"The Bike"
Today started well. It was supposed to go from DeRidder, LA to Washington, LA, a 91 mile day. However, because there were no RV camps in Washington, Vince had to go searching for an RV spot. He ended up finding one in a town just south of Washington called Opelousas.
In the first 5 miles of the ride, I had a flat. So I took the 30 minutes it takes to fix a flat on the road and got back on route – easy peazy lemon squeezy.
At about mile 45, I hit another snag. At that mile destination, I had planned to take a rest stop at the gas station at the turnoff. Only problem is – there was no gas station. So I called Vince and he was 45 minutes away.
The next town was 18 miles away and I was running critically low on water and down to one bottle of Gatorade. The question was, should I keep riding and hope for the best, or wait for Vince to catch up to me with provisions?
I decided to trust in the Lord and know that he would provide for me and keep on riding. During those 18 miles, I conserved as much as I could and took drinks only at the 5 minute marks. No willie nilly drinking when I was thirsty!
So believe it or not, just as I’m pulling into the next town, I drink my last sip of Gatorade and the water was all gone as well. I ride into the first gas station completely dry. Fifteen minutes later, Vince shows up.
Louisiana Roads
Now another thing about this ride. The roads are HORRIBLE! On one road in particular, there were so many potholes in the road, that I thought for SURE that the state of Louisiana was putting speed bumps in the road!
The “speed bumps” happened for about 70 of the 91 miles. By the end, my arms and bike were completely beaten up. In fact my back wheel was very untrue (out of round). So much so that I ended up switching it out with the back wheel of the spare bike later that night.
Opelousas
So this brings me to my favorite part of this day. Opelousas. Vince ended up finding an RV spot in none other than the city’s park that happens to be at the back end of their baseball fields. And guess what Tuesday night is? Softball night!
So Vince and I ended up eating with the shades open in the RV so we could watch softball while we ate.
After dinner, we set up the bike stand so I could do some maintenance on the bike and clean it. After I got all set up, a gentleman came up and talked with us for a while. His name is Julius Alsandor and he’s an Alderman (we call them councilman in Texas) for Opelousas.
Great guy. We ended up talking I think for about an hour. He signed my jersey and was generous enough to donate some money to I Ride for Cancer.
I just amazes me how God has been putting me in the right place to talk with people who need it. Julius told us how his dad died of liver cancer just a few years back. Cancer touches us all and I think we all agree that we need to get rid of it.
Best Church Sign of the Day
“God responds to Kneemail”
That’s it for Day 4. Tomorrow is a “short” day of 75 miles from Opelousas, LA to St. Francisville, LA.
