Dolly's Bike Blog

April 14: Lake Charles to Lafayette, LA

It certainly seemed as though we had taken a wrong turn when we reached Iowa just 12 miles into the day’s ride.

Jeff Davis Parish has cows and crayfish.

And the birds like the rice fields.

Check out this huge thistle plant.

At mile 42, we crossed the Mermentau River, over a high bridge.

Then at mile 55, we rode into Crowley, the Rice Capital of America.

Quite a high rise for a small town

Rice mill and dryers

I enjoyed the variety of birds we saw.

It had rained heavily overnight in this area, though we only experienced overcast skies. Many of the fields were flooded, as well as house yards.

We even had to ride through flooded roads.

We are spending the night in Lafayette.

83 miles today.

April 13: Silsbee, Texas to Lake Charles, LA

There was morning haze as we left the Pinewood Inn and passed by this skid plant.

At mile 35, we crossed into Louisiana. We also took pictures welcoming us to Texas as there were no such welcome signs when we entered Texas at El Paso back on March 24 (we estimate we rode 1,075 miles across Texas).

Of course, we rode past Louisiana bayous.

And we began to see rice fields.

This was quite a big drilling operation.

This family seemed to monopolize the youth rodeo circuit.

And on spring Saturdays, the volunteer firemen clean the engines.

We were quite hungry by mile 59. I actually ate a Lunchable.

As we approached Lake Charles, we had to deal with bridges with no shoulder.

Carla was hit by a car at a stop light, which ruined her rear wheel. Carol was able to take her to a local bike shop where she also got this PSFBYL T-shirt.

Linda fixed delicious poached salmon for dinner.

77 miles today, avg 10.9 mph.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom. Thanks for watching over me from heaven.

April 12: Cleveland to Silsbee, TX

Another beautiful day: mild temperatures, blue skies, moderate wind, reasonable road surfaces. But as Donna and I biked today, we agreed that the surroundings were not as beautiful as yesterday or Tuesday. We did like these flowers along the road, and enjoyed the butterfly eating from the thistle.

We did love this house, and stopped to feed the horse an apple I had in my back pack. The horse and I became friends, and afterwards he wandered over to another horse inside the fence to brag about the treat.

My right hip was bothering me early on, so at the first SAG, Carla, our driver for the day and a physical therapist back home in Brazil, gave me a nice stretch and massage. I was good for the rest of the day.

When we saw bikes lined up, we stopped at Lona’s Cookie Jar for coffee/soda and a delicious chocolate chip cookie. Check out this sign posted inside the shop.

We had been warned about logging trucks, and we saw many, but they gave us wide berths. You can also see the remnants of cuttings, and some new trees that have been planted.

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At mile 46, we stopped for lunch in Honey Island. This general store handles the shopping needs of the local area, but is neatly organized – and the cheeseburgers and onion rings hit the spot.

Earlier in the day, we entered Hardin County. In Kountze near the end of the ride, we rode past the County Courthouse.

Just as I rode into the driveway of the Pinewood Inn in Silsbee, my bike computer turned to 2,000 miles. And tomorrow we leave Texas after 18 riding days and 3 days off!

65 miles today; average 11.8 mph.