Day 2 of the Big Ride (16 May 2012)
Knowing that I was going to be out on this ride since late last year, it's amazing to be here.
(NOTE: If you can, be sure to put something big on your calendar for anywhere from 4-8 months out. It was great to have the long "lead-time" as the event approached, and now that I'm here, it's simply fantastic.)
The pace today was a solid one; though from time to time we did slow down enough for me to catch my breath.
From the beginning of the day, we looked out and saw a beautiful sky, with a call for thunderstorms later in the day. All the more reason to kick it up a mile or two per hour, and get in before the rain had a chance to fall. (Within 1.5 miles of the hotel, after a stop for lunch, we did feel a drop or two. But, the "storm" passed without us really knowing...)
In to and through Baton Rouge, I was reminded of just how important college football is in this part of the country. The LSU stadium will hold (are you sitting down???) 95,000 people on game day. Seriously, that's a LOT of people!
Riding through the LSU campus was awesome. I've been able to visit, since publishing the book earlier this year, quite a few college campuses. There's something electric about the energy and abundance of opportunity there. Oh, then while I was pedaling along the perimeter road I had a flashback to visiting Baton Rouge many years back while working for another company. I was there to present a two day seminar, and went running along the college grounds.
How can fig newtons, watermelon and chip's ahoy cookies taste SO good? When they are prepared for us at a SAG stop. Here's a picture of the guys I rode the entire day with (yes, they're the fast ones!). The guy on the left, Albert, is here from Holland; he loves to see America by Bicycle! They all know each other, so it was great that they "let me" tag along their pace line over miles and miles of open Louisiana roadway. Thanks!
I simply had to get a picture of this sign - the one off to the right. I travel to the big cities of the world, working in New York, London, Zurich, The Bahamas and more...never have I seen a sign where they offered "deer processin."
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