hppants
Well-known member
I got a text from Big John months ago. Seems he was playing/working in Daytona for bike week, and was interested in stopping here on the way home to South Dakota. Awesome!!! Come on over, my friend!
I took the day off Tuesday so we could go play. With John in route, after work Monday, I stopped for groceries and started cooking. One can welcome friends here with a hand shake, but he’d have much better success doing it with a pot on top of the stove, and cold beer in the fridge.
The Redfishes arrived about the same time as John, and after Happy Hour, we sat down for a nice Cajun meal.
After dinner, I pulled out my assortment of fire waters and we sampled until John’s mileage pain was eased.
I woke up Tuesday morning early with a clear objective in mind. Raise John’s cholesterol by no less than 25 points in one day. So I ran to a local grocery and grab some Boudin (a meat/rice mixture incased in sausage casing) and cracklins (pig skin and meat fried in hog lard) for breakfast.
At John’s request, I ordered a fresh set of tires with our local cycle gear. About 8:30 am, we mosied to my shop for a mini-tech day.
The red horse sits and watches patiently….
John shipped some speed bleeders to my house and we ran the old fluid through the brakes and clutch in no time.
We got to Cycle Gear about 5 minutes early and they were setting up some kind of Big Boy Toy Fest.
With an hour to kill, I brought John to see a few sights of our city. The tire balance machine at our C/G has to be calibrated. I know this so I call my buddy Mike for a favor. We pick up some fried shrimp poboys and Mike fixes us up proper.
Back at my house, we mounted the new shoes and with half the day remaining, and the sun shining, we decided to go for a little ride.
With only a few hours to kill, I picked some of my favorite local roads to try. 25 miles in, we stopped at Rip Van Winkle Gardens to take a break.
We spotted about 10 pairs of Roseate Spoonbills roosting in a tree, but ******* Pants forgot to bring the binocular. I got a crappy picture with my camera. These are beautiful birds.
Then it was back on the back roads for some more riding. I stopped in the old town of St. Martinville. This is an old house on the Bayou Teche converted to a B-n-B.
This is the famous Evangeline Oak, which is a tree referenced by Henry W. Longfellow in a poem. Many estimate this tree is 400 years old.
I caught John taking in the local history.
From there, we saddled up and headed toward the swamp, stopping along the way for an ice cream.
At the swamp levee road, we turned right for an important reason. I feel it important for my friend to test the balance and feel of his new tires. Of course the only way to do that is to run the bikes up to “going to jail” speed, and ensure no vibration. So I did my duty with pride. I’m happy to report that Mike’s balancing efforts were spot on.
We made a quick stop at Lake Fosse Point State Park to drink some water.
Then it was back up the levee road heading north. We had a nice time with the high speed sweepers on this lonely Tuesday afternoon.
I got a thing for bridges and this old floating rust bucket is one of my favorites.
We had a nice afternoon.
You are welcome here anytime, my friend.
After a quick stop for gas, and walmart for oilter/filter, we suffered through the 5 pm traffic in Lafayette. Back at my house, John changed his oil and we got cleaned up for dinner. My wife and I took John to a local restaurant that specializes in seafood.
John and I ordered seafood salads. Guess he had enough heart attack calories.
A local Cajun band was picking that evening.
We watched these people dancing a little while.
Back at my house, we shared a snort of my happy juice and called it a night.
The next morning at 6:30 am, my wife and I went to work, and John headed northwest for home. I followed John’s SPOT tracker for 3 days in spirit, hoping that he got home safely and was glad to learn that he did.
So my friends, this ride report comes to a close uncharacteristically without any life altering experiences or thoughts. I had a great time hosting my friend, and offer the same hospitality to any of you interested in seeing my homeland.
Stay Thirsty, my Friends….
I took the day off Tuesday so we could go play. With John in route, after work Monday, I stopped for groceries and started cooking. One can welcome friends here with a hand shake, but he’d have much better success doing it with a pot on top of the stove, and cold beer in the fridge.
The Redfishes arrived about the same time as John, and after Happy Hour, we sat down for a nice Cajun meal.
After dinner, I pulled out my assortment of fire waters and we sampled until John’s mileage pain was eased.
I woke up Tuesday morning early with a clear objective in mind. Raise John’s cholesterol by no less than 25 points in one day. So I ran to a local grocery and grab some Boudin (a meat/rice mixture incased in sausage casing) and cracklins (pig skin and meat fried in hog lard) for breakfast.
At John’s request, I ordered a fresh set of tires with our local cycle gear. About 8:30 am, we mosied to my shop for a mini-tech day.
The red horse sits and watches patiently….
John shipped some speed bleeders to my house and we ran the old fluid through the brakes and clutch in no time.
We got to Cycle Gear about 5 minutes early and they were setting up some kind of Big Boy Toy Fest.
With an hour to kill, I brought John to see a few sights of our city. The tire balance machine at our C/G has to be calibrated. I know this so I call my buddy Mike for a favor. We pick up some fried shrimp poboys and Mike fixes us up proper.
Back at my house, we mounted the new shoes and with half the day remaining, and the sun shining, we decided to go for a little ride.
With only a few hours to kill, I picked some of my favorite local roads to try. 25 miles in, we stopped at Rip Van Winkle Gardens to take a break.
We spotted about 10 pairs of Roseate Spoonbills roosting in a tree, but ******* Pants forgot to bring the binocular. I got a crappy picture with my camera. These are beautiful birds.
Then it was back on the back roads for some more riding. I stopped in the old town of St. Martinville. This is an old house on the Bayou Teche converted to a B-n-B.
This is the famous Evangeline Oak, which is a tree referenced by Henry W. Longfellow in a poem. Many estimate this tree is 400 years old.
I caught John taking in the local history.
From there, we saddled up and headed toward the swamp, stopping along the way for an ice cream.
At the swamp levee road, we turned right for an important reason. I feel it important for my friend to test the balance and feel of his new tires. Of course the only way to do that is to run the bikes up to “going to jail” speed, and ensure no vibration. So I did my duty with pride. I’m happy to report that Mike’s balancing efforts were spot on.
We made a quick stop at Lake Fosse Point State Park to drink some water.
Then it was back up the levee road heading north. We had a nice time with the high speed sweepers on this lonely Tuesday afternoon.
I got a thing for bridges and this old floating rust bucket is one of my favorites.
We had a nice afternoon.
You are welcome here anytime, my friend.
After a quick stop for gas, and walmart for oilter/filter, we suffered through the 5 pm traffic in Lafayette. Back at my house, John changed his oil and we got cleaned up for dinner. My wife and I took John to a local restaurant that specializes in seafood.
John and I ordered seafood salads. Guess he had enough heart attack calories.
A local Cajun band was picking that evening.
We watched these people dancing a little while.
Back at my house, we shared a snort of my happy juice and called it a night.
The next morning at 6:30 am, my wife and I went to work, and John headed northwest for home. I followed John’s SPOT tracker for 3 days in spirit, hoping that he got home safely and was glad to learn that he did.
So my friends, this ride report comes to a close uncharacteristically without any life altering experiences or thoughts. I had a great time hosting my friend, and offer the same hospitality to any of you interested in seeing my homeland.
Stay Thirsty, my Friends….
