Today several of us decided to go to Avery Island – home of the Tabasco factory. The factory was early into the day’s ride and we thought it would add about 12 miles to the route. We weren’t positive about the mileage and that was enough to keep most of the riders on the official route. After breakfast Bob, Sig, Michael, Young Mike and I set off in search of tabasco sauce and adventure. The first plant tour started at 9:00 a.m. and we were there in plenty of time. The tour was interesting; a movie, a tour of the bottling operation and displays told us all about the history of tabasco. Then it was off to the company store for souvenirs – a t-shirt, serving tray and boxers.
Back on the road there were a few windy sections, but our little group stayed together until we got back on the official route. By the time we got to checkpoint, our tour staff had moved on. The owner of the lounge, where checkpoint was suppose to be, directed us to where we could get food and a shortcut to town. A couple of miles before we got into town, the sky’s opened up and we got dumped on hard! We got off our bikes to safely walk across the metal grating on the bridge and then cowered on the lea side of this little building until the worst of it blew over. Then it was back on our bikes for a few more miles to the nearest Burger King and food. The poor manager kept glaring at us and following us around the store mopping up all the water we tracked in.
We finally ventured back out when the rain let up, I thought it would be cold out like in Seattle, but no! it was warm – not bad at all. We made good time the last seven miles to the motel on the freeway shoulder. Most of the riders, without our two hour Tabasco stop, got in before the rain, but others quit riding as soon as the rain started and got in the vans, how sad! With our extra miles, minus the shortcut, we ended up with only five extra miles – well worth it to do something different. I still had time to do some shopping in the dollar store next door for more shampoo and snacks, and run my wet clothes through the dryer before dinner.
Our restaurant for the evening was only 200 yards away, but some of our riders got a van ride over – it was misting at the time. What kind of bike riders are these?
82.8 miles