Johno's 'mad journey' 2 - from the Gulf to Canada

Distance - 70.9 miles (115kms) Elevation gain - 3166 feet (965 meters)  Calories burned - 4394  Average moving speed: 13.5mph (22 kms per hour)  in 5hrs 14minutes of riding Svitz Index 6.5/10 Weather: 72degF (22C) at 9am with 80% humidity; High temperature was 85F (30C) and the expected thunderstorms around 2pm never happened, though it rained a bit.  After the rain, the humidity dropped, the sun came out, and the temperature rose again. My original plan to head in a NE direction straight to Newton needed a rethink when I saw multiple forecasts predicting big thunderstorms with heavy rain forecast for the area around 12-2pm.  I decided to instead head east through a few small towns where I could shelter.  In the end, I made it to Bay Springs before the rain and waited it out while enjoying an enormous vanilla milkshake which came in at 1000 calories (and also two orders of fries and a huge Coke).  While the first 10 miles were on the back county roads ...

Distance 64.0 miles (103kms) - 40 on Longleaf Trace trail and then 25 on hilly rough roads Weather - another hot humid day,  82degF (29C) at 8am with 98% humidity,   Reached mid 90s F (35C) by mid-afternoon with the heat index reaching 103F (39C) by 2pm Svitz Index 8.5 out of 10 as it was windy (Svitz is Yiddish word for sweat)  Elevation Gain 2067feet (63o meters) Calories Burned 3410. Speed 13.0mph (21kph) in 5hrs 2mins The first 40 miles were on the National Recreational Trail, Longleaf Trace, into a mostly westerly wind.  The last 24 miles were bumpy and tough on poor roads and also into a head wind which switched at about the time I changed direction. I was a bit surprised to see the elevation profile for the first 40 miles as the bike trail was relatively flat with no grades more than about 3% and the 24 miles had a lot of climbs, some up to 7%.  The grades were not as much of a problem as the road surface which was poor and rutted and bone-rattling. ...

 Weather - hot and humid, from 84degF (29C) at 10am to over 94degF i(34C) n mid afternoon  but the heat index reached 100F (38C).   One short thunderstorm and wind generally from the west, so mostly a cross-wind for me going North. Distance: 79.2 miles (127kms) and elevation gain 3420feet (1042 m) Calories 4838 Time 5hours 52minutes Average moving speed 13.5mph (21.7kms) per hour I got a late start since I'm not yet into the rhythm of bike touring in terms of being organized to get going early since there is a lot to check and prepare for the day ahead.   My sun glasses fogged up as soon as I left the air conditioned hotel room so I knew it was going be  a long day.  I did not anticipate the amount of climbing of lots of short hills with usual grades of 3-5%.  And a couple of wrong turns added to the length of the journey. I should have looked at a topographic map to anticipate the day ahead and as the elevation profile shows, there were lots...

 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 Ame...

I arrived in New Orleans a few hours after Tropical Storm Arthur passed through the area.  It is the first named storm of the season and spurred three tornadoes in the area as well as dropping massive amounts of rain - about 3 inches in the city, 7 inches in the suburbs and up to 15 inches towards the northwest.  With temperatures in the low 90s (35C or so) and very high humidity, the heat index is about 110degF (44C).  Thunderstorms linger in the region and tomorrow will likely see them in the afternoon as the heat builds.  I brought my Surly Long Haul Trucker bicycle with me on the plane and it was reassembled at a bike shop in the city.   I taught an undergraduate urban field course here in the mid 1970s when I was at the University of Illinois and published an article on gentrification in  New Orleans in 1979 (when I was an urban geographer).  There are a few more skyscrapers than 50 years ago and the French Quarter seems to have become a bit ...