Springtime Giro Lemmings

It is, by anyone's measure, a Spring day in the Crescent City. I rode out to the lakefront slowly, intent on taking it as easy as possible at the Saturday Giro Ride. The weather was practically perfect -- temperatures warming into the 70s, a clear sky, and light winds. I had expected a smaller group, though, since I know a lot of these guys, myself included, plan on riding tomorrow's Rouge-Roubaix. That fact didn't seem to have much of an effect on the pace, though, so I was staying near the pack where the draft is thick, and just trying to stay out of trouble. Things were going along pretty smoothly until we got to the spot where we merge with the Interstate and have to cross three lanes of high-speed traffic on a fast, sweeping curve. I was toward the back of the group, and as we got close I looked back to see five cars, two of which were towing trailers, coming around the curve at 60 mph. For reasons I cannot even begin to rationalize, the lead riders cut across in front of them. Like lemmings, most of the rest followed. I was dumbfounded by the sheer stupidity of what I was seeing. A small group of us didn't, indeed by then couldn't, follow. I watched as one car drove right up to the back of the group, which was at the time blocking all three lanes, and slammed on the brakes. Geez. It was close -- really close. We could smell the burned rubber as we crossed over a little later. Somewhere behind me one of the guys said "it's not worth dying for." Naturally, the deadheaded riders up front just kept hammering, leaving the rest of us to regroup and watch most of the group disappear down the road. We ended with a nice paceline down Chef Highway and then finally rejoined the group after the turnaround. The Midsouth Masters had their new jerseys today. They are the blue/grey ones. Sure is a lot of blue in the local peleton this year!

So tomorrow is the infamous Rouge-Roubaix road race. This annual 100-mile race is done as two big groups on a 100-mile course with lots of turns, a few good climbs, and three long sections of gravel road. Surviving it is generally considered an accomplishment. The last time I did it was in '05, and I probably shouldn't be doing it this year, but it still beats the hell out of another Giro ride! My preparation involved a trip to the LBS for a supply of Hammergel. I'm hoping that there will be the usual big group and I'll be able to hide out in the draft a lot. The thing that will make this one different from those I've done in the past will probably be the temperature. Although it will be in the 50s at the start, it should quickly warm up into the 70s, which means I'll have to bring the "big" water bottles and hope that they don't get launched when we're flying down the gravel at 30 mph.