Weekend in Baton Rouge

We were in Baton Rouge over the weekend so that Jonnene could attend a seminar/classes on myofascial release...something about which I haven't the slightest clue. After all, I'm an art major. Pencil, paper, draw, print...I can wrap my head around that.

I took my bike, riding both Saturday and Sunday. Did the south loop of the epic Rouge-Roubaix road race course up in St. Francisville and really wore myself out for only 53 miles of steep hills, gravel/dirt roads, and some stiff wind. On Sunday I did an easy loop on the River Road south of the LSU campus to loosen my legs from Saturday's effort. The Rouge route was just as tough as I remembered it from 2004 and the climbs on the Tunica Trace in the gravel and dirt felt like someone was hitting my thighs with a hammer as I struggled up at 3 mph in my easiest gearing. My wheels were sliding side-to-side on the rocks and I was doing my best not to fall over. I stayed up all the way through but the Trace is the slowest and hairiest 4 miles you can do on a road bike. A mountain bike might not have as tough a time out there.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites where they have these really great breakfasts and the rooms are roomy. The University of Alabama basketball team stayed there on Saturday night for a game against LSU on Sunday afternoon. We got on the elevator with one of the players and a team manager that evening. We talked a bit but I held off telling them I graduated from ULM (we beat their football team in 2007 for one of the top five college football upsets in the nation). I actually like Alabama and wouldn't have minded going there as a student way back when.

Saturday night we went out to the Mall of Louisiana located east of Baton Rouge on I-10 and had dinner at Bravo's, a fancy Italian restaurant on the Boulevard at the mall. Had to wait 25 minutes to get a table. We ordered simple but it was tasty. The serving was big enough for us take half of it back to the hotel for lunch on Sunday (we had a fridge and a microwave in the room).