10-7-2012 (Sunday) St. Francisville, LA to Baton Rouge, LA

Miles biked today—26 miles
Ride time—2 hrs. 10 min.
Average speed—12.0 MPH



We were both anxious to finish our ride but couldn’t see any point in getting to the airport before Hertz Rental opened, so we enjoyed sleeping in until 7:30 and then a good continental breakfast at the hotel before leaving at 8:20.

To get to Baton Rouge from Natchez and then to St Francisville we decided to go off the Adventure Cycling route and follow the safest and most direct route which turned out to be state highway 61. By doing so we cut off about 30 miles. We arrived at the Baton Rouge airport about 10:45 and were able to get the rental car without any complications. Breaking down the bike went a lot smoother this time than last year in Bar Harbor. This time before leaving home I had made sure the couplers were well greased and we also made sure we had plenty of padding for loading the parts of the bike so they won’t get scratched. The breakdown of the bike and loading of the car took about 1 1/2 hours.



With that accomplished we headed out of town towards Lafayette on I10. Halfway there we stopped at the Atchafalaya Visitor Center to pick up literature on what there is to see and do in the Lafayette area. When we arrived in Lafayette we went to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and spent about 1 1/2 hours in the Acadia Culture Center.

Just before we got to the airport we ended up having to take a detour to get past the tracks.  There was a train stopped and we didn't know how long it was going to be there.  All the cars were doing u-turns and going the other way.

Later in the afternoon after driving around Lafayette a while we had an early supper at Shoney’s before checking into the hotel for the evening and watching some football.