A Long One

The plan was to do a long ride this Mardi Gras morning, but I didn't know if there would be a group ride, or when it would meet. I didn't really care, actually, and was expecting to do most of the ride solo. Still, I didn't want to be out too late because I wanted to catch the Rex parade that started at 10 a.m., so I hit the levee around 6:30, and found a few guys up there looking for a group. Once the sun came up the weather was great, and we rolled the 23 miles out to the turnaround at a steady pace, except for when Howard was on the front of course. On the way back, we saw a big group coming the other way, and I guess they must have started at 7:00 from the Playground. Howard turned around to ride with them, but a little while later we picked up Realdo who turned around as we came by. In doing so, he broke a spoke but the wheel was still good enough to ride. I think he eventually got in three hours this morning. What I got was a flat on the way home.

We headed out around 9:45, this year on foot, for our annual pilgrimage down St. Charles Avenue to the French Quarter about 6 miles away. This year we timed it just right, arriving at Napoleon and Freret just as the parade started to roll. We kept pace with the front of the parade all the way down to 3rd street where we found Realdo and family, so we hung around there for a while while I ran back and forth to the floats with Reo's son on my shoulders collecting beads. Eventually we all walked down to the Burger King for some food, and then The Wife and I continued on our way downtown.

This time our timing was all wrong and we got trapped behind the barricades and had to wait until the last Rex float was past Royal St. before the police opened up the barricades and the crowd flooded into the French Quarter. The crowds were definitely a bit thinner than usual and I took a lot fewer photos than last year, but it was still quite interesting. The only problem was this post-nasal drip and sore throat that I still have. I'm quite sure I should have stayed in bed all day today, but seeing as how it was my civic duty to celebrate Mardi Gras, how could I do that. So I ended up walking something like 15 miles today and by the time I got home my feet were killing me. This walking stuff is for the birds. It was a long day and an even longer walk. Give me wheels any day! I put a little photo album up on the kodak site.