Ash Wednesday

The Police made their usual midnight sweep down Bourbon St. last night, marking the official end of the Carnival season. It is truly symbolic how they do that. At midnight a solid block of mounted police comes down Bourbon St., pushing the people off into the bars and side streets, followed by the big street-sweeper machines that scoop up the considerable debris from the gutters and wash everything down with water.

So, what to give up for Lent? Today it was a training ride. After flatting yesterday morning and of course forgetting to patch that tube, I found the bike this morning with another flat tire. Not wanting to risk going out spareless, I stole a tube from another wheel, put it in my rear tire, got all dirty since that was the wheel I rode in the wet on Tuesday and opened the door. I was already too late to meet the group and my motivation was already lagging. Outside it was damp and foggy again, albiet warm. I almost turned around right there and went back to bed, but I figured that in the true lenten spirit, I'd skip the extra sleep and put in a few easy miles. The closer I got to the levee, the colder and foggier it became, and when I finally got there I was already cold, the streets were damp, the fog was thick, and I was feeling lousy. OK, I can take a hint. I hit the "abort" button and went for a little sightseeing spin over to the park and headed home, probably with under 10 miles. Maybe I'm coming down with something; maybe I shouldn't have finished that bottle of vino last night; who knows? Meanwhile, The Wife is supposed to be starting a "detox" diet of some sort, similar to what The Daughter had done a few weeks ago. At least that should mean more pasta, ice cream, coffee and wine for me!!