Post for June 8

The day started like the previous day ended, on quiet country roads with steam sometimes floating above the wet tar.

I took this picture on a safe section of a bad road. The other sections had traffic passing in both directions with no shoulder. All of them had the rumble strip shown here.

Later in the day, the road had several bits that cyclists do not like. It only had 2 lanes. Both were busy. My lane often had no shoulder, and a rumble strip was on the white line.

That strip made it hard to wander off the road in very busy traffic, which I like to do. At slow speeds on a heavy bike, moving over a rumble strip can make my bike unstable, which can nudge me back into traffic. When traffic was really intense, I cycled on the gravel.

I’m usually Ok in intense traffic. I turn on all my lights, stay calm, and look around a lot. I did all that today except for staying calm. The busy road made me tense for 10-20 miles. People sometimes tell me that I’m brave to go on these long rides. I like to reply that bravery and foolishness are 2 sides of thin coin. Today, I felt like I was on the wrong side of that coin.

Today’s song, from my cycling playlist, is Beethoven’s 5th, first movement. It’s intensity fits this day.

The red marker shows where I ended. I tried a different zoom level than the previous post, let me know what you think.

A few folks have told me that Louisiana is going to be hot. They’re probably right, but after cycling over another road with steam coming off it, I’m feeling better about cycling in Louisiana.

While the roads were quiet, I went through a lovely little town, which was strangely quiet.

A closer view of the previous picture.

These shops look very cosy, but there were no people.

Hills for the day.

Later, the road became busy in both directions with no shoulder and a rumble strip, hard to feel safe.

Eventually the shoulder became larger, but traffic was still busy.

Eventually, I found a slower road to my campsite. It added a few miles, but I was fine with that.