200 miles in 4 days! What an experience. I mentioned this ride to Nathan months ago he ran with it. The entire MBBC team was invited but in the end it was just Nathan, Tracy, Brut, Phil and Myself. Tracy and I arrived in Lafayette, La. at 12:30pm and meet up Nathan, Phil and Burt around 3:30pm than headed to for the Kickoff Reception. When we arrived, they were quick to point out that I was one of the youngest people in the room. We picked up our packets, had dinner and watch Burt as he attempted to dance to the Live Zydeco band. We then returned to Hotel to get our bikes ready and then hit the sack.

Day 1

The ride started promptly at 9:00am at a rather slow pace. They tried to keep us all together for the first 5 miles as we left Lafayette, for safety reasons. Once we got out of the city limits we picked up the pace. At about mile 20 I was following behind Tracy when he just blew past a marked turn, I tried yelling at him but with the strong head wind he was unable to hear me. So I turned around and begun chasing after him. I took me about half a mile to catch him. After finally catching up Tracy we got back on Course and headed into St. Martinsville for lunch on the Bayou Teche, where we were served a heaping bowl of the best Crawfish Étouffée.

We then hit the road and had a fast, but uneventful ride to Breaux Bridge. Upon our arrival we noticed that we were some of the first to arrive. Wanting to get our tents set up early and get a good camp site, we decided to unload the luggage truck ourselves..... all 700 pieces of it. We set up camp next to the Bayou Teche and underneath a huge Oak Tree. We also met the Towns Crazy Ass Mayor....... The guy was a complete nut!

That evening we wandered around Breaux Bridge had Dinner at Cafe des Amis and enjoyed a few beers while the Zydeco music played on. The Dinner at Cafe des Amis was unbelievable, I had some sort of Crawfish Pasta dish that was just incredible and very reasonably priced. Definitely worth a detour if you ever take a road trip through that part of Southern Louisiana.

Once the beer was gone, we decided to head back to camp and call it a night.

Day 2

After a quick breakfast at the Cafe des Amis, we left Breaux Bridge. We really picked up the pace as we made our way to Arnaudville. We stopped at here for a short time and then headed towards Port Barre. Upon our arrival Mother Nature greeted us with some menacing clouds and a light rain, so Phil and I decided to stop and put on our rain gear..... Big mistake! With the humidity the rain gear acted as a sauna. Burt, Nathan and Tracy quickly pulled away from Phil and I. After about 3 miles the rain stopped and we ditched the rain gear. Ten minutes later the Skies opened up. It was by far the heaviest rain I had ever ridden in. The roads were flooded, The rain and wind was blowing so hard at times we couldn’t see more than a couple of feet in front of us...... not to mention the small bits of hail mixed with the rain.

When we arrive at the overnight spot in Washington, the rain finally stopped and we noticed that we were, again, the first to arrive. So we set up camp and made our way to the pavilion for dinner. After Dinner we made a stop at the Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant and chatted with the owner while Nathan showed the bartender how to make an earthquake.

Although it rained on us for half of the ride, the stop in Washington was the highlight of the trip. The rain was refreshing and the folks in Washington were the friendliest around!

Day 3

Again we were the last the leave in the morning, we just couldn’t get enough of the Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant. The Breakfast was the best on the ride...... beef tips in a thick gravy with biscuits and eggs. The ride to Mamou was uneventful. The lunch stop was at Fred’s lounge and where we stopped for a quick beer then hit the road again. Mamou to Eunice was nothing but crawfish farms and the roughest road of the ride. We arrived in at about 1:30 and just chilled out for bit. There wasn’t much happening in town and we weren’t within walking distance of anything, so took the Shuttle the crawfish broil and stepped into the Preserve Prairie Acadian Cultural Center for some Live Cajun/Zydeco Music.


Day4

We left Eunice at about 8:30 am and rode to the Chretien Point Plantation which was our first rest stop of the day. We hung out there for a bit and just took in the scenery. We then headed off to Sunset and then to the ride Finish in Grand Coteau. At the finish we had lunch said goodbye to the folks we had meet along the ride and then I was off to New Orleans for a short visit with Steve.

Summary

In all the ride was a blast, with the first two days being the best. We meet a lot of great people, enjoyed some fantastic Cajun food and got to ride some beautiful roads. I would definitely do it again. Its well worth money!