Nathan, Joachim, and I drove to Louisiana this past weekend to race in the Rouge Roubaix road race. It is suppose to be a really hard 102 mile road race with steep climbs, bad roads, and miles of dirt and gravel. I continue to find ways to mentally and physically beat myself into the ground so of course I was in! We left on friday and after 14 hrs. in the car we arrived in the middle of nowhere north of Baton Rouge known as St. Francisville.
In order to save time and spare you the whole story, here are some observations from the weekend:
1. Alligator tastes pretty good.
2. 30% of the roads in Louisiana and Mississippi are dirt, 50% are crap, and 20% are nice. By 20% I mean I-20 and I-10. I don't know what the tax dollars in these states pay for- it's not the roads. With tough competition from SC for worst state educations, I don't think taxes pay for the schools there either!
3. There is very beautiful countryside there.
4. LSU's cycling club has the worst, most horrible cycling kit in existence in the history of cycling. On that note, I'm glad I don't have to see anymore purple outfits worn by the fans of LSU either. Had enough of that. The whole state is purple and yellow.
5. If a Shimano Di2 electronic drivetrain equipped bike is packed in a car driving for 14 hrs with something touching the shift lever, the battery will go dead.
6. You can ghetto charge a Di2 battery by stripping the wires on a cellphone charger, inserting them into the battery, and plugging it into the wall.
7. Rouge Roubaix is the hardest road race I've ever done.
8. It feels weird and just a little creepy when someone tries to buy drugs from you at 11pm at a gas station in Pensacola, FL.
9. Nathan and Joachim did very well, and none of us flatted or crashed.
10. We drove straight home through the night after the race, arriving at 6:30 AM. The sunrise from the connecter was beautiful.
11.McDonalds will sell you a Mc Flurry at 2 AM.
Later-DH
2 comments:
Hi Dave,
I hate that your trip to "the middle of nowhere" was a fiasco. We proud West Felicianians prefer to call it "God's Country!", and I feel the need to defend our little piece of heaven. You are right about it being "beautiful countryside", so why would we want to concrete it up with roadways? We don't!! While we don't pretend to have the greatest roads ever, I believe your percentages might be a bit exaggerated. Your remark about tax dollars not paying for roads has substance, however you are way off base concerning the schools (if in fact you meant West Feliciana schools). Our school system continuously ranks in the top five for state accountability and are viewed as model schools. As for all the "purple and yellow", if you're not a LSU fan while in Louisiana (or while blogging about us), it's wise not to say so. And we know you're not because any LSU fan knows it's purple and GOLD!! Duh! Okay, having set you straight on a few of your observations, I'd like to welcome you back for a visit when you're not racing and have time to take in all the treasures we have to offer. Oh and one last thing ... I'm sure you paid for alligator, are you sure that's what you ate? And one MORE last thing ... GEAUX TIGERS!!!!
Wow. Someone can't take a joke! I come from SC- there's no state more backwards than here! Of course everything I wrote is exaggerated- if you read more of my posts you may see that is how I write. Thanks for " setting me straight!"
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