Life in the City

The roller-coaster ride that is our weather continues. It's nearly 80F right now, and it looks like we won't even see the 40s until the weekend. The good news is that we should have some nice riding weather over the upcoming holidays. Today's ride was really nice. There was just the slightest bit of wind, and the group was about as smooth and consistent as this sort of group gets. Having gone to bed early, again, last night, my legs were feeling nice and rested and today's pace was just what the doctor ordered. My weekend plans are pretty much up in the air, though. I won't be able to make the Sunday northshore ride, and with the forecast looking pretty unstable I'll probably have to play it by ear that day. We'll see...

Scott and I were the first to arrive at the levee meeting spot this morning, but we were soon joined by most of the usual crew. Rob, Chad and Brooks showed up together, with Chad having already had some significant excitement. It seems that as he was leaving his house to ride (no doubt in the dark) he stepped back inside to get something and when he came back out his bike and the keys to his truck were missing! He rushed back inside and grabbed the keys to another car and took off in search of the culprit, who he miraculously found and from whom he extracted his stuff -- the hard way. The thief was obviously well-schooled in the New Orleans judicial system, immediately claiming that he'd just bought the bike from someone. Anyway, the guy took off on foot and escaped, but Chad was able to deal with the police and still make the morning ride. There's been a lot of opportunistic crime like that around here lately.

Meanwhile, down at City Hall where for the past year the Mayor has been happily playing host to about seventy homeless people living (and pissing) on the front lawn, a private group went out and got a big grant and is finally saying they will have them moved out by Dec. 21. I wish them luck. The place has become a magnet for homeless people since the local folks have been giving out food and tents and bedding for months.