Day 35: Friday 04/08/16, Silsbee, TX to DeRidder, LA

 

I started riding at this point today, about 3 miles from the Texas and Louisiana border.

Day 35 distance: 27 miles

Total miles:  1859 miles

Elevation gain: 865 feet

Map of today's ride:

The worst of the flu may be behind me, but I am still very weak and tired. Today I rode in a SAG wagon until about 3.5 miles from the Louisiana border, and then rode the rest of the way to DeRidder, Louisiana, for a total ride of only 27.1 miles. I was completely exhausted by the time I reached tonight's motel. I showered and took a nap when I arrived. Tomorrow is a 92 mile day which, the way I am feeling right now, I will not be able to finish. I think I will start riding in the morning with everyone else and just go as far as I can. Part of my issue right now is that I lost everything that was in my stomach on Tuesday night, and since then, the doctor only recommended a bland diet. There really isn't such a thing as a bland diet here so in the last two days I have only had about a dozen saltine crackers and four Gatorade. Tonight I asked a SAG staff member to go to a grocery store and buy  some chicken noodle or rice soup. I am anxious for them to return to get the soup  into my system, to see if it helps me recover quicker and get some strength back. On the regular menu tonight was pizza, which I know my stomach would not tolerate.

I have always heard how there are a lot of mean dogs in Louisiana. Well, today, I was only about 4 miles into the State when I had a set of dogs chase me. Fortunately, they didn't bite, or knock my bicycle over, but dogs are a real concern and get your heart rate pumped up in a hurry!

The Sabine River defines the Texas and Louisiana border at the point we entered Louisiana.

Not a clean looking river, but I don't know if it looks like this all the time.

Selfie Stick picture 3, Any better than the first two Selfies I took?

This was the only "vista" picture I observed today as everything along the road is a forest. The yellow plant looked like mustard, but I don't really know what it is. I smelled a paper mill in the area, and if you look closely, you can see a plume of steam rising above the trees to the right of the house that I would assume is coming from a paper mill. Many years ago I visited a paper mill in DeRidder to look at some pulping equipment they were using at the time.