hppants
Well-known member
I recently had my first adventure of 2019. It spanned 3 days and about 1000 miles of mostly north-central Louisiana back roads. As has come to be expected, my Yamaha FJR ran flawlessly, although I did have one minor non-motorcycle equipment problem which I will get into later. I rode by myself and I rode with others. The weather was great; especially considering it was early January. Although our 6 month summers here in the Deep South are absolutely brutal, our mild winters are certainly great for motorcycle riding. Any of your snow birds looking for a break from “PMS” (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome) might consider a trip down to my neck of the woods – I’d be happy to have ya!
I saw some familiar stuff, and also discovered some new stuff in my extended backyard. This to me is the essence of the motorcycle adventure. You leave the house with no pre-disposed expectations, and therefore by definition, you are never disappointed. That concept is not meant to a defeatist attitude. Rather, you make a conscious decision to free your mind from the constraints of any plan. You remind yourself that it doesn’t matter, and you believe it. You tell yourself that you will allow your mind to wander with your motorcycle, and your will keep your eyes open. Not just for situational awareness purposes or as a safe riding technique. These are very important, but not exclusive to your objective. Beyond that, you keep your eyes open for anything that might pique your interest. An unusual road sign. A run down abandoned building that speaks to you. A hill or valley that grabs the light just the right way. An opportunity to learn something about the history, the culture, and the people who live where you are. A road that curves and dips into your imagination. Some unusual tree or Bayou that is begging you to stop and meditate over it.
Do this with fervor and commitment and you will experience precisely why the motorcycle was invented. I hope you enjoy the pics.
Day 1: Lafayette, LA – Keithville, LA, approximately 360 miles.
A weather front passed through home yesterday and overnight, the temperatures dropped 25 degrees and the skies cleared. I left the house at first light at about 43 degrees. I reluctantly got on the Interstate heading north, just wanting to put some distance between myself and home. About 15 miles north of Lafayette, I hit a low ceiling of total cloud cover, and it felt like the temperature dropped 20 degrees. None to worry, I just clicked up twice on my heated jacket liner and all was good. About 25 miles later, things started feeling a bit calmer, so I exited onto Hwy 115 and rode into Marksville, which is the Avoyelles Parish seat.
Recently, I’ve developing an interest in courthouse architecture. This one doesn’t do much for me.
On the other hand, I find many of the old restored buildings in the town square beautiful. This one is still used as a bank today. Check out that copper clock on the façade, keeping accurate time as far as I can tell.
I thought the old movie theatre looked cool, although I’m not sure what it is used for now.
Always go to the brown signs. There’s usually something interesting on them.
I saddle back up and check the map. I’ve got no plan, and no intention of forming one now. Things to my north look interesting, so away I go.
This is one of several trucks I would see today with a different kind of grocery stashed in the bed. I talked to a deer hunter at a gas stop and he told me that all of the rain we have gotten has reduced the size of the habitat for the deer herd, which in turn has made hunting them a bit easier. I say good for them. Each successful hunt is one less forest rat that can jump out in front of my motorcycle.
I continue generally northeast just winging it and enjoying the state highways. When I get to a road intersection, I pull over and check the map. Or sometimes I just look at the choices and say to myself “Inny, Minny, Miny, Mo!!”. I think this time it ended up being “Minny”. Or maybe it was “Inny”. I forget.
I turn west on Hwy 126 and start heading into the pine forest. In the town of Grayson, I saw something that caught my eye. We don’t normally have these critters on our farms.
She was cute and came right to the fence to greet me. I wished that I had a granola bar or something to give her.
Just out of Grayson, my heated jacket liner stopped working. Uh…. Louisiana, we have a problem. Now 42 degrees and damp, I was starting to get chilled. I pulled into the village of Sikes, Louisiana and stopped under the patio of this dual use building.
There was a lady about my age smoking a cigarette in front.
(Lady) “Are you here for the post office or the store?”
(Pants) “That depends”
(Lady) “On what?”
(Pants) “On which one has the restroom.”
(Lady) “They both do. It’s the outhouse in back of the building.
(Pants) “Oh…. Thanks.”
At least the outhouse had plumbing and was clean, if not freezing cold. It’s close enough to lunch time, so I went into the store to poke around. It’s like I stepped back in time 50 years.
I grabbed a chicken sandwich, a chicken tender, and a bottled water and sat down to warm up and chat with my new friend.
(Pants) “How many people live in Sikes?”
(Lady) “Well it use to be 205, but now it’s 206 ‘cause my cousin just had a baby last month.”
I had a good time talking with her, even though her culinary skills leave plenty to be desired.
At the store, I diagnosed my jacket liner problem. The connector on the liner that goes to the controller crapped out. Oh well, that ain’t getting fixed right now. I’ll figure out something later. So I went back to the outhouse, put on my long undies, mounted up, and took off for points unknown.
Mid afternoon, the sun is starting to peek out from behind the clouds and it was very welcome.
I suppose I better think about where I’m going to sleep tonight. I don’t have my camping gear with me. The whole State is saturated from relentless rains, camping would not be a good idea.
My friend Randy recently moved to this general area. I texted him to see if he was up for some company. In two minutes, I got a reply that I was welcome without imposition, and that his better half, Ms. Moni, would have the gumbo on the stove when I got there. Ok, that’s settled, I can get back to more riding.
Now that I have an actual destination, I start riding in that general direction. I found hwy 486, which is a wonderful ring levee loop road that is freshly paved and a hoot to ride.
It was about 10 miles of this. Yee ha!!
I stopped to answer the call of nature and stretch my legs. This gal was also happy to see me and again, I should have thrown some granola bars in my tank bag.
It’s nice and quiet back here.
I saw some familiar stuff, and also discovered some new stuff in my extended backyard. This to me is the essence of the motorcycle adventure. You leave the house with no pre-disposed expectations, and therefore by definition, you are never disappointed. That concept is not meant to a defeatist attitude. Rather, you make a conscious decision to free your mind from the constraints of any plan. You remind yourself that it doesn’t matter, and you believe it. You tell yourself that you will allow your mind to wander with your motorcycle, and your will keep your eyes open. Not just for situational awareness purposes or as a safe riding technique. These are very important, but not exclusive to your objective. Beyond that, you keep your eyes open for anything that might pique your interest. An unusual road sign. A run down abandoned building that speaks to you. A hill or valley that grabs the light just the right way. An opportunity to learn something about the history, the culture, and the people who live where you are. A road that curves and dips into your imagination. Some unusual tree or Bayou that is begging you to stop and meditate over it.
Do this with fervor and commitment and you will experience precisely why the motorcycle was invented. I hope you enjoy the pics.
Day 1: Lafayette, LA – Keithville, LA, approximately 360 miles.
A weather front passed through home yesterday and overnight, the temperatures dropped 25 degrees and the skies cleared. I left the house at first light at about 43 degrees. I reluctantly got on the Interstate heading north, just wanting to put some distance between myself and home. About 15 miles north of Lafayette, I hit a low ceiling of total cloud cover, and it felt like the temperature dropped 20 degrees. None to worry, I just clicked up twice on my heated jacket liner and all was good. About 25 miles later, things started feeling a bit calmer, so I exited onto Hwy 115 and rode into Marksville, which is the Avoyelles Parish seat.
Recently, I’ve developing an interest in courthouse architecture. This one doesn’t do much for me.
On the other hand, I find many of the old restored buildings in the town square beautiful. This one is still used as a bank today. Check out that copper clock on the façade, keeping accurate time as far as I can tell.
I thought the old movie theatre looked cool, although I’m not sure what it is used for now.
Always go to the brown signs. There’s usually something interesting on them.
I saddle back up and check the map. I’ve got no plan, and no intention of forming one now. Things to my north look interesting, so away I go.
This is one of several trucks I would see today with a different kind of grocery stashed in the bed. I talked to a deer hunter at a gas stop and he told me that all of the rain we have gotten has reduced the size of the habitat for the deer herd, which in turn has made hunting them a bit easier. I say good for them. Each successful hunt is one less forest rat that can jump out in front of my motorcycle.
I continue generally northeast just winging it and enjoying the state highways. When I get to a road intersection, I pull over and check the map. Or sometimes I just look at the choices and say to myself “Inny, Minny, Miny, Mo!!”. I think this time it ended up being “Minny”. Or maybe it was “Inny”. I forget.
I turn west on Hwy 126 and start heading into the pine forest. In the town of Grayson, I saw something that caught my eye. We don’t normally have these critters on our farms.
She was cute and came right to the fence to greet me. I wished that I had a granola bar or something to give her.
Just out of Grayson, my heated jacket liner stopped working. Uh…. Louisiana, we have a problem. Now 42 degrees and damp, I was starting to get chilled. I pulled into the village of Sikes, Louisiana and stopped under the patio of this dual use building.
There was a lady about my age smoking a cigarette in front.
(Lady) “Are you here for the post office or the store?”
(Pants) “That depends”
(Lady) “On what?”
(Pants) “On which one has the restroom.”
(Lady) “They both do. It’s the outhouse in back of the building.
(Pants) “Oh…. Thanks.”
At least the outhouse had plumbing and was clean, if not freezing cold. It’s close enough to lunch time, so I went into the store to poke around. It’s like I stepped back in time 50 years.
I grabbed a chicken sandwich, a chicken tender, and a bottled water and sat down to warm up and chat with my new friend.
(Pants) “How many people live in Sikes?”
(Lady) “Well it use to be 205, but now it’s 206 ‘cause my cousin just had a baby last month.”
I had a good time talking with her, even though her culinary skills leave plenty to be desired.
At the store, I diagnosed my jacket liner problem. The connector on the liner that goes to the controller crapped out. Oh well, that ain’t getting fixed right now. I’ll figure out something later. So I went back to the outhouse, put on my long undies, mounted up, and took off for points unknown.
Mid afternoon, the sun is starting to peek out from behind the clouds and it was very welcome.
I suppose I better think about where I’m going to sleep tonight. I don’t have my camping gear with me. The whole State is saturated from relentless rains, camping would not be a good idea.
My friend Randy recently moved to this general area. I texted him to see if he was up for some company. In two minutes, I got a reply that I was welcome without imposition, and that his better half, Ms. Moni, would have the gumbo on the stove when I got there. Ok, that’s settled, I can get back to more riding.
Now that I have an actual destination, I start riding in that general direction. I found hwy 486, which is a wonderful ring levee loop road that is freshly paved and a hoot to ride.
It was about 10 miles of this. Yee ha!!
I stopped to answer the call of nature and stretch my legs. This gal was also happy to see me and again, I should have thrown some granola bars in my tank bag.
It’s nice and quiet back here.
