after a brief conversation with Collin gave us $30 for whatever we needed! On top of that we'd just met Hilary, or Bill for short...and you'll hear about our adventures with him from Collin...

We made it to Eunice, LA for the game. Kick off was in 30 minutes and we searched eagerly for the perfect spot. We found nothing. Not to be dissuaded we asked the attendant at the gas station who pointed us in the right direction. After some searching, and conversations that went like...


Smash- "This place seems great, I don't like the heavy smoke, but the folk seem nice."

Collin- "Yeah but they don't have seating, seating would be nice. I think we should keep looking."

Smash- "But kick off is in 20 minutes, this seems fine."

Collin- "Meh...I think we can do better. Standing for the whole game is no fun."

Smash- "Yeah, but are we going to find a bar with seating? I think all the chairs are going to be booked."

Collin- "Looks like there are a couple of bars on HWY190."

Smash- "Meh."

Collin- "Okay, how about Ronnie's Place."

Smash- Frown.

Collin- "How about we rock, paper, scissor whether we go or not."

Smash- "No no, let's go and see."

As we pulled up to Ronnie's place we were warmly greeted by several customers who hooped and hollered and told us to hurry up and come inside for some free BBQ, cake, and beer. A nice women bestowed us with mardi gras beads and a cool guy gave me a beer coozy when I couldn't find my 'Just Rope It' coozy I picked up in Alabama. It looked like we'd found the perfect spot! locals watching the game there were so much fun to hang out with. Ronnie, the owner let us try his Jamison Whiskey Balls (WOW) and cheered the Saints on.

During the game we met 'Chicken' Dave who had helped out another biker with a flat tire. He insisted that we crash at his place. Since he didn't have a truck we were wary to ride our bikes the 3 miles there...but then in conversation he just asked Ronnie for his truck and Ronnie just dropped the keys in his hand just like that. We've never seen so many folks give so freely and honestly. We clinked our beers together and gave a cheer for Louisiana. (Or rather Acadiana as the locals say, to distinguish themselves from other parts of LA)

It was so exciting to see the Saints come back after a 10-0 difference, and that last interception touchdown was so great!


(Smash, Chicken Dave, Collin)

Lastly, I present to you, the best road sign I've ever seen.



-Smash