The alarm went off as usual and in the dim light I could barely make out the digits on the thermometer. It had rained the evening before and I wondered if the streets were still wet. 51ºF. Shorts, tights, two jerseys, long gloves. The remnants of the night's rain were still puddled in the low spots of the street as I rode through the neighborhood toward the levee. The skies were grey and I could feel as sparse light mist. I debated turning back, but it's almost the end of March already and another day off the bike just won't do, so I continued on, pushed along by a brisk north wind that I knew would come back to bite me.
I hit the levee at precisely 6:15. Alone. I looked back to see only empty road, and continued, already considering a shorter ride than the usual 44 or 46 miles, or whatever the long ride usually turns out to be. Before reaching the playground, though, I heard John come up from behind and shortly afterward a small group approached, turning around to make a pack of five or six. The pace was steady today and as usual a couple of guys turned back at the "dip." Donald was trying to burn off some excess fuel, I think, knowing that he had to turn around early, and so he had spent a lot of time at the front, finally putting in a big surge as we approached the "dip." The four or five of us left continued on to the turnaround and had a nice enough ride, although toward the end everyone was silently taking robotic pulls. There's just something about dreary weather and headwinds that does that. It looks like this cool weather will stick around for a while. Today's high probably won't top 60º and tonight will dip into the 40s. Damn, and I was all ready for summer too!
There's been a lot of interest in the 2-man TT we're putting on this Saturday, and I'm hoping we'll have enough volunteers helping that I will be able to ride. If it works out, Keith and I will probably start first so that we'll be back early enough to help with the results.
Got a call from Gina V who was on the road to Redlands where she'll be riding with the Diet Cheerwine team in the invitational Cat. 1,2 race, having apparently decided that the elbow damage wasn't bad enough to keep her out of the race. She said it will be hard climbing, but her job will be mainly in the criterium anyway. She will be moving to Atlanta in early July to start her first paying job as a doctor. This morning I found an email in my in-box from Tom Finklea. Tom raced here way back in the 70s and raced nationally with some success, particularly on the track. He was aggressive enough in criteriums to make a few enemies and, as I recall, get himself a suspension or two from the USCF. He eventually married another bike racer, got a degree in electrical engineering and moved to Austin. He's not racing any more and now has children who are married themselves. Considering that he started racing here as a Junior, that makes me feel really old. Anyway, he's involved with the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the effort to construct a new velodrome in Austin and said he may start coaching sprinters again.
One of the sisters-in-law whose house was flooded is finally going to move into her FEMA trailer but will be using our back room as an office for her real estate business. On the plus side, she brought over a big all-in-one printer/fax/scanner that is wireless enabled so after installing the drivers and software (nearly half a gigabyte!!) I can print or fax from anywhere in the house. I hardly ever need to do either at home, but couldn't resist the challenge to make it work.
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