Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - 140 Mile Solo Bicycle Day Ride (VIDEOS)

I found out some new things this day:

1. There is such a thing as a "Long Distance" forum here at BF.

2. I can comfortably wear my helmet cam setup for 9 hours. :eek:

3. All of the hurricane damaged roads that let me get out of NOLA by bike are repaired. :thumb:

4. For an old fart (51), I still got game. Spent the whole day on the road bike, cranked out 142 miles, and biked to work the next day to spend 9 hours on my feet.

If you only have time to watch one vid, pick Part 2. That's the best one IMO. And you get a very rare look at me in full kit 'bout halfway through it. :thumb:

PART 1 (http://vimeo.com/6883237)
PART 2 (http://vimeo.com/6883444) - BEST
PART 3 (http://vimeo.com/6884028)

Each vid is about 12 minutes long.

I am also posting this in Touring and 50+ forums.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=120642&stc=1&d=1254614356

Start/Finish in New Orleans bottom of the map.

You found the right forum.

How many hours did you ride?

Looks like a cool route - but that "death bridge" looked pretty scary! Guess you made it out alive though - did you get honked at much on the bridge?

You found the right forum.

How many hours did you ride?

My 'puter says 9+ hours. Average was 15. There was LOTS of smelling the roses going on and luckily very little wind all day. There was nearly 12 hours of light (11 hours of sun up) and I intended to use every bit of it. It was just the best day for riding and I had no schedule whatsoever.

Looks like a cool route - but that "death bridge" looked pretty scary! Guess you made it out alive though - did you get honked at much on the bridge?

I'm glad you asked that.

About 40 minutes into the ride, sun just coming up on a 4-lane deserted highway, someone in a minivan layed on the horn as they came up behind me in the far (left) lane. I was on the fog-line far right. I figured it would be a long day but...not even ONE other person touched their horn all day.

There is still hope for humanity! Plus...did you notice my camo cycling jersey? I call it my "Redneck Passport". Funny...but it really helps!

Great stuff! Thanks.

Some of the highlights for me were the freight and passenger trains going over the bridges, and the music. I was also impressed by the flatness of the horizon all the time - how far do you have to go to find a hill? I didn't notice any in this 142 mile loop (overpasses don't count).

...I was also impressed by the flatness of the horizon all the time - how far do you have to go to find a hill? I didn't notice any in this 142 miles loop (overpasses don't count).

Thanks for the input and kudos!

I am glad you caught my attempts to highlight the flatness with the camera. From the bridge in Part 3, the camera lens makes it look like you can see the curvature of the earth! And I really lucked out with the Amtrak train going by because I could use it for scale. The train looked like a toy compared to the vastness of that marsh and swamp (called Manchac Swamp BTW). Julia Sims made herself famous by photographing that area Julia Sims Site (http://juliasims.com/sims/scenes1.htm) - not from the road of course! It is a beautiful place up close.

As for a noticeable hill. About 50 miles due north of New Orleans, which would have been about 25 miles north of my route at its northmost point. Every road I biked in the video floats on organic matter up to 75 feet deep. So my ride was around the lip of a giant saucer filled with layers of Jello. Hence - the flatness. Anything of substance (skyscrapers and flood walls for instance) must have pilings driven down to bedrock up to 100 feet below the surface. Some pilings fell short of that depth causing the floods of Hurricane Katrina. The "Jello" could not hold up the flood wall.

Sorry 'bout the ramble. Thanks again.

That was fantastic. It really pumped me up !
It takes real stones to ride some of those roads on a bike.
No flats I guess, so that is good

Thanks for sharing, really interesting vids.

No flats I guess, so that is good...

I gotta tell you, that five mile bridge (Part 1) worried me ONLY if I flatted. The rest of the trip - punctures would be pesky, but not too scary. I carried 2 tubes and one folding spare tire along with a patch kit.

I rode the same bike to work the next day. When I inspected my tires that evening I found a small wet spot of Stan's No Tubes (liquid I squirt into all my bike tires). Apparently, I punctured on the way home from work but the Stan's held pressure around 110psi (normally I run 125 psi).

That is some luck! I got to fix the flat in the comfort of my home office!

Thanks for the kind words too!