Day 42: Bunkie to Eunice: Don't y'all have an automobile?

February 15, 2014

Normally we do each day's post by starting with the morning and describing what happened from there. But today it seems right to start 2/3 of the way through the day, go to the end, and then loop back to the beginning.

We were going along really well. Good temperature and no wind. We had left promptly at daylight and had done 60 km to Mamou by noon. We hung around Mamou (which you can read about at the end of the post) and set out for Oberlin.

The distances we were going were turning out longer than Google Maps was letting on. The distance to Oberlin was supposed to be an easy 32km, after Mamou. But after we had gone 18 km we were till less than half way. No matter, it was just mid-afternoon and conditions remained ideal. The only thing to slow us down was a rough and bumpy road (cue the eerie background music).

Ever since rough roads at Baton Rouge I had been bothered by pulsations when applying the front brakes. Normally this comes from an out of true wheel, and I had even flipped the bike and looked carefully at the rim for wobble and the spokes for any loose or broken ones. I found nothing, and it puzzled me. I ran my finger along the braking surface of the rim, feeling for any bulge, and found nothing. Still, we scanned ahead for any bike shop. Austin? About 600 km away! Oh well, we'll make time for a closer look at the wheel trueness tonight.

So it was that about 20 km from Oberlin, Bam! This was not Emeril Legasse adding spice to a Cajun dish. This was a two inch section of the rim braking surface cracking off and flying away. The tire was still hanging in there. So the tube had not come out (yet) and blown. Reluctant to stop, as one often is when going strong, I said I would reduce the tire pressure and see if I could carry on. Dodie felt we should walk. But we were really in the middle of nowhere, and walking 20 km pushing bikes would take a very long time. I tried riding 50 meters - it was clear this was a no go.

At this point Dodie spied a farmer in a pickup truck coming out of a driveway. She went over and talked to him. Oberlin was way out of his normal territory, and besides, he assured us, there isn't a darn thing there. That is no doubt true, but the ACA map did list one motel, and what could be a critical post office. We phoned the motel and there was (for some unknown reason) no room, but the man said we could put the tent on the grass. So maybe we could hitchhike. Dodie put her thumb out and got passed by the two trucks that did happen along.

The farmer, Glen, was still there and suggested he could take us to Eunice. Eunice was not on any of our maps, but Glen assured us it was BIG, with more than one motel, a Walmart, and a post office. OK, let's go for it!

Meanwhile, I had raised Tim Link at Bike Friday on their 24/7 help line. We pretty much completely arranged for them to build a wheel and ship it asap. Unfortunately, asap does not include Sunday - no wheel builder on duty until Monday. also for some reason, there was not wheel on the dozen demo bikes in the showroom that could be freed up and sent. Still, Tim was very helpful in making the arrangements, and any day now a wheel will find its way to Eunice, Louisiana!

Going along in the pickup with Glen, we learned a bit about him. His parents were French speaking and he also can speak French. Only thing, we could not understand each other. So many of his words were strange to us. Glen was completely baffled both by our desire to travel and by our use of bicycles. "Don't y'all have an automobile?" he asked. Since we do have one, he really did not see why we would bicycle.

Glen, we found, runs about 100 cows in his cow/calf farm. He raises the calfs to about 800 pounds and ships them to a feed lot. He makes hay, but with the round bales does not need to store them in a barn. When Glen dropped us in Eunice he really was not interested in a lot of extended thank yous or goodbyes. He had a life to get on with, one that really does not involve travel or foreigners, like us. A practical, yet principled man.

Our luxury room. Note how far in the distance one bike is!

So where and what is Eunice? We are not quite sure. It's 45 km from Oberlin. It's 60 km from Lafayette. It does have a Walmart Supercenter! Glen dropped us at the Holiday Inn. When they heard about our emergency, they gave us the discount price of $91 (including tax). On the other hand, you can stay in shape running from one end of the room to the other, use the Business Center or pool, and they have warm cookies and coffee downstairs! Foolishly, they accepted our well worn credit card.

Back to the happy hours before and at Mamou -

We left Bunkie as the moon was setting and the sun rising. It has been a while since we saw a road with a shoulder, and our route now was definitely shoulderless. When the road has almost no cars, this seems ok, and for much of the time there was indeed little traffic. The problem comes when there is enough traffic for the car behind you to be passing when there is an oncoming car. Most drivers will not slow down to wait for the road to clear. So then ... trouble. But for most of the way it was ok.

The road took us through a swamp, with many exotic looking palmettos.This was followed by what would be the dominant theme for the day - rice paddys. Some were flooded, using small surrounding levees, and some were drained. The flooded ones often had crawfish traps set out. The traps are checked and emptied by a shallow draft boat with a paddle wheel behind.

Farmsteads in this area seemed prosperous, with lots of equipment stored in sheds.

Lots of equipment. In this case, a pile of near identical John Deere tractors.

Through or near Chicot State Park we travelled through forest. There is even an arboretum that is part of the park, with a trail that features explanatory signs by various trees. The trail also featured a "no bicycles" sign. Since we are loath to leave our bikes, we had to give it a miss.

The moon sets at Bunkie. Grampies are on the road early.

A bilingual sign. Not very effective. We found up to 210 beer cans per km per side in this area.

Ahinga in the swamp. We understand there are some gators here too.

The first and pretty much only town before Mamou is Ville Platte. On its far outskirts were several km of very solid, large, and tidy looking houses, all made from brick and with fairly complex roof lines. Closer in, though, we ran in to extremely poor houses, some of which were part of a municipally owned housing scheme. Way back in Greenville, Florida we had noted some black teenagers with what we took to be stylish low riding jeans and polka dot boxer shorts. Now we found signs branding this type of dress as uncool or illegal!

We had thought Ville Platte to be a large town where we would find services. But ACA, we think, guided us away from any services. Fortunately we came upon some people in a parking loting BBQ. There was no sign or indication that this was BBQ for sale, so we just cruised by. But when we got downwind it smelled so good we turned around to make absolutely sure.

It turned out that they did have both pork steaks and chicken for sale. One lady told us this was a benefit for her dad. But when we inquired further we found that dad had died. This benefit was to pay funeral expenses. So many (white) people have warned us about crime and black people in Louisiana. We have been told "don't talk to them, don't trust them, never get into a car with them". We know that the prison population is mainly black, and there is some truth to all these warnings. Yet the sweetest people we have met here have been black. No one black has shouted from a pickup truck to us to get the hell off the road. Others have. And on the other side when the black people implore us to "Stay Safe!", we feel they are mainly worried about the white people.

Anyway, we waded right in with these folks in the parking lot. We had some trouble understanding their accents, but we enjoyed their company. And the BBQ sustained us all the way to Mamou.

Above ground cemetaries are common here. These stones have French names

Dodie is in there tight with these ladies

My BBQ pork. The use of white bread like this extends to all through the Caribbean

Though people sometimes associate New Orleans with Cajun culture and cooking, the truth is that the Cajun heartland is in the west part of the state. The "Acadiana" region is made up of 22 south western parishes of which probably the main ones are Evangeline, Acadia, Lafayette, Jefferson Davis, and Calcasieu.

Ville Platte and Mamou are in Evangeline Parish. As wiki says " Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians." Mamou, in particular identifies itself as a centre of Cajun music and culture.

We rolled down the main street of Mamou, noting the row of shabby shops. The heart of town seems to be two bars and the hotel (bar).The first bar was just a bar, but the second one was Fred's Lounge. A plaque on the front idenifies it as a Cajun music centre. However the noise coming from inside sounded like standard recorded Country. At the hotel, the Cazan, there was a live band that did include a fiddle and a squeeze box, bit also some electric guitars. The room was small, crowded, smokey, and mainly devoted to drinking. However the words being sung were French, and amazingly in this drinking, crowded place, several couples were dancing - just as at Mulate's. The next song, though, was much more Country, and we gave up on the place.

This was mid day, and the partiers that had spilled outside told us that the place did not really start hopping until night, and after that would continue to at least 3 a.m. A room in the hotel did not seem like a good idea. We were ready to head for Oberlin.

First, though, was the matter of Boudin. Marieanne had advised us to try Charlie's . But the people at the bar said Charlie's closes at 12 on Saturday. Given the time and distance to Oberlin, plus not being quite sure where Charlie was, we regretfully gave it a miss.

The next three shots try to capture the mural in the town square

Outside Mamou were lots more rice fields, and the riding was pleasant until, of course, BAM!

Appendix: About dogs. Through today and past days we have been barked at by caged, chained, and fenced dogs, and chased by the ones that are not restrained. Dodie is really freaked by this. In fact, as we entered Mamou we came to "T-Boy's", known as is Charlie's for Boudin. There was a dog outside, and Dodie was not stopping!

Good news, though, the sign in my photo says T-Boy's is also in Eunice. Maybe we can find it. On the other hand, we identified some Cajun music happening here tonight, but too far for us to walk to it. Dodie has so cruelly pointed out that she still has a bike!

Better look at one of the boats used to gather crawfish

Today's ride: 84 km (52 miles)
Total: 2,428 km (1,508 miles)

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