Dog Days of LA

We had heard rumours that Louisiana would have more than its fair share of loose dogs. And today that was very true. I hit the deck after failing to fully unclip trying to get away from one that had already been riled up by riders ahead of me. Thankfully the dog lost interest once I was no longer something to chase. I had a second close call later when a dog bolted out without barking his intent and was at my heels before I even saw him. Why can't people either tie them up or build a fence?? We also saw a dead dog in the middle of the road and I have to wonder if he met his demise while chasing a cyclist.......

After a rest day yesterday at the lovely Butler Greenwood B&B we had a fairly easy 90 mile day today with about 1700 feet of climbing. The wind was alternately with us and agin us, but mostly agin us. Where is that prevailing westerly flow?? It was a pretty ride today, starting out with big trees and rolling countryside. The later part of the ride was a series of small towns, rural properties and modern subdivisions seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

The only thing more prevalent than dogs today was big Baptist churches. We're definitely in the Bible Belt! The roads today were mixed - some OK, but some with frequent potholes, wheel-sucking cracks and all manner of debris. On the plus side, the road work angels were looking after us again as a bridge which our cue sheet said had no shoulder in fact had a lovely wide smooth shoulder for our riding pleasure. As with many states, the garbage along the roadsides is a bit of an embarrassment (or at least it should be). We came across 2 crews of inmates doing some cleanup. Should they be serving life terms they could be out doing this every day and still not make a dent.

Stats: St. Francisville LA to Hammond LA. 90 miles. Very humid with temps starting about 18C and maxing out about 32C. With humidity it felt warmer than that. Thankfully mostly cloudy and not a lot of bright sunshine to raise the temp even more. No pictures today, but I'll put up a few from the grounds of our B&B.