Tuesday October 11, 2011, 75 miles (121 km) – Total so far: 932 miles (1,500 km)

>We left Hammond, Louisiana on a roll with mostly shoulders on Hwy 190. We almost got winged by a school bus that just wouldn’t slow down. But that’s another story. It was a really good morning. We stopped at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant for lunch in Denham Springs. It was a good stop and good food. We then powered our way around Baton Rouge. It was a mess of traffic but again plenty of shoulder. There are two ways across the Mississippi River here – I10 or Hwy 190. We have read that 190 is the way to go. We came up to the bridge and I immediately became very worried because there is no shoulder at all. Jocelyn who usually rides in back yelled ‘just go’ so I told her to take point. In situations like this I want Jocelyn to go first in case an errant driver drifts over I will be taken out first. It was extremely stressful but we made it. Traffic was light. I gripped the handlebars tight and stared ahead. I did take one glance to my left and saw I10 and downtown Baton Rouge. At the first Circle K after the bridge we stopped for a celebratory drink for crossing the Great Mississippi River on bicycles. We continued west on Hwy 190 and rode by sugar cane fields. Eventually we reached Livonia, Louisiana where my GPS had showed a motel. After a long day of 75 miles it was an oasis to us.