So today was one of those bike rides that I’ll look back on in 50 years and think, that sure was a fun day of bikin.

It started with Ashley and Yoni sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper and specifically looking at the oddly named churches in the area…the funniest? Cowboy Church at the OK Corral. Yeah.

Eventually we got to biking. I was late again. I’m getting bad at lateness when it comes to biking. I’ve been so good for so long, but I guess my lessons from Jacob are becoming further and further removed and I don’t have the fear of god in me when it comes to being on time anymore. Ha.

Off we went into the area south of Monroe, past Cheniere Dam (that’s pronounced shuh-nee apparently – crazy pronunciations are the norm here – whatever you think it is, it’s not) and south on Lapine. We rode into a howling headwind the whole time until we passed a lone rider on the side of the ever so vacant road. We didn’t slow or anything, but said hi, and continued on. He caught up quickly and we struck up a conversation.

His name is Sheldon and he’s from the area. He told us that the turn we were planning on in the very near future was probably not the best idea…it was dirt, it was gated, and there were hunters. He should have just told me that Heaven was on the other side, so of course we had to go now.

Kilpatrick Rd came up, we turned, the pavement ended, the gate was crossed, and the hunters were seen. They looked at us like we were six-eyed deer. We saw at least five different cars with the hunters sitting in their cars with their guns hanging lazily out the window. We kept riding silently by as the chorus of protests followed us along our merry way.

Eventually, we came to a dead end. I figured this was the end of our voyage and we’d have to turn around to meet the chorus of protests that had been following us. Thankfully, we had our man Sheldon with us, and he led us straight on through…on foot.

We climbed over a fence and into a pasture, hopped back on our bikes, rode past some cows and horses, avoided the manure and came to our next fence crossing, which we all handled ably.

Some more dirt road followed until we were once again back on sweet, sweet pavement. We bid Sheldon adieu, and head off to Cooney Bonnet Road, where holy moly a big sign says:

Cowboy Church of the OK Corral!

Yoni and I couldn’t believe it.

We kept riding and then we witnessed another abnormality – the proverbial tree falling in the woods. Except we were there…and we saw it.

Yeah, it was a good bike ride. I’ve had a good time bikin with Yoni over the past few days – we rode in Vicksburg yesterday (more on that soon).

Anyhow, Ashley and I are going to buy some firecrackers. Yahoo.

Signing off from Ouachita Parish (that’s wah-shit-aw).

It has been super hectic here in Louisiana, but tons of fun. I can’t say enough how thankful and appreciative I am of everyone’s kindness. I feel at home here and love it.

With that said, I have to admit that I miss my family a little bit today! I got some Christmas updates from Mom last night of the food, dinner, and presents…made me smile. I got a chance to talk to them on the phone and I am definitely looking forward to getting home in the not so distant future.

Ashley has been enduring some suffering due to sickness over the past week, but she’s toughing it out. Hopefully she’ll be better soon. I want her to take me bikin all around Monroe to show me her town.

Tomorrow (the 26th), I’m headed to Vicksburg to do some bikin with Yoni. I hear that the riding around the Vicksburg Civil War site is incredible. Really looking forward to it…the high temperature is also worth looking forward to: 78 degrees!

More soon…even pictures.

I just finished my biggest weekend in a long, long while…a whopping 8 hours. Baby steps, ok? I’m super excited about actually having gotten out and done some reasonable bike rides. I rode with my Monroe friends Tim, Grant, and Tracy. It’s good fun riding with the guys and even nicer being shown the roads in the area. Tim doubles as my Santa this year as evidenced by my brand spankin new front tooth that isn’t dark and ugly and discolored anymore. I’m pretty happy about that…to say the least.

We’re having an awesome stay in Monroe. I like it a lot.

The Litespeed Archon that I’m riding is fantastic. The iBike is coming along, but I still need to figure out all of the ins and outs before I can make a real judgement. I’m close to really liking it though.

I’m hoping for a big ol week this Christmas week. My friend Yoni will be coming into town to do some bikin, hopefully we can get out and get some practice in together. This whole riding with other people bit is really good fun.

Back to work for me…

Made it to Louisiana. By my reckoning, we left 24 hours ago at this point. It has been a long day. It very nearly didn’t happen either…

The train we were supposed to take to Munich was TWO hours late. That kind of set us back a lot. We got to the airport with maybe 30ish minutes to spare. Somehow Ashley pulled it off and we made the plane.

The plane ride was good fun – we played a ton of games on the seat computer thing. I think I played the trivia game for at least four hours.

It was weird being in Atlanta for a little while…so we celebrated with a trip to the fast food Chinese place, Panda Express, and we had a root beer. Yeah.

When we finally made it to Casa Norris, there was a bike waiting for me, and some crawfish etoufee from Mrs. Debbie. After an awesome dinner, a lot of laughing, a shower, and putting all of my stuff away, I think it’s about time for sleep.

Tomorrow, I head to the dentist for the first time in something like a decade I think. It should be quite the experience.

Ashley and I got back from Croatia at 430 in the morning on Monday. On Monday, I worked a fair bit, slept an even fairer bit, and that was that. Today, it was time to pack again and get ready for the next trip…the big one back to America. We’re flying to Louisianer come tomorrow morning, so we’re in for quite a day.

Istria was incredible. Ashley and I can’t stop talking about it, and everyone unfortunate enough to be near us has received more than an earful about it. We cannot WAIT to get back.

Ashley and I rode Michael and Marijana’s tandem on the last day and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done on two wheels. We’re hooked and want one.

I got in a decent ride today. I’m happy with the bikin so far this season. I’m hoping for some good practice in Louisiana over Christmas.

In other news, I’ll have a Litespeed Archon and an iBike waiting for me at Ashley’s house to test for the duration of our stay. I’m pretty excited about that!

Alright, I’ve got some PEZ work to take care of. Next update will be from America and there will be some pictures.

Tuesday’s weather was superb, but that’s when the fun ended. When we woke up on Wednesday, the winds were howling and the rain was pouring. It wasn’t long before we needed to close up the shutters and protect the flowers.

Batten down the hatches!

Since I couldn’t do any riding in that weather, I made due with tea and staring longingly at the big ol map of the area.

Speaking of maps and where we are…that’s where we are.

So now we’re watching tons of movies, drinking even more tea, and generally just having an awesome time.

The internet is, as always, a constant companion.

I know I can’t describe it well enough just how loud the wind is outside. It’s insane. I’ve never heard wind like that before. At least it’s warm!

We met Michael and Marijana’s good friend Eddi today. He gave us a ride down to the town of Buje so we could go to the grocery store. We had wanted to ride our bikes down there, but…yeah…no. Eddi was incredible. We can’t wait to hang out with him some more. He also told us how rare this weather is. He said, normally it’s three weeks of sun and a couple days of rain, but now everything has gone haywire. Ah well, yet another reason to come back…to experience ‘normal’ weather!!

Alright, that’s all for now. Back to watching movies. We’re watching Michael Clayton right now.

On Tuesday, I felt like crap, but I ended up getting in a decent ride down to the coast. It was pretty, but I felt so bad, I didn’t take too many pictures. I couldn’t help myself once I got to the water though. It was gorgeous.

There are LOTS of signs for grappa around here.

Ho hum, just riding along the Adriatic.

I went the wrong way in Savudrija and ended up at this awful dead end.

I rode on roads like this away from the water and back into the hills. Nice.

On Monday we rode to Groznjan…Ashley rode with Marijana on the mountain bike and I rode with Michael on the road bikes. It was awesome…the pictures should finish up the story.

Ashley all PEZzed out for Monday’s ride to Groznjan.

The next door dog.

Momjan Castle…yep, that castle is in the town where we’re staying. Take that.

There are tons of vineyards in the area…these are just down the hill from the house.

That’s a steep little hill.

Zavrsje is gorgeous.

Ashley enjoying the fire at our late lunch in Groznjan.

Ashley liked the extra gears on the mountain bike.

Holy moly that was a sunset…Buje is the small town in the distance.

Here are some pictures from our first ride back on Sunday, December 7th. The weather was awesome…

Michael and Marijana and the sweet tandem.

Ashley!

Awesome little roads.

The tandem FLIES.

Ashley doesn’t look too shabby on a bike.

It’s hard to say how wonderful our time here has been in Momjan so far. The area is great, the house where we are staying is beautiful, the Stechow’s have been unbelievably hospitable, and all the people we have met are lots of fun. I called the resident director of my program and “called in well,” as Michael put it. I was struggling to find a good reason to stay here, and I hate the bad luck you put on yourself if you follow through with one of “those” stories. Needless to say, she had never gotten that excuse before.

The past two days all four of us rode together (Michael, Marijana, Jered, and I). The first ride was fun, but it was hard for me to keep up with the tandem that Michael and Marijana were riding. They FLEW down the hills and flats, FLEW! Yesterday Jered and Michael went off to do a little more serious climbing, and Marijana and I rode mountain bikes. Since I didn’t bring my road bike with us, it made things a little more challenging to do a group ride. I think we rode 2.5-3 hrs, but it didn’t feel like that as we were talking most of the time. We met the guys for dinner in this really small village that has charm difficult to describe. As I was walking to the restaurant I couldn’t help but think of all the people in years past walking down those same cobbles, and seeing the sun in the trees like it was yesterday.

Jered is getting in some hours on the bike now, and I’m looking around a clean house wondering what it is that I can clean. I think I’ll head down to the village in a little bit to get fruit and bread for the next few days, and start my schoolwork for the week!