. . . the more they remain insane. Yesterday as we approached the house after work I hit the brakes. "Oh my god!!" Gone was the babbling brook sound to which I've grown so accustomed. The Sewerage and Water Board had actually, finally, come out and fixed the neighbor's dramatically leaking water pipe. A little while later I strolled along the block, a glass of "Red Bicyclette" in hand, to survey the work. The event drew four or five of the neighbors out of their houses to celebrate. As I stood chatting with them, the owners of the house in question came around the corner in their car. I lifted my glass. "Congratulations!" Nancy looked knowingly out the window and with a big smile said "Thanks!" It's remarkable how we now get all excited about things like street repairs being done or elevators that actually work. Now there's one house left on the block that is under reconstruction with a big pile of debris out front and a yellow portable toilet that's been sitting on the sidewalk since before Katrina.
So this morning was probably the last relatively cool (i.e. mid-70s) morning we'll have for a while, and it attracted a lot of riders to the morning levee ride. It also attracted a lot of walkers, joggers, runners, dog-walkers, and recumbent riders. As we raced out to the turnaround at a tailwind-assisted 27 mph, it was like negotiating an obstacle course. At some point I took a pull and then dropped to the back of the long paceline. It turned out to be a mistake because someone up nearer the front was short-circuiting the rotation and I was stuck back there for a long time before I got up the energy to move closer to the front. I figured I'd just do more work on the return trip, and as it turned out, I did. It wasn't exactly like I had planned though. The paceline barrelled down the "dip" and over a stretch of street-level bike path that is always covered with big rocks. I don't know why they can't ease up through there 'cause it's freaking dangerous. Anyway, no sooner had we gotten back up on top of the levee did I hear a couple of people yelling "flat!" I relayed the message myself, but everyone in front of me pretended not to hear and kept going. I couldn't leave someone way out there to fight a headwind all the way back with only a small group, so I stopped to assist. We got a good paceline going all the way back, but with the head/crosswind a lot of it was at 23-24 mph. Pretty nice workout though.
Arrived home to find that the commuting bike had a flat tire. Fixed that, and as I'm riding to work The Wife calls to tell me that the car window wouldn't go back up after she rolled it down to get into the garage at work. It's been getting flaky lately, so I knew this was coming. After five minutes sitting in the car pushing the "up" button, it finally came back to life. Of course, now the wife is pushing for a new car. To me, that just sounds like a $20,000 window repair job . . . plus interest.
Meeting tonight at my place to get our act together for the Tour de La. Online registrations are already coming in, especially from the Cat. 5s who always have to worry about that 50-rider field limit. I hope my dentist appointment preceeding the meeting doesn't hurt! I hate going to the dentist. It always ends up costing a lot of money because the lousy teeth I apparently inherited from the Irish side of the family are about at the end of their useful lives.
Planning on riding the Giro de Rankin this weekend, assuming I can remember how to race a bicycle. Hopefully I can find a ride up there so The Wife can drive around town in the heat with the car window stuck in the "down" position. In the meantime, I need to get the LCCS rankings updated now that I have most of the necessary results information from S'port.
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