Having reached the Atlantic coast, I just had to cycle south to St Augustine and, after 16 consecutive days of cycling, I was to get a day off. I was to stay with Peter & Debbie Spiller, who used to live in Venezuela, and they had kindly arranged various things for me so I was keen to get there. I wanted to set off early (or earlier than usual!) and Jim, Faye and Allan all got up early too to see me off (or maybe to make sure I left…) Allan couldn’t fathom why it was dark outside which is my usual reaction to an early start too…

It was a short ride down to St Augustine and the wind finally seemed to be behind me so I reached their home by early afternoon. Jim, Faye & Allan had offered to bring my luggage to me so I had an easy day. Their challenge though was delivering my bags as the security guard seemed to think it was more than his job was worth to let them onto the grounds (hill-billies come to Beverly Hills sprang to mind…) but eventually he relented and my luggage was delivered to the door…

[read more →]

The next day I rode 61 miles to Franklinton, which was my furthest to date. Team Houston had established that there were some accommodation options there and so I ploughed on – it was a bit further than I had expected though. I went straight out to get food and the best option nearby was a Cajun seafood drive-thru – I got in line on my bike behind the cars. An odd sight, I am sure, but nobody passed comment, smiling politely, at what I can only assume they perceived as an eccentric or just plain strange English woman…. [read more →]

After driving me and the bike to Baton Rouge, Dave and his wife Cindy very kindly came to take me out to dinner too – we went to a homely restaurant in the neighbourhood. I was amazed at the number of tales they had about cyclists in distress that they had rescued. I daresay this eccentric Brit will become a tale too now…

[read more →]

We decided to keep the car (actually a pick up truck) so that Claire could stay an extra day and not have to cycle back to Houston. As a result, Claire drove ahead to Oberlin and then cycled back to meet me. That meant I had no panniers, which was great, as it was the first sign of any hills so far. It was mostly
gently rolling hills from Merryville to Oberlin. [read more →]

Birthday breakfast was in a donut shop. Polystyrene cups and plates – high class elegance!

I was just cycling to Merryville - about 20 miles away just over the state line into Louisiana. Claire was cycling double that to DeRidder as part of a birthday surprise. She was cycling ahead to collect a rental car so that we could go somewhere for my birthday. This had all been arranged by very good friends in Houston – thank you all! - in conjunction with Claire. So I had a leisurely ride in sunny but cold conditions to Merryville, where the kind folk at the tourist office agreed to look after my bike overnight. [read more →]