Day 3...and some problems

Well, Day 3 is finally over. I'll be honest, I had some doubts today. More on that later.

Finally got out of Texas this morning. Houston is huge. It took an hour just to get out of town...on the freeway! The guy at the front desk said I-10 was the best way to get through Houston so I hopped on and traffic quickly came to a halt. About a mile later I passed a wrecker in a center lane loading a car. It was easy after that.

Back up a bit...Houston is also humid. I worked up a sweat just packing the bike. It was kinda nice to be in humid weather for a change. Albuquerque is so dry.

Just before I left Tx I stopped at a Chevron that called itself Crawdad's.



A few miles later, I passed the last mile marker in Texas, 880. That's eight hundred and eighty miles. Think about it.



Crossing into Louisiana.



I like the bridges here. Out west, all we have are boring flat concrete bridges. These have some character.



Crossing into Mississippi.



Tomorrow I get off the freeway and onto some back roads. Really this time! I'm really looking forward to slowing down and seeing the Gulf.

Ok, now back to the issues I had today. I had three things happen today and one of them might cause me more problems in the coming days. The first thing was an unplanned detour at Lafayette, LA. I had planned on taking US-90 down through New Orleans but Mardi Gras was happening in Lafayette and the roads were blocked off for parades. I couldn't get through or around to 90. After trying for an hour, I gave up and got back on I-10 east. Oh well, so much for New Orleans and so much for getting on some back roads today. I stayed on 10 to 12 and back to 10 all the way to my end-of-day stop in Moss Point. [sigh] Oh well, back roads tomorrow.

The second issue was the zipper on my chaps. Merrilou knows the trouble I have with zippers anyway but this was different. Rather than jamming it, it came undone all by itself as I was riding down the road. I don't know how long my left leg was open but I finally noticed it right before I got back on I-10 in Lafayette. I zipped it back up but it started to come undone again after a few miles. I was able to position my leg so the wind wasn't whipping the chaps so much and the zipper stayed half way until the next gas stop. I used a length of rope to tie around my ankle to keep it from flapping so much and undoing the zipper again. It stayed good all the way to Moss Point. Tomorrow, I'll use some velcro I have so I won't look like I have a turniquette around my leg.

The third issue is the bad one. My luggage rack cracked and is in danger of falling off. I have my top case bolted to it and my clothes and bathroom bag in it. I also have a chrome rack bolted on top of the top case and my sleeping bag and ground pad are bungied to that rack. Total weight on the luggage rack is probably 25 or 30 lbs. I wouldn't think that's too much but evidently the luggage rack is pretty lightweight. (It's made by Cobra.) I noticed the problem at a gas stop and promptly strapped it up with some straps I brought just in case. These straps have spring-loaded cinch buckles and they seemed to hold the luggage rack and top case very well. I stopped again 40 miles later to check it and it hadn't gotten any worse. I think the additional straps are going to hold for the rest of the trip. They really firmed up the top case. It used to wobble up and down with bumps quite a bit and it's real solid now. I'll check it real close at each stop just in case. If the cracks do continue to get worse, I'll deposit the top case, sleeping bag and ground pad in a dumpster somewhere and move my two bags to the top of my duffle bag which is on the back seat. My straps will be more than adequate to hold everything on my back seat if I have to resort to that. I'm very disappointed in my Cobra luggage rack. I guess if I want a good one, I'll just have to make it myself.

So, the day was eventful and I'm mentally tired from worrying that my top case would fly off on the freeway and I wouldn't notice it. I gained a bit of confidence back when I saw that the cracks weren't getting worse. Maybe tomorrow will be better and I'll really believe it will hold for the rest of the trip.

Despite the problems, I'm continuing on. Wish me luck.