65 miles ridden – 220 feet climbed

Finally it starts. After a couple of days nearly getting over jet lag and mooching around downtown New Orleans today we all got on our bikes and started riding.

New Orleans is much more genuine than I imagined and really has a very unique character unlike anywhere else in the US I have been – it reminded me a lot of Havana and Soufriere in St Lucia – but it has the Mississippi River.

We were straight into early starts with breakfast at 06:30, the upside being it was at IHOP (International House of Pancakes), then Deja Vu as I automatically went into butt balm, sunscreen, drink bottle prep like the last ride finished last week. The Across America North 2016 Alumni gathered for the start:

From left to right: Paul, Ernie, me (just in case you don’t remember) and Lon. We had already caught up on our various adventures since we parted in Portsmouth NH. Last year Paul canoed the entire Mississippi River from source to sea – over 2000 miles, Ernie crossed the US again with his daughter following the Southern route, and Lon did the Ragbrai ride across IOWA which is the largest mass ride in the US. Sounds great – Sue get ready!

The ride started on the top of a levee by the river. Really peaceful but with trees between us and the water and petrochemical plants on the other side it wasn’t very picturesque. I don’t know whether it is compulsory with all long rides that on the first day you have to cycle on busy highways but we did have about 25 miles on quite busy roads – not quite the A12 (see day 1 of the 2016 trip) but busy nonetheless. We also had quiet lanes:

We rode through quite a few little towns and communities, so no desolation like in the Western states. In one town we passed two kindergartens and the children were waving and cheering us which was nice. Everyone so far has been very friendly especially one truck driver who must have patiently followed us along a winding narrow road for 2 or 3 miles before we could pull over and let him and 15 or 20 cars behind him go past. Most of them waved and cheered too.

It was hot. My Garmin the average temperature was 29C but it felt a bit hotter when we were out in the open and the Garmin shows a maximum of 39C. Funny thing is it didn’t really bother me – I did drink about 4 litres of water though.

We have a really good crowd on this ride. There are 4 other Brits: Richard from Bridgend, Tim from Stamford, and Peter and Sue from Huddersfield, 2 Aussies from Perth, and the rest are from all across the US. Now I need to eat again!