An Olympic future? A few locals are worth watching
August 1, 2012Title bout headlines wrestling event
August 7, 2012
The factors that motivate local cyclists to peddle along the Terrebonne’s daunting roadways can’t be summed up with the testimony of one man or woman.
As 22-year-old Nicholls student Lindsey Jennings readies for her second ride down Bull Run Road, she reveals that she heard about the crew that makes this weekly 20-mile trek and saw it as an opportunity to step-up from her daily biking to and from work. So she did it, and her sky blue classic frame – complemented with bright orange rims – sticks out amid the more costly models chosen by veterans.
Brian Robichaux and Brian Naquin say the camaraderie attached to regularly riding alongside familiar faces is topped only by the health factor. Don Lasseigne agrees, saying that competition and socializing drew the former track and field competitor to joining the Bayou Country Cyclists.
Two-year president of the BCC, 44-year-old Willie Bolden began cycling in earnest seven years ago in attempt to lower his blood pressure. What started with a $50 bicycle bought from a Nicholls student has blossomed into riding a $6,500 two-wheeler with a twisted titanium frame, purchased to ease the impact the rigorous 4,000 miles per year has on his hulking frame. His blood pressure is no longer high.
Even as a July’s stifling heat follows an afternoon rainstorm, 27 cyclists prepare for the weekly sprint down Bull Run.
Two weeks in a row, the Brians are the first to arrive at the Houma-Thibodaux Diocese in preparation for the BCC’s weekly ride down Bull Run Road. They methodically gear up, putting on helmets, fastening and airing up tires, greasing their chains and rolling around the lot. Others start to arrive en masse around 5:30 and follow suit. About 10 minutes before the group embarks, nearly everyone is straddling a seat and talking to one another in groups.
“We’ve seen a huge boom in cycling,” says Matt Trahan as the 6 p.m. start time draws near. Eight riders was once normal for the weekly ride. “Now it’s unusual to have below 20.”
Trahan, the BCC’s safety coordinator, is tasked with keeping members aware of traffic laws. “If you want respect from motorists, you have to earn it,” he says. He advises that cyclists follow all laws, such as stopping at a stop signs and using hand signals when making turns (but really, who uses a blinker in Terrebonne?) He stresses that cyclists must be predictable at all times.
Trahan is also a member of the local Green Team, the high-speed cyclists who take to the streets every morning, regardless of the weather, and who are known for their philanthropic events.
BCC and the Green Team are tight-knit groups that use their sport to benefit others. This month in Thibodaux, cyclists are staging The Alan Kelly Downtown Criterium presented by Mary Bird Perkins at TGMC. Last April, the proceeds from the BCC’s Spring Ride went into a fund to benefit Scott Hoppmeyer, who severely injured his spine when he flew off his bike after his front wheel lodged in the seam of a bridge on Southdown Mandalay Road. Both groups also participate in the Louisiana Bike MS Ride, a 150-mile, two-day ride from Hammond to McComb, Miss., which benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Trahan attributes the “boom” in local cycling to a man who transplanted to Houma fulltime from New York. “Alan Kelly is the backbone of cycling in the Houma-Thibodaux area,” he states unequivocally.
Kelly, visiting with riders prior to the Bull Run ride, says local government has taken the preliminary steps to make Terrebonne more welcoming to cyclists. This includes consulting with the BCC during new roadway development to gauge the feasibility of bike lanes, spearheading the effort to establish the Southdown Trail system off Valhi Boulevard and installing bike-friendly signage along Bull Run Road.
Alone, these measures may not seem like much, but Kelly says they represent a change in the culture. “I remember when there was, maybe animosity is too strong of a word, but when there was negativity between the community and cyclists,” the New York transplant says.
Kelly no longer rides bicycles because he lost his left eye while receiving treatment for brain tumors. He’s still clearly involved with the group he helped transform, serving as its treasurer.
Kelly preceded Bolden as BCC president. The organization boasts a membership of 149. Bolden agrees with the immediate past president’s opinion on the changing culture of the sport.
“At least 90-95 percent of the motorists, they are a lot more friendly,” Bolden says. “Even the ones who probably don’t really want to see bikes on the road, they are respecting the fact that bikes are on the road.”
The group has commandeered Bull Run Road as a regular route despite its minor imperfections, such as jagged pavement, slender shoulders and rough transitions on and off bridges. Every Wednesday at 6 p.m. they take to the connector of La. highways 311 and 20, passing few cars and a handful of yellow caution signs warning motorists to “Share the Roadway” on their way to the midpoint at Wilson’s Kajun Korner, where the cyclists pivot and ride back.
“Somebody’s riding Bull Run Road literally every day,” Bolden says.
That’s partly because it’s one of the few safe, local routes. Terrebonne Parish, even with the recent change in attitude, does not have biker-friendly roads. There is not one bike lane in the parish, and because of its wide shoulders, cyclists regard Highway 311 as one of the safer routes in spite of its heavy traffic.
But the sport is most certainly alive.
Cyclists as far away as Florida come to the region every year for the annual Spring Ride, which begins at Peltier Park in Thibodaux. Including the weekly club rides, BCC will be represented in 20 coordinated rides in the state through next month.
Locals also make frequent trips out of state to conquer new terrain. Bolden, for example, says his favorite ride is 3 State 3 Mountain, a 100-mile journey that originates in Chattanooga, Tenn., and crosses through Alabama and Georgia.
He also wants to make it to New York’s “Five Boro Bike Tour,” which, of course, takes riders through the city’s five boroughs. “It’s on my bucket list,” he says.
“Florida, especially Pensacola, is an up-and-coming state in cycling,” Bolden says. “I go to Pensacola once a year to do a bike ride, and I swear, every time I go out there, they have at least 10 more miles of bike lanes, every year.”
For more information on BCC, visit www.bccbike.org. Membership dues cost $20 per year. The club welcomes beginning riders and even loans bicycles to those who wish to gauge their interest.
“The bottom line is if you want to ride a bike, people are riding bikes,” Bolden says. “We have some people who don’t even own cars, they just ride bikes. Lindsey (Jennings) is the perfect example. She works in Thibodaux. She’s a student at Nicholls, and she doesn’t own a car.”
Lindsey Jennings, a 22-year-old Nicholls student, shows off her bike to Alan Kelly, treasurer of Bayou Country Cyclists. Kelly, who is credited with helping BCC grow over the past several years, no longer rides but is still heavily involved in the BCC workings.
Brian Robichaux, 37, and Brian Naquin, 40, overlook Naquin’s bike before a ride down Bull Run Road. Both are members of Bayou Country Cyclists and say they enjoy the sport because of the friendships they’ve made and the exercise it provides.
