Reconnaissance

Saturday was the day for a combination training / reconnaissance ride on the Tour de La Road Race course. (Oh, wait -- "Light My Fire" just came on the radio, so I'm going to have to take a little break...) OK, I'm back now. (Miss me?) So anyway, I drove up to the TDL course with Quentin and met up with a group of about ten at Cucumber Corner. The 15-mile loop that we've been using since last year is a pretty good one. Every time I go up there for a group ride, the guys are saying they'll ride four or five laps, but we never make more than three. Perhaps that's because it's always shortly before the Tour and the other riders are all thinking about the race, so one lap always ends up being pretty fast.

This little course features nice smooth asphalt throughout and an unrelenting series of little rollers that will definitely get your attention after a lap or two. Our group lost a couple of guys right off the bat, even though the first lap wasn't very fast. On the second lap, though, a few of the Fish House guys kicked it up to race pace for a while. We had a few Cat. 5s from our club who got gapped off, so rather than bury myself to close the gap, I stuck with them and tried to get a paceline going. It was a lot harder than I expected, though. The hills were killing them and every time we'd hit a good one the group would splinter. Luckily, everyone stopped at the store where the start/finish is after the second lap so we got to regroup. The third lap was more civilized and everyone stayed together.

After the ride, a few of us drove back around the course re-painting the arrows, sweeping gravel off of the corners, moving a downed tree that was blocking half of the road, etc. The course is in pretty good shape. I kind of wish I was riding it next week, but duty calls and I'll be officiating along with Shane. Mark, Quentin and I stopped at "Vic & Natly's" in Covington, where we hold the awards ceremony, for a "swimp" po-boy before driving back across the causeway. I was pretty tired, or maybe just dehydrated, by the time I got home.

Sunday was Giro Ride day for me. When I arrived at Lakeshore Drive this morning I found barricades and a fence all the way across the road. I guess it's good that finally, twenty months later, they're finally fixing the hurricane damage, but really, was it necessary to shut down the entire four lanes? Of course, it didn't stop the Giro Ride which simply rode around the barricades and occasionally took to the sidewalks in order to get by. There was a typical group, except that a few of the regulars were missing. Tim, Realdo and Bain are up at the Tour of Ohio that starts tomorrow, and I think a few of the guys were going to ride the Tour course today. It was a confusing Giro today. A few little groups and a pack that wasn't too interested in working made for an odd day. By the time we hit Hayne Blvd on the way back there were a few guys up the road and the pack didn't really seem to care, so I rolled off the front for a while and was eventually joined by a few more guys. Eventually Brett showed up with his TT bike and things picked up considerably. After trading a few pulls, Brett got on the front and pulled nonstop for the last few miles. It was exactly like sitting behind a motor, especially since he barely slowed down to climb the overpass where everyone but me dropped off.

So the rest of Sunday was spent inhaling paint fumes in the kitchen. Did I mention how much I dislike painting? This little kitchen of ours features three full-size windows three doors and door frames, and two sets of cabinets, all of which need to be stripped and painted. It would literally be easier to gut the room and start over rather than try to strip and re-paint everything.