Washington - DeRidder...Day 11

Day 11 was a day of aquaculture and wind. First, the aquaculture. Until today, I didn't know that people grew rice in the United States. I pedaled past countless rice fields between the towns Mamou and Oberlin. Above is one of those rice fields. As I learned from a nice guy named Brian (THANK YOU again for lunch) after the rice is harvested, the fields are flooded and "seeded" with crayfish eggs. As the crayfish mature they eat away at the rice stalks. Once the crayfish are fully developed and harvested the field is drained and then replanted with rice. The process starts over.

Above, a weird little car-boat that the aqua farmers use to move about their fields. Below, a crayfish field.

Below, Linda from New Hampshire. Linda is a retired Latin teacher and is 70 years old!! She began her trek across the Southern United States on March 18th in San Diego. What feats of strength or endurance will accomplish before you turn 70 years old? Linda, you were a bright spot on a tough day on the bike.

Day 11 was not fun. The wind was ferocious and hit me from every angle except from the preferred backside. One second a blast of wind would hit me head-on like a body blow to the chest. The next second a gust would blast me from the right many times jerking me into the middle of the traffic lane. After that a gust would slam me from the left often times blowing me off the shoulder into the ditch. If I needed a drink from my water bottle I had to stop because if I took one of my hands off the handle bars I would have wiped out. It was a dangerous day of pedaling that I won't soon forget. On day 11 I pedaled 92.78 miles against the strongest wind I've ever experienced.

TRIP STATS:

Total miles pedaled: 1052.66

Route miles pedaled: 1053.0

Days ahead of schedule: 2.6

Saddle time: 69:14'14

I meet up with the Adventure Cycling supported tour on day 11. They took 19 days to cross Texas.