April 16, 2015
Bike Rider Unable To Resist Taking Photo At State Line
Woodville, Mississippi
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It looks like I got a little ahead of myself, chronologically speaking. The state line photo was actually taken fairly late in the day. I must go back in time now to relate a little more information about Louisiana, which had not yet been conquered.
Baton Rouge--a city I really liked, by the way--offered a few traffic challenges, but I fought through them without ending up like that armadillo I saw lying on its back with its entrails squished out of its body. And only once did I get lost bad enough that I had to resort to Google Maps on my Blackberry.
Also, it would be negligent of me not to write some words about the many chemical plants and petroleum refineries that I encountered all the way from New Orleans to well beyond Baton Rouge. Most of the major players were represented: Marathon Oil, Exxon-Mobile, Shell Oil, BASF, and Honeywell come quickly to mind. Many people consider these facilities to be eyesores. Personally, I am fascinated by the miles and miles of pipes and tubes that wind and coil around these plants like hoards of snakes; by big smokestacks that look like rocket ships spewing brand new clouds into the sky; and by tanks, pots, tubs and vats which likely contain materials that are combustible, corrosive, and toxic beyond my wildest imagination. To Louisianians they are what provide the economic base which keeps their taxes low. To me they are things of monstrous and frightening beauty.
Approximately 40 miles north of "Red Stick," the industrial landscape gave way to very pretty forests. Sometimes it felt like I was riding in northern Wisconsin, except there were no roadside bars painted Packer-Green with Old Milwaukee Beer signs out front. It was at about that same point--40 miles north of Baton Rouge--that the first things that could possibly be considered "hills" made an appearance. It is no exaggeration to say that the biggest hill I encountered prior to that point was the 30-foot (?) climb to access the levee trail in Baton Rouge.
The unusual flatness was just one of the reasons I liked Louisiana. Pretty much everybody I met was friendly and even folks I didn't meet usually returned my frequent waves. And the automobile drivers were mostly courteous toward this odd bike rider.
After enduring the day's second thunderstorm under an awning in St. Francisville, I crossed into Mississippi. I do not understand why a U.S. Highway should change so dramatically at the precise point where you go from one state into the next. I'm talking not so much about the roadway itself, but about the incredible shrinking shoulder. Within a few feet of the "Welcome to Mississippi" sign, the 6-foot Louisiana shoulder transformed into a 2-foot Mississippi shoulder, complete with a rumble strip that reduced it to about 1-foot of rideable space. The only explanation I could come up with was that Highway 61 was no longer a "Hurricane Evacuation Route." At the border, the State of Mississippi downgraded it to "The Blues Highway."
Mississippi, I thank you for being the birthplace of the Blues, but you're still on my shitlist.
Just one more observation for the day: Shortly after crossing the border, I saw my first cows of this trip. It was a herd of well over 100 cows and many of them were youngsters. All of the cows were coal-black and they were grazing in a field of intense green grass along with an equal number of snow-white birds. The contrast in colors was so cool that I actually stopped pedaling to take a picture. But as soon as my bike came to a stop, the cows ran away and every single bird took flight before I could even dig out my camera/phone. The exact same thing happened a couple miles later.
Everywhere else cows just stare at me ignorantly, even when I talk to them or mock them, but Mississippi cows moo, get all stressed out, and RUN. What has man ever done to them--aside from raising them in barns, herding them into pens, loading them into trucks, and killing & butchering them in processing plants--to make them so fearful?
Today's ride: 62 miles (100 km)
Total: 180 miles (290 km)
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