I named this bike tour St. Louis to New Orleans or STL2NOLA. Three years ago, I rode the Mississippi River Trail north from where I live in St. Peters to Minneapolis. For this tour, I planned to ride south along the MRT to New Orleans. In the first week of riding, I battled brutal headwinds on five of the seven days. The weather forecast, as I write this, is for the strong winds out of the south to continue for much of the next 10 days or more.
I was eating dinner in Memphis, having survived a week of long not-so-fun days with zero time to enjoy the parts of the world that I was visiting. I had one of those “Ah ha!” moments. I realized that the only reason I was riding into the wind was that I started the trip where I live. Starting in St. Louis and riding to New Orleans was the default choice. I planned to take the train home. But my goal of riding the entire MRT did not mean that I had to ride it in any particular direction. I had, after all, ridden the northern section going northbound. I did not have to ride the southern section going southbound; I could ride it northbound as well.
I am writing this on the Amtrak train City of New Orleans, riding from Memphis to New Orleans. I will do a little bit of touristing in NOLA and then head north (hopefully with tailwinds). When I get back to Memphis, I will have ridden the whole MRT, just in three sections: St. Peters to Minneapolis northbound, St. Louis to Memphis southbound, and New Orleans to Memphis northbound. (Since I live in St. Louis, I have ridden the section between St. Peters and St. Louis enough that I do not feel like I need to do it again as part of this adventure.)
It feels kind of odd to be on a trip where I meet myself in the middle of the route. I will get used to it, especially since this change ought to turn the trip from an endurance test back into an enjoyable bicycle tour.
Before I close, please take a moment to celebrate with me. You are reading the 900th post on this little blog. I started on May 12, 2012 with the notion that I would try blogging for a month and then see if I wanted to continue. I was pretty dubious at the time and figured that the experiment would not survive. I guess it did.
900 posts on your blog…way to go!! Looking forward to 900+ more. Glad you made the switch, you look very content sitting on that train. Man plans, nature changes, we move along with the flow, or in your case with the wind!
Art, I am so glad you are having some time to enjoy my home city. Eat, ride and be merry!
Congratulations on your 900th Post! 🎉 Godspeed
Smart choice!!! Fly the downwind leg!!!!
Very smart decision. I have read Appalachian trail journals at times and people do this sort of flip-flopping to cover segments in various directions, and it all counts. I will keep reading and enjoying your journey – vicariously.
What? You don’t want to buy a bike and re-introduce yourself to riding by starting out with a tour through rural America? I promise you that we will find food and lodging well below your usual standards.
Smart move. Of course, you will be heading up hill/upstream but that is better than the headwinds.
Enjoying reading about your travels.
Hope you get to Cafe du Monde for beignets! I once saw Mick Jagger there.
If I see Mick, I’ll tell him that you said, Hi
Congratulations on your 900th post, and on your excellent decision to ride north with the wind!
I’m reminded of the Monty Python sketch about “Wrong Way Norris”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgHsCyWkB5g
Enjoy!
Love the flexibility and creative thinking!! Congrats on the 900th blog post. Enjoy some deliciousness at cafe dumond and make sure you eat a praline while in nola.
When the going gets tough…😊
Enjoy the train. Beats knocking yourself out just to say you did it. Your bike trip back north should be a lot more pleasant and rewarding. Have a great time!
900 posts… That’s wonderful! Congratulations!