Dear Lance

This is a letter Willie wrote before she started this Blog.  One of our first long trips on the new Terra Trikes.  Posted by Walldog.

Dear Lance,

Wednesday, July 9, 2003, I rode my Wizwheelz TerraTrike 30.5 miles on the Tammany Trace.  Did I do good?

   

Tammany Trace is a rail, or paved former train tram, which stretches from Covington LA to Slidell LA, and we learned about it from our friend Perry who has a guesthouse in Mandeville, one of the Trailheads.

Taking advantage of his hospitality, we transported our Trikes on Tuesday, checked out the riding area in Mandeville, and embarked on our journey about 8 AM Wednesday.  We had Camelbacks full of cool water, sunscreen, inspect repellant, and extra water bottles.  The temperature was around 75 degrees.

Five minutes after we began, we came face to face with US 190, (which, Lee Ann, is akin on a trike to US 290 in a motor vehicle driven by a country driver.)  Herb made it across by pedaling; however, I chose to lift the rear wheel and walk mine across.  In five more minutes we were at the Trailhead in Mandeville and wheeled onto the path north to Abita Springs.  A wonderful part of this path is a tunnel that takes you under US 190, and is quite a thrill speeding down and climbing up the other side.

The path was tree-lined, so that it was cool for much of the trip.  Sips from the Camelbacks were very refreshing along the way. A halfway rest area was a park maintained by St. Tammany Parish (counties to non-Louisianaians), which included a Caboose, covered pavilions, restrooms and water fountain.  Souvenirs are available when the Caboose is open.

 An interesting part of the trip was approaching intersections with motor vehicle roads.  Some were “All Way Stop” and some were Stops for us.  We learned to safely negotiate these.  As you may recall country roads traveling parallel to a railroad track, but needing to cross it, will make serious S-curves on both sides of the track.  No way can you see oncoming traffic, so a complete stop is necessary.  I learned how to be in the correct gear for pedaling from a stop.  Some drivers were courteous enough to stop for us and hold up traffic while we crossed.

Abita Springs is known for its bottled water appropriately named “Abita Springs Water” and its beer appropriately named “Abita Beer,” which they brew in three flavors.  We were interested to tour the brewery, but did not readily find it, so decided to ride on to Covington (only two more miles), as it was around 10 in the morning, and too early for lunch.  Or beer.

This leg of the journey was pleasant – no hills or curves to speak of on any part of the Trace – and we arrived in Covington anticipating the touristy downtown area collection of shops, hoping to find some iced tea and rest a while.  The temperature was climbing.

We discovered that the Trace ended before we found the downtown area, so we began our search for the iced tea.  Again, we encountered US 190 and Herb pedaled across.  Again, I walked my Trike across – only to find that the bike path that we picked up into downtown crossed a bridge over the river, as did US 190, and for some strange reason had a section about 10 feet long with a guard rail on the outer edge that encroached on the width of the bike path, so that we only had room enough for our wheels to sit.  No passing, for sure! 

It was a little scary traversing this bridge, as the 12 inch drop-off would be into the right-hand lane of US 190.  But we prayed for safety and  went slow.  No problem.

                        (If any of our children are reading this, please don’t let our

                        grandchildren read it, as we don’t want to set a bad example.)

We found the downtown area and a neat coffee house for the iced tea.  Also a bonus was a mural of Huey P. Long on one of the buildings, with his motto,   “Every Man a King.” 

As we meandered around the downtown, we came upon another part of the bike path, but had to ride over an almost downed chain link fence gate.  That should have been our clue.  We soon discovered that this path crossed that river – but with no guardrails! 

 

So – the debate:  continue on a wide path over a river with no guard rails, or go back and cross it along side of US 190.  What to do, what to do?  Since it appeared to be a shortcut, we continued across slowly only to discover that the chain link fence gate on the other side was secure.  Oooooh!  The gate was all the way across the path  -- no way to walk around, as the ground dropped off too steep.

So – we turned around and pedaled back, made our way back to the highway and again to the beginning of the Tammany Trace.  Safely.

                        (If any of our children are reading this,……….)

Twelve noon found us back in Abita Springs and we had lunch in the Abita Brewery restaurant.  Herb had blackened Redfish, which he said was wonderful.  I decided to eat light for lunchtime, so ordered grilled chicken Caesar salad, and I have to tell you that anything you eat in South Louisiana is better than elsewhere!  What can I say!

    

Eight miles later we were back in Mandeville, thrilled through the tunnel, and back to the Trailhead.  Traffic on 190 was not so bad, and I was able to pedal across this time.  When we arrived at the guesthouse, we agreed it was one of the best bike trips we had ever had.

The next morning – on our Travel Home Day – Herb suggested that first we should pedal in the other direction, east toward Slidell.  Fountainbleau State Park was only 6 miles away, and would serve as a good morning’s exercise. 

Our only obstacle was a huge (especially from the low angle from which we were looking) maintenance bucket truck trimming tree limbs off the path.  We were able to get their attention, and they waved us on by. 

We were overtaken by a bicycle rider from Baton Rouge who regularly rides the trail, having property at two locations along the path.    Contributing to the enjoyment of a conversation with this gentleman was the soft Baton Rouge accent, only found in Baton Rouge.  Sorta made us homesick.  He told us of a coffee house on the lakefront where he frequently goes to read his morning newspaper.  Said we could safely ride our “contraptions” to it. 

    

At Fountainbleau we were awed by the very old oak trees draped with Spanish moss, and the expanse of Ponchartrain Lake.  Then back to Mandeville in search of the coffee house for a refreshing glass of iced tea.

The first thing we saw as we approached the seawall back in Mandeville was several sailboats not too far away.  I asked Herb to take my picture with the boats in the background, so I could give it to Debbie Simpler, one of my sailor friends in Longview.  After I saw the picture, I realized the craft were too far to show well. 

At the coffeehouse we enjoyed the patio shade and cool drinks and the peacefulness of the lake scene.  A friendly local approached us and said he had seen us riding our tricycles on Marigny Street the day before. 

We finally decided we needed to head back to Texas and would stop for lunch along the way.  What better way to remember Louisiana than to have one last Cajun meal, so we headed for Copeland’s in Baton Rouge.  What a treat!  We had crawfish and redfish Creole.  (Without the rice, Dr. Atkins.) 

And so to home, with plans to find more Rails to Trails or other bike/trike paths for future rides.

Post Script:  The Trikes are on their way to a new home in Memphis, TN.  They were purchased by a couple who hope to have as much fun on them as we did.  Good Luck!!