Mississippi River Ride Introduction

This blog is being co-written by Wayne Andresen and his daughter, Mindy Andresen Crosby.

This is the map view of the Mississippi River Ride route that will be completed

between May 8 and June 1, 2018.

Day -2: Saturday, May 5, 2018

On Saturday May 5, we (Wayne and Mindy) flew to New Orleans, Louisiana to begin a bicycle adventure... a supported ride from New Orleans to Minneapolis, Minnesota with America by Bicycle. The following is a description of the ride quoted from the America by Bicycle web site:

"The Great Mississippi River Ride follows the magical Mississippi River from Louisiana to Minnesota. This 25-day fully-supported touring-paced ride averages 70+ miles per day and crosses through 9 states. The 1,734  mile route begins in New Orleans in late spring and heads north to end in Minneapolis in early summer.  We cycle the back country roads including the "National River Road" and the "Mississippi River Trail" (MRT) with two exciting off days in Memphis TN and St. Louis MO."

The America by Bicycle (AbB) Mississippi River Ride (MRR) ends in Minneapolis, some 260 bicycle miles short of the actual Mississippi River headwaters located at Itasca State Park, near Bemidji, Minnesota. Since our goal for this ride was to pedal from New Orleans to the Mississippi River headwaters, we enlisted the help of Cheryl (Wayne's wife) and Lance (Mindy's husband) to provide support for us so we could ride the final miles from Minneapolis to the headwaters. The totalmileage for the trip should be right at 2,000 miles.

Day -1: Sunday, May 6, 2018

After a good night of sleep we spent the morning assembling our bikes.  This proved to be a bigger challenge than planned as the bike shop that packed and shipped our bikes took apart everything possible and tossed the contents into the

box!  After help from Michael, the America by Bicycle (AbB) mechanic we were able to hit the road.

To ensure our bikes were setup properly, we peddled about 39 miles round trip from the airport to downtown NOLA.  On our way downtown we detoured through the Audubon Park near Tulune University where we encountered "PIG".  He weighs about 380 pounds and is treated like another member of the family.

Mindy talking to the owner of the pet pig.

Dad/Wayne had his first Beignet from Cafe Du Monde!  We walked around the French Quarter before bicycling back to the hotel.

A big crowd and long lines at the Cafe Du Monde. Was the beignet worth the wait?

When in New Orleans, one must try a beignet. The answer to the question above - I probably would not stand in line again for a future purchase!

The intersection of Bourbon Street and St. Ann.

Day 0: Monday, May 7, 2018

This morning we took a short ride to test our Garmin devices to verify we had the accurate files and the 'turn by turn' navigation was ready for the big adventure starting tomorrow.  On Monday afternoon there was a meeting to interact with all of the bikers and receive information to better understand the logistics for the next 25 days! 

There are 29 riders signed up for the ride with 3 of them riding only the first 9 days, ending their ride in Memphis. The remaining 26 riders are planning on completing the ride to Minneapolis. There are nine States represented by 22 of the riders, another five riders are from Great Britain, and the final two are from Australia.

There are four AbB staff people (including one bicycle mechanic) that will provide support for the ride. We will be staying in motels the entire trip with breakfast and dinner included on all ride days.  We will have one day off in Memphis, TN, and a second day off in St. Louis, MO.