hppants
Well-known member
It’s official. The dog days of summer are here. On the Louisiana coast, day break starts out about 80. It will warm up to the mid 90’s and all along, we are coated with at least 60% humidity. You can cut the air with a knife. No one would call this good riding weather.
But the heart wants what it wants.
It’s been a while since my last bike tour and I’m about to go stir crazy. There will be multi-thousand mile adventures soon enough but in the mean time, I’ve got to get some seat time.
As if it was my last “life-line”, I phoned a friend. Or rather I texted two of them – it is the 21st century after all. My good friend MikeP1300 just joined the ranks of the FJR crowd, opting to sell his trusty ’04 ST1300 with a respectable mileage of nearly 100K. He bought (er… stole) a 2011 FJR1300 with hardly 3K on the clock. With a new toy, I knew he’d be up for a day trip. Also invited was my good friend Andrew (aka “RedfishHunter”), who rides an ’04 ST1300 of his own. R/H’s dad was also invited, but sadly he had other plans. However, R/H asked if his friend Brian could join us with his ’08 RT1300. And that made us 4. We all rode just shy of 300 miles – finding adventure along the way.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Considering the weather, an early start was necessary. Mike and I agreed to meet Andrew and Brian halfway between us at 7:00 am. With about 30 miles to get there, I left the house about 6 o-clock and gassed up early.
Mike’s “new to him” 2011 FJR is looking snazzy.
Around 30 minutes later, we catch up with the others under the I-10 bridge at the East end of the Atachafalaya Basin Swamp.
We’ll do anything for shade. The horses look ready for the task.
Brian’s ’08 BMW RT1200 is very clean. I like that sandstone color.
I decided to lead us though the heart of the Louisiana flood plains. We head north on the shaded twisties to Livonia, then continue northwest to the Morganza Spillway. You may remember this as the place where in 2011 the Army Corp of Engineers intentionally flooded this area to relieve some pressure from the Mississippi River, and save people in New Orleans and other areas from a lot of trouble. Here’s an old news story on it:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mississippi-river-flooding-floodgates-opened-morganza-spillway/story?id=13613998
Anyway – things are high and dry today and we are having good fun riding the river roads in very light traffic.
Many of the levee roads follow the ring levees built to separate the flood plains. There’s good riding in these parts. At one stop, Brian lost his footing and dropped his bike.
Andrew quickly helped him right the bike and we were all hard pressed to find even a scratch on it. No harm, no foul…
We inched forward to the shady side of the train bridge for some water and a snack. In this photo, you can see the longer wheelbase of Mike’s “Generation II” FJR, versus my “Gen I” bike. Feejer enthusiasts will argue Gen I v/s Gen II indefinitely, but if you ask me, I say they are BOTH excellent sport touring motorcycles.
Be that as it may, Mike looks like he may be re-considering…
We continued further north until we crossed the Atachafalaya River at Simmesport, then jogged a bit west and south so we could ride some little-known twisty bayou roads that I enjoy in this part of the State.
Still a little further North, we crossed Hwy 1 yet again, and headed to the village of Big Bend.
This place is in the Atchafayala River flood plain and I like to stop here.
While Mike was fooling around with my top box….
… Andrew and Brian started exploring. We are off the beaten path now. Time has forgotten this village.
There’s an old turntable bridge over the bayou restored for visitors to wander around.
The bayou looks peaceful today. I’d like to paddle a kayak with my fishing pole one day here.
Nice day with good friends.
After a good rest and some water, we double back where we came from. Since there is no traffic, I decide to take some action shots.
Whenever I’m following Mike, I just look for his flippers!
But the heart wants what it wants.
It’s been a while since my last bike tour and I’m about to go stir crazy. There will be multi-thousand mile adventures soon enough but in the mean time, I’ve got to get some seat time.
As if it was my last “life-line”, I phoned a friend. Or rather I texted two of them – it is the 21st century after all. My good friend MikeP1300 just joined the ranks of the FJR crowd, opting to sell his trusty ’04 ST1300 with a respectable mileage of nearly 100K. He bought (er… stole) a 2011 FJR1300 with hardly 3K on the clock. With a new toy, I knew he’d be up for a day trip. Also invited was my good friend Andrew (aka “RedfishHunter”), who rides an ’04 ST1300 of his own. R/H’s dad was also invited, but sadly he had other plans. However, R/H asked if his friend Brian could join us with his ’08 RT1300. And that made us 4. We all rode just shy of 300 miles – finding adventure along the way.
Hope you enjoy the pics.
Considering the weather, an early start was necessary. Mike and I agreed to meet Andrew and Brian halfway between us at 7:00 am. With about 30 miles to get there, I left the house about 6 o-clock and gassed up early.
Mike’s “new to him” 2011 FJR is looking snazzy.
Around 30 minutes later, we catch up with the others under the I-10 bridge at the East end of the Atachafalaya Basin Swamp.
We’ll do anything for shade. The horses look ready for the task.
Brian’s ’08 BMW RT1200 is very clean. I like that sandstone color.
I decided to lead us though the heart of the Louisiana flood plains. We head north on the shaded twisties to Livonia, then continue northwest to the Morganza Spillway. You may remember this as the place where in 2011 the Army Corp of Engineers intentionally flooded this area to relieve some pressure from the Mississippi River, and save people in New Orleans and other areas from a lot of trouble. Here’s an old news story on it:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mississippi-river-flooding-floodgates-opened-morganza-spillway/story?id=13613998
Anyway – things are high and dry today and we are having good fun riding the river roads in very light traffic.
Many of the levee roads follow the ring levees built to separate the flood plains. There’s good riding in these parts. At one stop, Brian lost his footing and dropped his bike.
Andrew quickly helped him right the bike and we were all hard pressed to find even a scratch on it. No harm, no foul…
We inched forward to the shady side of the train bridge for some water and a snack. In this photo, you can see the longer wheelbase of Mike’s “Generation II” FJR, versus my “Gen I” bike. Feejer enthusiasts will argue Gen I v/s Gen II indefinitely, but if you ask me, I say they are BOTH excellent sport touring motorcycles.
Be that as it may, Mike looks like he may be re-considering…
We continued further north until we crossed the Atachafalaya River at Simmesport, then jogged a bit west and south so we could ride some little-known twisty bayou roads that I enjoy in this part of the State.
Still a little further North, we crossed Hwy 1 yet again, and headed to the village of Big Bend.
This place is in the Atchafayala River flood plain and I like to stop here.
While Mike was fooling around with my top box….
… Andrew and Brian started exploring. We are off the beaten path now. Time has forgotten this village.
There’s an old turntable bridge over the bayou restored for visitors to wander around.
The bayou looks peaceful today. I’d like to paddle a kayak with my fishing pole one day here.
Nice day with good friends.
After a good rest and some water, we double back where we came from. Since there is no traffic, I decide to take some action shots.
Whenever I’m following Mike, I just look for his flippers!
