Thursday Already?

It's already Thursday. How did that happen? My usual routine has been rather disheveled lately because of the rain and work and stuff, and somehow it comes as a surprise that the weekend is suddenly so close, although it's not really enough to pull me out of this strange blue funk I've been in. I'm planning on riding the MS Gran Prix stage race this weekend up in Brookhaven, but as usual haven't given any thought to how I'll get there and where I'll stay when I do. I was going to go up with Mark, but he said he's getting sick and won't be able to make it. Hopefully I'll remember to register some time today before pre-reg closes.

The morning group was steady and fast today, at least for the most part. Personally, I felt pretty much like a tub of lard for some reason. We had a decent group, most of which did the long ride. The pace got a little erratic on the way back. I don't really know why. The wind wasn't very strong and there was some disagreement as to which way we should be pulling off. I figure if it's not obvious which direction the wind is coming from, it doesn't really matter too much. Of course, Howard was there, and Matt, so there were a few unexpected accelerations here and there, and then we picked up a few more riders who had started later and turned around to get into the paceline around Williams Blvd., so I guess that had something to do with it. Brady was there looking pretty strong. Unfortunately he's heading to Ambergris Cay this weekend for a wedding and won't be racing.

The Midsouth Masters guys, who are promoting the LAMBRA Criterium Championship this year, appear to have gotten the OK to have the race at City Park in New Orleans around the museum. I think the course will be a little strange there, but I don't know exactly what roads they're planning on using, so we'll see. Meanwhile, I went to submit the Tour de La USAC event permit application online the other day, but they are still running on a backup server and at some point in the process I got a screen full of SQL code or something instead of what I was supposed to get, so now I am showing two non-completed permit applications and am waiting for them to fix the system before I try again.