07.03-07.05 Lafayette, Alexandria, and Natchitoches, LA

Okay so it’s been a while since we’ve had internet, but I don’t feel like completely recapping the past few days because they weren’t so great. BUT I broke 1000 miles today...I'm over 1/4 done!!! crazy....anyway, here's a little:

Things I’ve Learned So Far on Bike & Build

1. There is a major difference between mental exhaustion and physical exhaustion but I suffer from both every day. Mental exhaustion has more to do with either a long, boring flat road with no end in sight or a crazy busy highway with terrible road surfaces and cars passing 3 inches from you. This kind of being tired only makes the physical difficulty worse. I’ve learned that mental state is everything. If you set out in the morning to do 100 miles, you’ll feel great at mile 80. But if you set out to do an 80 mile ride, you’ll be ready to pass out at mile 80.

2. There is such a thing as a white cow with no black spots. And cows do not like bikers. They run away in herds from us when we pass by…probably because they’ve never seen a biker before. We’re going through some pretty rural areas. Think corn field claustrophobia. Dogs, on the other hand, LOVE bikers, as in they love to eat bikers. Today alone I was chased by dogs 3 different times. It’s amazing how your ‘flight or fight’ instinct kicks in and that speedometer gets really high.

3. When I’m trying to comfort or encourage myself on my bike, I sing. Going up a hill, I tend to sing boy band songs…preferably ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’ by N*SYNC. When I’m just having a rough day, I’ll sing more meaningful songs. We love to have sing-a-longs on the road too. Yesterday for July 4^th we sang every patriotic song we could think of...as well as some Christmas songs.

4. I am dirty. Mom, you thought my dorm room was dirty, you don’t even want to come near us after we’ve biked 100 miles. In a single day, I’ve sweat, been rained on, gone to the bathroom outside and in dirty gas stations, changed flat tires, laid in grass, climbed trees, eaten peanut butter and jelly, and then sat in all this for multiple hours. I’m on laundry duty this week and the smell of our laundry literally makes me nauseated. You have never truly appreciated a hot shower until you’ve biked all day in the rain.

5. Speaking of the rain, it’s fun to bike in for about the first 5 minutes. By then, you are cooled off and you are just drenched. If this happens during the first part of the day, you definitely won’t be dry for a long time.

6. People are amazingly generous. Two nights ago, we stayed at the Catholic Diocese in Lafayette, LA and a random lady who works at the church invited all 27 of us to her barbeque that night for dinner. When we first got there, we thought it was a Christian singles group, but that turned out to be a rumor. Last night in Alexandria, LA, a lady on the board of Habitat and two parishioners whose son in on the Central Bike & Build route right now, made us a wonderful dinner and breakfast this morning.

7. I’ve perfected the art of eating before intense physical activity. No more of this ‘wait 20 minutes before getting back in the pool’ craziness. I can eat powerbars while riding my bike.

8. People down south really like sno cones and anything Cajun.

9. Railroad tracks will always be scary to cross.

10. Helmets really do save lives. Not to scare anyone, but we’ve had two people crack helmets so far. It’s the crazy idiot motorists who think that bikers have no right to the road. I truly hope anyone who is reading this will be much more careful next time you pass a biker on the road. It doesn’t mean you need to pass into the other lane completely, but a few feet of distance would be nice.

11. We crossed the Mississippi River on Tuesday. That’s not something I learned, but whatever.

12. When your back tire is half flat, you can’t go fast. And it’s really frustrating and the world seems like it’s going to end…until you fix the problem and everything is sunny again.

13. We have some hardcore animal activists in our group. Yesterday we passed by two puppies on the side of the road outside someone’s house. At first it was, ‘Oh look at the cute puppies.’ Then it was, ‘Oh my god they are malnourished and mistreated.’ Then it was, ‘We must rescue them.’ I thought it was ridiculous because the puppies probably belonged to the people in the house and yes they looked a little hungry and sad but it was not our business to interfere. They ended up bringing the puppies to some guy who had worked for a vet and was going to call someone. Sketchy…

14. Team Tardy is awesome. We arrived first last night. Maybe time for a name change. Some have suggested Team Timing. We’ll see…

15. Tonight we are staying in Natchitoches, LA (pronounced something like knack-e-jez) which was the first settlement of the Louisiana Purchase so it’s a really cute old town with lots of history and culture. There are a total of 53 bed and breakfasts (!!) and it was rated as one of the best places in the country to retire that you don’t know about. The movie Steel Magnolias was filmed here. Apparently there was some Indian chief who had two sons, Natchitoches and Natchitoc;laksjifn (I don’t know how to spell it but it sounds similar). He told Natchitoches to walk as far East as he wanted and that would be his land and he told the other son to walk as far West as he wanted for his land. So now there are sister cities (or brother cities I guess) in West Texas and Louisiana.

16. In Louisiana, they call counties 'parishes' which was very confusing at first. I just thought there were a ton of churches.

Okay that’s all I have time for. Love ya’ll lots!