Rode our Hondas to the levee, but the levee was dry.

[junkjeeps]

The idea for this ride came from my riding buddy mafols. He was supposed to make a trip with Tony to Mexico or Big Bend(I forget which), but that ride was postponed. Matt already had his vacation in so he started looking for other options. He called me up and told me about his intended trip/route and I was all in. We would ride the Atchafalaya levee from somewhere near Verdunville, La to Krotz Springs, La and then ride asphalt to False River. At False River we would catch the ferry across the Mississippi to St. Francisville and camp there Monday night. Tuesday we would explore St. Francisville and then ride a similar route back. Tuesdays route started at LA1 in Morganza where we rode the levee all the way to Bayou Sorrel. From there we rode asphalt the rest of the way back to Raceland. I'm sure Matt will post up a final route map when he gets the chance.

Monday - 11/12

We planned to make the trip on a Monday & Tuesday(11-12/13). One kink in the plan was that I had to work on Sunday night. I don’t get off of work ‘til 4am so that limited the amount of sleep I was going to get before we left. I agreed to be at Matt’s no later than 10am. I made it there on time and by the time we unloaded my bike, loaded all the gear and were ready to pull out it was after 11am. A little later than we wanted to get started, but hey, we’re riding while most are working, so it all good.

So our goal was to ride as much dirt and gravel as possible, with as little asphalt as possible. Only problem was to get to the start of the gravel, we had to cover a good bit of asphalt. So the next goal is to stay off of 4 lanes and ride only 2 lanes. We made a brief stop to check our gear and start a GPS route.

We had lunch at a Wendy’s in Morgan City. Sorry no pics of lunch – I left the camera on the bike. Close your eyes and picture a #1 combo with a DrPepper. We made it close to the levee and stopped to fill up here -

We found the levee road and picked up the pace. After cruising for a while we stopped and took a few pics at a public boat launch. I had to get some pics of my bike because it was my first and last trip on the XR250L. I bought this bike to ride back and forth to work and it suits that purpose well. The highway I ride to work is posted at 35mph. It’s great for that and 65mpg is hard to beat. When I decided I wanted to start making a few DS trips I figured a larger displacement bike would be necessary. After making this trip I knew for sure more cc’s were necessary. The 250 was capable of 60-65mph, but it didn’t like it for long distance. My 400 should be able to take care of that.

To be continued....

 

[SpDyKen]

I'l be waiting, with baited breath, to hear the part of the story about when "the good old boys were drinking whiskey & rye...." :cool:

 

[junkjeeps]

We made a few stops along the way. If you’ve ever ridden levees before, after a while it all looks the same. We stopped at this bayou and this guy came out to visit. Also seems the crop of choice for this region is sugar cane, lots of sugar cane. They are in grinding season right now so there are cane trucks everywhere.

We made it back to civilization and came upon this place –

Matt and I saw the neon signs and couldn’t resist- adult beverages - we stopped and had one... no whiskey and rye... just Bud Light... we still had quite a few miles to go. We went over the rest of our route and looked at the watch. We were cutting it close. We hopped back on the bikes cause we were burning daylight.

To be continued....

 

[junkjeeps]

We made it to Krotz Springs and the sun was getting low and the temp was dropping. Got a nice pic of this rail bridge –

While we were sitting there putting our sleeves back on our jackets, a local LEO pulls up with lights a blazin. He jumps out the car and before he says anything, he gets this bewildered look on his face. He says, “Oh, ya’ll have license plates.” Yes sir, we do. Have a nice day! While you’ve got us here, how bout some directions? He told us what we needed to know and we were on our way.

We made it to the ferry landing and it was after dark. We got on the ferry and made it across to St. Francisville. Being it was after dark, I didn’t get any pictures of our crossing. We found the campground right as they were closing up and got our $18 campsite. We unloaded the bikes and set up camp in the dark.

Next objective, food! We saw a brochure in the campground office for a place called Fat Mama’s Tamales and headed off in search of it. We found it, but they were closed. Plan B – we headed back into town and found a pizza joint, Sonny’s Pizza. We decided to eat here because I remembered that we used to have one of these close to home and it was pretty good. Once again I forgot the camera. Picture a big sloppy pile of nachos for an appetizer and pizza turnovers for dinner, washed down with ice cold beer.

We headed back to camp, had a few more drinks and crashed. We covered about 75 miles of gravel/dirt and 125 miles of asphalt.

 

[junkjeeps]

TUESDAY

Woke up around 7am and realized my Thermarest ground pad is nowhere as comfortable as my memory foam mattress at home. Matt got the coffee going and I took a few pics of the campsite.

I discovered that we had a neighbor that we hadn’t seen the night before. This guy didn’t make a sound the entire time we were there. Can’t say the same for the other dog between us and the entrance.

We got on the road about 8:30am and headed back towards the ferry landing. We stopped to take some tourist photos….

From there we found the start of Matt’s proposed route. Nice tree covered 2 lane –

 

[junkjeeps]

We passed a sign that said bridge closed, but continued on. When we got to the bridge it was indeed closed. They were building a new bridge across the creek and were missing the last two sections. After talking to the workers and finding out it was 20 miles out of our way to get to the road on the other side, we surveyed the situation and decided to make our own crossing. The oldest of the construction guys tells us, “Hell you’re on a dirtbike, just jump off the end of the bridge.” Not today!

We made it across and came upon the entrance to Cat Island. It’s part wildlife refuge, part wildlife management area. It’s all dirt roads and trails so we head in. We didn’t get far on the trails and realized that Avon Distanzias weren’t meant for wet grass/mud. We were sliding all over the place and decided to stick to the main roads.

After leaving Cat Island we were on a dirt road that followed the Mississippi river. The road was lined with hunting camps. Some very nice, some not so nice. Stopped and took a few pics.

How’s this for a shooting target?

 

[junkjeeps]

As we made it back to the asphalt, we noticed we were pushing noon. We decided to head back to the campground, pack our stuff and start heading home. We didn’t want to get caught riding after dark again today. Back on the road, we crossed the ferry back to False River. Got a few pics this time –

For this leg we decided to pick up the levee in Morganza and head south. Didn’t stop to take too many pics on this part of the ride. I was homeward bound. We did see a lot of cows on the levee on this side. I always slow down for cows. You just never know what an animal that big and dumb is gonna do. The crop of choice for this area is cotton. Looks like the fields have already been picked as you could see white clumps across the fields. One interesting thing we did see was 2 eagles on the ground fighting over something. By the time I stopped and got the camera out, they had flown away. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an eagle up close, but that is a massive bird!

We made it to I-10 near this exit –

And we stopped to figure the rest of our route –

While stopped I was taking a few pics and noticed when the big rigs passed over us the bridge would flex. I know bridges move, but I had no idea they flex that much. Pretty neat seeing an I-beam move that much. We continued on the levee until we came into a town that wasn’t on the GPS. We got off and once we got our bearings, I realized this was a town I used to hunt in several years ago, Bayou Sorrel. I knew the way home from here. We made one more gas stop (I actually made it 97 miles on this tank without switching to reserve) and headed home. We made it home right at dark and had a little over 200 miles for the day. I’m not sure of the gravel to asphalt ratio of this leg. Maybe Matt can chime in and help with that one.

All in all it was a great trip. The bikes performed well and all the camping gear/luggage made it there and back. I think we have decided that we would rather truck the bikes to St. Francisville and spend our riding time there. We’ve done the levee thing and are over it for now. We barely scratched the surface of what St. Francisville has to offer. I see another trip to St. Francisville in the spring brewing. If anyone cares to join us, let us know.

The End.

 

[Rooster]

Very cool trip! I've always wanted a DS so I could do rides like that. Pic's are awesome!

 

[Okiewan]

Excellent read! Thanks for the ride report :cool:

 

[mafols]

Very cool trip! I've always wanted a DS so I could do rides like that. Pic's are awesome!

I have to give Tony Eeds the credit for getting me on the DS bandwagon. When your riding options start shrinking little by little as time goes on....you look for a way to fight back.

DS is a good way to supplement the off-road stuff...especially for those of us getting up in age. It also makes a good commuter bike... :nod:

Great report Mark....and you're getting pretty good at that photography thing too. :cool:


Matt

 

[Tony Eeds]

Damn fine report Mark.

Matt told me all about the ride on Thursday evening over wine and dinner.

Now that I have read the report and seen the photos, I am even more bummed that I did not get off my buns and head down.

We need to stir up a ride after the first of the year and start and end in St Francisville. All the spouses can shop while we ride.

Tell Dawn hi and tell her I need some coffee!

 

[BSWIFT]

Threads like this are going to make me broke! Nice report!:)

 

[D Lafleur]

Matt and Mark,

Cool trip, you need to get in touch with me. You have to know the Barrot's and Benoit's. They live in your neck of the woods and are DS crazy. We are planning some dual sport action that you may be interested in. Your 250 would make the trip and we do ride some trail in our trips sometimes.

 

[mafols]

PM sent... :cool: