Day 36 - De Ridder to Opelousas

This was a challenging day from the start.  At 2:00 am were awakened to a tornado warning. At 7:30 am we embarked on a 91 mile ride with rain, falling temperatures and a 15 mph headwinds most of the day. When we started the temperature was in the mid 60s and when we finished it was 38 degrees. The authors were well prepared with cool weather riding gear.

The highlight of day was a visit to Fred's Lounge in Mamou.  What a fun place with s rich history in French Cajun snd Zydeco music.

Henry is at Fred's Lounge drinking hot damn, which Bubba said was the cure for the common cold  & cold weather.  More about Fred's Lounge later 😃

Thunder, lightening and rain .... with tornado warnings...in De Ridder.  Check out our phone log with the tornado warnings.  

This video was taken outside of our hotel room at 2:30 during the tornado warning.

Rice and crawfish ponds were common sightings throughput the day.

The unexpected highlight of the day was after fighting the wind to get into Mamou for lunch.  Being able to stop into Fred's Lounge since it is only open one day a week for just 4.5 hours.  As the plaque on the front of the building indicates Fred's Lounge has a long and storied history and was the literal birthplace of French Cajun and Zydeco music.  

In 2016 Fred's Lounge celebrated its 70th year in business and even after all of those years it is still one if the coolest bars the authors have ever cycled to 🚴.

So every Saturday morning a live radio show of music being played has been broadcast by the major AM radio ststion KVPI AM 1050 from Ville Platte, Louisiana.   Check it out because the house band really rocks and the bar is totally full of people who are really into the music and dancing as space permits.

The bar had a few simple rules that are relevant not only at Fred's Lounge but also have a certain universality about them. Concluding with the French Cajun line that translates to let the good times roll.