Tempus Fugit

Sunday's Giro Ride seemed nearly like a repeat of yesterday. It was fast and hot, and the main difference was that by the time I got back home I was a bit more wasted than I'd been the day before. On the plus side, the air stayed in my tires today. After the turnaround I saw Reo roll off the front with a purpose, followed not too closely by a few others, so eventually I rode past the recovering group and made my way up to him. We ended up with a group of six trading fast pulls all the way down Chef Highway. The group must not have been interested in chasing today. By the end of Chef, I was already starting to skip pulls now and then. I suppose my diet of hamburger and wine from a party the night before was catching up with me. By the time Reo and I pulled off of Lakeshore Drive to head back I was feeling like I was on the verge of bonking altogether.


I had been wondering the last few days if the old concrete marker in front of the original New Orleans Bicycle Club building was still there, and had decided I'd stop by the corner of Baronne and General Taylor streets to check it out. So Realdo and I made our way over there, a couple of blocks off of St. Charles Avenue. The first thing I saw was some relatively new sidewalk concrete on the corner. I figured it was gone, but after looking around a bit we found it right up against the building partially covered by grass that had grown up through the cracks. I took a few photos of it, but since it was in the glaring sunlight they didn't come out too well. About 25 years ago The Wife and I had done a few rubbings of it when it was in better shape, one of which still hangs in my living room. I think we gave the others away. The original NOBC was incorporated in 1885, a year before Tulane University opened its doors on St. Charles Avenue. It wasn't too many years afterward that the club went belly-up. Eventually the building became a warehouse for Martin Wine Cellar, which was located across the street until Katrina. Then, some time around 1968 or so the name was resurrected when the new New Orleans Bicycle Club was formed. I guess I joined the club in 1971 or 72. Seems like yesterday, but then as they say, tempus fugit!

Spent all afternoon stripping paint and painting, inhaling heavy doses of dangerous solvents. Gee, that was fun...


So I hear that the district championship criterium course is being changed a bit in order to incorporate a couple of sharp corners that will add a little bit more of a technical element to the race and will also avoid a particularly worrisome centerline crack in the road.