Day 1 - June 20 New Orleans to Gulfport MS

 Distance 88 miles (142 kms)

Time: 6hrs27mins

Average Moving Speed 13.7mph (22kms)

Total Ascent 955ft (291meters)

Calories Expended 4584.

Weather - hot and humid till the thunderstorms started at 2pm; then over 2 hours of downpours followed by 2 more hours of lighter rain; then sticky again

I expected today to be a long day but it was a lot longer than I expected due to a tire puncture and heavy rain for most of the afternoon from which I sheltered in an empty shopping plaza.   From hotel to hotel was 12 hours.

I was out of the hotel in New Orleans by 6:30am and rode through the French Quarter on my way out of the city.  Some people were still drinking outside the bars - a long night or a very early morning.   Most the route followed US 90 which was very busy to turnoff for I-10 about 20 miles outside the city.   In all, I crossed 15 bridges as New Orleans in effectively an island if one goes east of the city as many bayous lead to the Guld of America (as Google maps have it).  All of the elevation gain was bridge crossing - the rest was flat as a pancake with elevation ranging from a few feet below sea leavel to about 90feet.   The most astonishing sight was the shoulders (margins) of the roads used as dumps for all kinds of trash.

                                                    Even a boat was dumped on the shoulder

Many of the bridge crossings have very narrow shoulders which were filled with garbage and huge amounts of glass.   I thought I was doing well to avoid a puncture but my luck ran out later

As well as household and other garbage, the road had many dead animals especially what appeared to be large snakes.  I also saw the skeletons of wild boars that populate the area (but no alligator sightings),

I knew that US 90 was closed near the Mississippi line as the bridge is structurally unsound and after 4 years, there seems no action to repair and reopen it.

In all, there were 4 barriers to surmount with the concrete blocks on the west side easiest to get around

The dirt mounds were also easy to navigate as other cyclists have done since this road is on the Southern Tier route of Adventure Cycling's network and the word has spread about avoiding a long detour to the north.

In between the barriers was a road that looked like a scene from a movie about an apocalypse.   Without traffic the sounds of insects and birds was magnified.

 I stopped once to take in the sounds but was quickly swarmed by horseflies.  They were particularly annoying when I was trying to get around the waterlogged last barrier

I had to trudge through the swampy grass to avoid the ankle deep water from all the recent rain.

Eventually I crossed the state line after I took a tumble due to lack of attention to the potholed road.  Luckily no damage except for some road rash. 

Shortly after crossing into Mississippi, I heard a loud crack, like a gunshot, from the front tire.  As  I pulled off the road to fix it in the steam bath of the midday hazy sun, it started to rain.   Four vehicles pulled up to offer help or a ride which was very kind and as one told me "Mississippi is the Hospitality State".

I was hoping to get to Bay St Louis before the forecasted thunderstorms but the tire repair delayed that so I had to sit out the worst of the rain in an empty shopping plaza for two hours.  When it lightened to a steady rain, I donned my rain jacket and plodded along towards the empty beaches and on to Gulfport.  A steady headwind and busy potholed roads made the last 20 miles quite unpleasant.

 A highlight of the day was seeing the signs for the casinos which have proliferated in the area and I found out where 1970s pop stars now work. I saw signs for upcoming shows by the Spinners, the Eagles and Three Dog Night.   I passed dozens of places offering 'all you can eat crab" (or shrimp) and the bars were busy as it was not a day for the beach.