Ahh! Back to the Lakefront

Yesterday's training ride on the levee turned in to kind of a hammerfest for some reason. Not that that's a particularly bad thing. In fact, I spent some time up there with the hammer in hand myself. There were a few times when it got kind of ridiculous, though. I'll never understand the guys who get to the front and up the pace to 30 or 31 mph. They can't sustain that for any length of time, of course, and so by the time they've finished their pulls and dropped back to the back, the pace is already back down to 24 or 25, since the rest of the riders start to get defensive anticipating the next surge. I always have this urge to counter-attack!!

Anyway, when I got up this morning I thought I'd forgo the levee and take a ride out to the Lakefront instead. Back before the levee bike path was completed (a couple of years now), my usual morning training ride took me 6 miles North through town to Lakeshore Drive, along the Southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Lakeshore Drive is fairly quiet in the mornings and offers a five-mile stretch of nice 4-lane road with few intersections and no stop signs or traffic signals, so it's a favorite place to ride. I would do a complete lap of Lakeshore Drive, sometimes tacking on a few extra miles, and then head home, giving me a nice 20-25 mi. ride.

I headed out in semi-darkness. It was a nice change to get back out to the lakefront and train alone. I'm becoming convinced that I need a day or two of solo training each week, even though it can be a little disconcerting because of the lower average speed. Riding alone, I'm usually most comfortable at 19-22 mph. In a group, it's usually more like 25-27. Anyway, it is still hot and humid around here, with no end in sight.

The daughter started classes yesterday up in Iowa. It will be an interesting semester for her, taking some interesting but challenging courses and living off-campus. She will have a tight schedule between classes and gymnastics practice, and dealing with bats flying around in the house she and four other athletes have rented. I hardly remember what it was like to be a sophomore in college, but for me it was much different - living at home, just starting to race bicycles. Such a missed opportunity.

There is a track meet this weekend at the velodrome in Baton Rouge, but I'm very undecided about whether I want to race. I've only been on the track once this season and I never seem to do very well on the oval for some reason. We'll see. I hate to not support the event. The meet is mostly pursuits, with a couple of scratch races thrown in on Saturday afternoon. I really don't have any interest in the pursuits. I mean, that's just pure torture.