the amazing uber driver, "scenic highway," 2.567 miles, and Perry

October 11, 2021

Day Three: Baton Rouge to Perry's Place

I woke up at 7:30, well rested. I packed up everything I could, then walked to Vintage for some beignets (a little underdone) and a mocha.

After walking back to the hotel I Ubered to the bike shop for some chamois butter (mine disappeared), then Best Buy for headphones (likely left in the rental car). My Uber driver, Gustavo, was amazing. Never before have I seen such skill at driving while never looking at the road. From my vantage point in the backseat, within the mere span of 60 seconds I saw him thumb through his phone to look at his Chase accounts, Facebook, a YouTube football game recap (including the requisite ad), flights from Baton Rouge to Mexico City, text messages, and email (including his junk mail). Then he repeated the sequence. Weirdly, his driving was perfectly fine, possibly due to the amount of coffee he was drinking while looking at his phone and driving.

He dropped me off at Best Buy and I was done in ten minutes, so when I requested another Uber he was the one who responded. Even so, when the app said he was there, he wasn’t. A couple of minutes later he came out of Best Buy, bouncing back to his car and proclaiming, “I needed to get some stuff too so it was perfect!” I agreed, it was perfect... for him. Maybe less so for me because of the confusion and waiting time.

After he dropped me off at the hotel I walked across the street to PJ’s and got a croissant and another mocha. I got this quote from the guy making my drink: “Baton Rouge is like New Orleans’ cousin who is always making inflammatory comments on Facebook.”

Back in my room I finished packing and left about 11:30. I used the Bicycle Route Navigator (ACA’s) app and still missed the turn for Scenic Highway. I think the issue, at least for me, is that the app seems to use the southbound route, so if the NB and SB routes diverge it makes it more difficult.

Or, it could be me.

I had a great tailwind, but couldn’t make much use of it because of the traffic lights. Since I’m carrying 85 lbs of gear I can’t just bolt out of the starting gate; I have to run through several gears to get back up to speed, only to have to stop again at the next light.

The “Scenic Highway” I'm on is a misnomer, unless your idea of “scenic'' is the ass end of a large semi every three seconds and a debris-littered shoulder. Because there’s a lot of traffic, and it’s noisy, I just focus on my riding, looking at the road in front of me to avoid hitting anything. Consequently, I missed seeing the three loaded bikers on the other side of the median yelling hello until I was even with them. What awakened me out of my reverie was actually one of those clown horns one of them used. As soon as I saw them I yelled a hello back, but would’ve liked to have chatted with them about what’s ahead. The farther away I got from Baton Rouge the fewer traffic lights there were, but the traffic didn’t dissipate at all - it remained busy.

The humidity stayed at 75-100% all day, and I decided not to get even close to running out of water so I stopped to refill my bottles even though only one of them was empty. I pulled in to the gas station at 61 and 964 and filled them up, after which I started climbing the first hill I’ve seen in 2.5 days. About four miles later I turned on to 965 and the road was immediately nicer. There’s no shoulder, but neither is there any traffic, and there’s plenty of shade.

I saw a funny (at least to me) sign:

That’s 2.567 miles, not 2.566 or 2.568, but 2.567. To be clear, construction ends in 13,553 feet, not 13,516 feet, and not 13,559 feet.

The shade on this road is nice.

By 3:00 I still hadn’t eaten lunch so I stopped in Jackson at the Subway, then rode to a Warm Showers host named Perry Templeton, arriving around 4:30. This is at the end of her long dirt driveway, and is how you know you’ve arrived:

She’s a really interesting person who typically hosts several hundred cyclists every year, although I was the only one that evening. An upholsterer by occupation, which she says is a dying trade, she keeps thinking she’ll retire soon. Instead, business just keeps picking up every year. Her husband (a third generation “shrimp distributor”) was out of town, and Michael, a friend of the family, stayed in a guest room in the outbuilding. Perry has at least 15 bicycles, each in its own right a conversation piece, as well as a couple of recumbents (she’s owned ~16 over the years).

Her favorite bike is a Surley, and she noted that all of the components on it are the ones she sees on bicycles that don’t have problems. That is, she’s seen all kinds of bike problems over her years of hosting, and the components that haven’t had any issues are the ones she’s fitted onto this bike. It's an interesting approach.

She can build a wheel, and pulled out her truing stand to show me some tips. After eating the delicious black bean chili, cornbread, and salad dinner she prepared, the three of us sat under the fan and visited. By the time she went back to the house I was surprised to find that we’d been talking for several hours.

Here’s where we sat, chatting under the fan.