New Idea and a Bike Ride

I have a new (well, new to the blog) idea that I am sure you will like.  I am going to publish a Zen of Quilting post once a week, not sure what day.  Or if I am going to do a particular day even.  I hate to promise a day and not deliver.



I nearly fell off the bike trying to snap a picture and ride



It is almost a meditation piece.  I started it years ago when I needed some peace in my life and it was so incredibly successful with me and the CyberGuild ladies.  I even sold a few of the pieces to some local rags.  Zen of Quilting.  This week I will polish one up and post it for you to decide.

The ride today was spectacular.  If the weather was this wonderful all the time I could be totally happy all the time!  The sky did not have a cloud floating in it anywhere. 

I would have thought that the lakes paths would be crowded, but that early there were hardly any people about.  You can see Amber and the boys up ahead of me. 

There is a series of maybe 7 lakes that interconnect in LSU Lakes System.  They all have names but I didn't see them posted anywhere to decide which is which.  Over the last few years there has been a great and wonderful effort to make the lakes accessible to the public through decking, trails, a beach renovation and lake dredging project.  It is really wonderful. 

Here is Frank and Frank and Dan on one of the decks over the lakes.

 The lake is a haven for cormorants.  They are fairly good sized birds and like to sit in the dying cypress trees.  The lakes used to be filled with these huge cypress trees but as the pollutants came into the lake from the various industrial systems they die along with everything else.

And something must be connected somewhere because I have seen small alligators in the lakes as well.  Not often, mind you.  There are really people who think we have alligators walking down every street here in Louisiana!  And I didn't see one today even.

The teals and mallards are out and about as well.  The female was surrounded by a group of females so she must be auditioning prospective suitors for the spring mating season.  Look at how clear the water is right now since we have had the rains and the cooler weather.  In the summer heat we often have fish kills due to lack of oxygen in the lakes.  But today they were beautiful and crystal clear.

 

We rode all the way down the lake system to the golf course.  It was designed by some guy from Ireland and opened in 1928 at the heyday of golf in the US.  I picture tall slim handsome men in their bright short knee length pants with argyle sweaters playing a gentlemanly round of golf.  Although in the heat here I wonder what they wore.  The short legged pants would have been good but all those sweaters and socks would have been stifling hot!  Here are some trees along the golf course path that are old old old oaks. 

We rode through the place where Carrie got married at the golf club house and Contemporary Art Museum.  She got married at the museum not the Pro Shop!  LOL.  this is Dan watching the bikes while everyone else used the facilities at the Pro Shop.

There was quite a bit of hilly paths, something we are not used to here.  About half way we sat on the benches under the majestic old oaks and just soaked in the beauty of it all. 

 We finished the ride with lunch at VooDoo BBQ and a plate of steaming hot pulled pork in cane syrup and vinegar BBQ sauce!  The lakes held one last gem for us.  This snowy egret flew within inches over our heads to land on the grassy knoll in the lake making the picture perfect shot for me!

glen

TV Interviews on a bike ride

So that was exciting.  I am now being sought out for interviews by the local media.  Well, sort of.  On our bike ride down the levee and through LSU we decided not to wait the 20 minutes to get a table at Louie's.  So after much debate, a consult on the I Phone and discussion with a quartet of LSU students tormenting a fifth student we decided to head to VooDoo BBQ on Nicholson Drive.  And that chain of events led to the interview by Keitha Nelson of Channel 9.  She was hunting die hard LSU fans (chortle, choke which is NOT me!) and asking about the game last night and last weekend. 
She grew interested in the bikes and we will probably dominate the feature as they took video of us getting on  the bikes, riding up and down the street, the purple bikes Amber and I have and a rousing shout of "We're Number Once!)
The ride debuted three new bikes.  Frank, Amber and I all have new wheels!  Dan negotiated with the bike guy at Capitol Cyclery and we got great deals with a lot of extra gear.  Today our ride took us 13 miles from the State Capitol to the  LSU Stadium to  Voodoo BBQ and back through the concert at the Shaw Center downtown. 

No falls, no bumps and no bruises.  Here is our trip in pictures:

You know it is Louisiana when you see beads in the trees!
Here is Amber on her new bike.
Planetarium downtown           
Dancing Waters at the Centroplex
.  Can you see the planets???
Then on to the Mississippi River Levee and a great view of the bridge and some of the LSU cows.

  This is us trying to decide where to eat.  Voodoo BBQ wins.
This is Frank trying to look like he is just having a causal discussion while the TV cameras roll!  LSU Bike Impound.   LSU Stadium where it all happens 


Dan leaning on a post on the levee looking toward downtown.  See the state capitol bldg in the distance on the left?




And here is the Cajun Music Fest we rode through in Downtown.