Friday night alit with fervor , anticipation , caution , all aspects in line for adventure, I leave home searching for my soul , hoping Jesus is riding with me, knowing Satan awaits me. Heat complements my style, dark suites me, intrigue lures me, unknown calls me. Normal Friday night round, levee , to Audubon, to Quarter up Canal , Metairie road , West Napoleon . No dilly dallying, just riding, Tour De France starts tomorrow I must be ready. Hot dark city streets have a smell that rises to my nostrils saying "beware rider, you only look ahead, danger is all around you".
Saturday morning I attend a Legion Meeting that last till 11;00 am, my start is late , the blaze has erupted , the cement is hot, the air is hot, all is hot. In reverence for the Tour De France I plan a 50 mile trip upriver to Laplace with a vow of no stopping. Loaded with 4 Gatorade's, a banana, a bag of jelly beans and 2 boxes of raisins I'm gone. I feel the sun crisping my arms, skin is red ,cracking , drying, my neck skin rolls for relief , back is radiating, feels good, makes me pedal faster to cool off.
I heard the new path in Laplace was open, I crossed the dust bowl in St Rose under the elevators,
made it past New Sarpy, sipping my Gatorade's like fine wine , one bottle every 10 miles, leaves me a bottle short, can't stop, have to stretch it out. 20 miles up I have to abandon the levee for the road, through the refineries, their emissions sticking to my wet skin, steam and sulphur all over me.
Can't be worse than the lead paint and mercury I enjoyed as a kid. The Bonne Carre Spillway is miraculous as ever, lush, green, water laden, wide, a visit with the river then across the spillway. Great ride, black top in the wilderness, like Death Valley it lays low and obscure from the world . Still haven't stopped, still sipping Gatorade's, no need to pee, body is using it all .
I climb the levee, find myself in the faux suburb of Montz , a mixed up community , not sure if it's an old country road or a thriving metropolis. Turning into town I reach 25 miles , half way there, I go to downtown Laplace, pictures of Laplace cleaners, Airline Motors , Frostop, I thought the only Frostop was on Canal and Dupre, oh well, I remember before the interstate system Airline Motors was an important pit stop for travelers,buses and trucks. Back to the levee, found the Laplace bike path , it's segmented, not all marked but well built, the scenery is semi industrial, in NORCO is all industrial , nothing pretty to look at unless you like a steamy sulphur cloud. Still haven't put a foot on the ground but I see trouble ahead,
the path ends, I scoot down the levee to jump on the road,I have to leap a ditch meaning one foot hit the ground but I didn't stop. It would have made a great video. Back through NORCO ,
I'm like a machine now , legs just spinning on their own, I dare the heat to effect me.
I hearken the lords of despair,failure, discomfort and pain to attack me . I not buying today,
I see the sign that puts me back in Jefferson Parish, then the welcoming Flags at Williams Blvd.
Finished off my Gatorade headed home. 30 sit ups topped off the ride. Felt great, accomplished, in my world I won today's Tour De France...Didn't find my soul, but then no one else did, its wandering around searching love, peace, nirvana, reason . Once behind the marble door it'll have time to search for life in death. So once again the hero leaves his village to slay the dragon ,returns home to present its head to the fairest of maidens. It's a story I live every day of my life. My wounds accumulate, my warrior skills diminish, the dragon will burn me to a crisp, but not yet, my sword still gleams death dripping dragons blood. Great Weekend...
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