Had to do another short ride today. Afternoon thunderstorms perfectly timed a stopover at the Best Western. 40 miles. When I went to breakfast this morning, there were a couple of bikes parked out front. I was surprised to see Glenn and Maya! After we had breakfast, we headed out. They were following the route until they had to turn off towards Lafayette. They’re visiting Maya’s parents and going to a festival. Along the way, Glenn ran over a chunk of retread tire that flipped up into his derailleur and gears. It bent a spoke and worse, bent his derailleur (the part that moves the chain up and down the gears). He ended up having to bend the derailleur and leave it set for only a couple of gears. After that we rode together for about the first 25 miles and then they veered off. I rode on towards Ville Platte. I was about 3 miles out and heard the ominous rumble of an afternoon thunderstorm. I just made it to the motel when it was directly overhead. I was hoping to ride to Bunkie, but didn’t want to chance it. Typically though, as soon as I checked in and paid for the room, the storm passed and the sun came back out. It’s still pretty out as I’m writing this. Oh, well, I’ve been working on my GPS files for the rest of the ride. Here’s the map from today and some pictures.

Glenn giving the thumbs up for the Oberlin Inn. They stayed there too, but had to change rooms because of bed bugs! I lucked out. A rice paddy or a crawfish farm. Or maybe both. The tiny dot next to the car is Glenn trying to repair his bike after the rubber tire jumped into his gears. Glenn in the background taking his bike for a test spin after the repair. Maya in the foreground chilling. Glenn repacking after the repair. All three of us en route again.

Paddlewheel looking boat. We weren’t sure what it’s purpose was, but I saw it in action later, so now I know. Relaxing on a crawfish harvesting boat. Maya and Glenn on a crawfishing boat.Maya noticed there was no “Welcome to Louisiana” sign crossing over the Texas line, so she made one.
The little seafood and crawfish store where we made a rest stop before parting ways. Maya double checking the map for their off route trip to Lafayette and Glenn double checking his repair work. Welcome to Mamou, the cajonest of the cajon towns.Here’s a crawfish farmer, crawfishing his crawfish farm.

And here’s a video.

Tomorrow, I plan on riding to Simmesport, about 53 miles.

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