A Very Cross Wind

Slept badly last night and even considered skipping the 6:15 a.m. long ride this morning, but by virtue of force of habit and lack of resolve I somehow found myself on the levee anyway. Ahead of a cool front expected this evening, there was strong and gusty South wind blowing warm humid air across the unprotected bike path - ample enough explanation for the anemic turnout of under 10 riders. Every now and then there would be a little blast of cooler air blowing up from the cold water of the Mississippi River. It was exactly like walking past the open door of an air-conditioned shop on a hot summer day. We battled the crosswind pretty much all the way out and all the way back today. There was just enough of an occasional tailwind component on the way out to lure six of us into doing the whole distance, the rest having turned back early.

It's a real challenge to ride in a group on the narrow levee bike path when there's a crosswind like this. The road is wide enough to provide good protection for only the first three or four riders in the eschelon. The rest ride the tightrope at the back, precariously balancing between the edge of the road and the wheel in front. It's like trying to ride a 6-inch wide set of rollers in a crosswind, and under such conditions the rider who takes long pulls at the front is no friend at all to the guys at the back.

On the way back, we finally got a circular paceline going so that nobody would be stuck for too long unprotected at the back, but the level of concentration needed to deal with the paceline (and the one or two guys who never seem to be able to ride a straight line), the gusting winds, and the wheel-hungry drop-off at the edge of the asphalt, takes a bit of the fun out of it. Since I was already feeling lousy anyway, I rode today like a zombie, thankful to have the benefit of Ronnie's ample draft, and communication mostly by way of grunts. Because of the wind, we rode mostly at 20-21 mph, except for the few sections where the road turned briefly downwind and we could easily roll up to 25 or so.

Still, I was glad to have ridden this morning because tomorrow promises to be rather chilly and probably windy as well. I just hope the rain is over so I'm not riding on a worm-infested wet road tomorrow morning!