Mission MississippiRide - thnx to an old man

My second route i decided to do along the big Mississippi River starting in west direction. I was a sunny day and temp was nice for april.

In my outdoor app i was planning a route to ride along the river upstream on the north side, then crossing over a bridge that showed me it is allowed to cross there and then back on the other side and at the end reaching New Orleans again to use the ferry to cross again and hit the city downtown next to our hotel. Only issue was that this broideg was 90k in direction west which means also 90k back. But as i had time the whole day i started on a nice bike path and did set a goal if i would not reach the bridge in 3 hours i would go back the same way.

As i came closer that border i still was looking for that bridge and i almost decided to return as i saw it coming closer. But reaching Veterans Memorial Bridge i was kind a scared as it was a highway bridge. At the entrance i saw a nice older guy with a crappy pickup and i asked him if it is allowed to go over with the bike. He said: sure go over, no problem. So i used the entrance road towards the 2 lane motorway. The bridge itself was crazy steep uphill as big ships need to go underneath. I was not sure if i should ride and so i wanted to get a hitch ride, but nobody stopped. I was quite frustrated because i was there but could not cross. Suddenly this old man with his pick up was coming but passed me in showing where to go. He was going over and so my last chance seemed to be gone. But then i saw him coming back. He recognized cops pulling out 3 bicycle guys on the other side of the road and decided to help me. Lucky me; i had to sit with my bike on the load area, but this was cool for me just to get over.

The way back was hard at the end. I had a strong sun burn especially on the right wade as sun was coming from right behind. With this bike to reach the almost 180k was bringing me to my limit. When i then saw the ferry station i knew it was done. I enjoyed my last meters on the boat and was wasted of this ride. The sun burn was really bad and i was looking like a crab. After dinner i slept like a stone.

rental bitch: Jamis Alu

starring: Gerry Samer