Fat Bastard

An easy ride on Monday with The Daughter refreshed my legs a bit, and a good thing it was too. This morning's long levee ride was plenty fast - and hot. I'm sure I don't really need to be commenting about the heat any more. I mean, it's mid-summer now in New Orleans and it goes without saying that it's hot. At least we've been getting a few of our typical afternoon rainstorms lately, which usually cools things down just a notch, even though the increased humidity does kind of take the thrill out of the marginally lower temps. One thing yesterday afternoon's rainstorm did was bring down a huge oak tree branch a few houses down the road. So naturally in order to clear the street they dragged it over to my house where it will probably stay. In a weak moment today I responded to an email from one of the catalog places that was offering free shipping and discounts. The Wife needs new tires, after all. While I was there I also ordered a new pair of handlebars, since mine are about 50% aluminum oxide right now, and also (gulp!) a new saddle. This is a radical thing. Really. I've been riding the venerable old Concor saddles for probably 20 years. This time, though, I decided to roll the dice on a somewhat more modern saddle with a hole in the middle. Should be interesting ...

This morning I got to work a bit late because I couldn't tear myself away from the Eurosport streaming audio of the Tour de France. I knew I'd somehow end up missing out on the climb up L'Alpe D'Huez, and that just wouldn't do. To see guys these suffering like that, it's just incomprehensible to guess what it would be like for the average local US pack fodder rider like myself. I mean, just how many minutes behind would I be if I started with these guys at the base of L'Alpe D'Huez?

Rushed home yesterday after work in order to get out to my dad's place for a little family get-together for his birthday where I drank copious amounts of Fat Bastard merlot which I found to be merely adequate - a bit on the fruity side for my taste.