Lumpy Training Ride and then Lundi Gras

Sunday morning the weather was warm when I took off for The Morning Call to meet up with anyone else who might be doing our Rouge-Roubaix prep. northshore training route. Since it was a very busy Mardi Gras parade and party weekend, I wasn't too surprised to find nobody there, so I found the only radio station not proadcasting Sunday morning PSAs or Infomercials (i.e. WWOZ) and made my way out to Causeway Blvd. for the drive across the lake. Somewhere behind me I saw the flashing blue lights of a police car as an unlucky driver got pulled over. I thought I saw a bike on the roof, and indeed it turned out to have been Ed (he got off with a "do you know how fast your were going?" warning). Even over on the northshore the turnout was low and five of us started out with a nice warm tailwind.

Our route had been planned to include two sections of gravel and dirt. Since the group was so small, though, we started making some exploratory alterations after the first dirt section. As it turned out, all of the dirt roads we'd selected (Isabel Swamp Road and Dusty Road) were disappointingly hard-packed and easily rideable. When we arrived in Plainview, we decided to take Jap Little Road, mainly because it was in far worse condition than Sie Jenkins Road that parallels it.

So we're flying down the broken and potholed macadam with Jorge in the lead, and as we come around a right-hand curve the road drops quickly down into a sharp left turn. Jorge is just bombing down the short but steep downhill with me on his wheel and about halfway down I start reaching for the brakes because I can see lots of sand and holes in the turn up ahead and think "nothing good will come of this." Jorge was a little late on the brakes, though, and by the time I hit the turn he was already doing bike acrobatics in the ditch. Finally his front wheel dug in or slid and he went over the bars as the rest of us filed past. It didn't look too serious since he'd fallen in the grass and seemed to have slowed down pretty much before finally landing in the dirt. As we turned around we were laughing about it, but when we got back to him we discovered he had acquired a brand new lump at the end of his left collarbone.

Although he wasn't in a huge amount of pain, it was obvious that something was not right, orthopedically speaking. Since most cyclists eventually acquire some level of familiarity with collarbone anatomy, we tentatively diagnosed a dislocated AC joint, ruled out at least a badly broken collarbone, and looked at our options. We were a good 20 miles from the cars and civilization, so one of the guys volunteered to ride back with him just in case it got worse and he required automotive extraction, while the rest of us, now only Ed, Keith and myself, finished out our ride.

When we finally called to check on Jorge at the end of the ride he said he'd talked to an orthopedist friend and decided to skip the trip to the ER and instead take some anti-inflammatories and see the doctor in the morning. Hopefully things can be popped back into position and all will be well. Anyway, even though my computer had only around 60 mi. on it by the time we got back, between the hills, sand and wind my legs felt like they had 80.

Sunday evening we had another very civilized parade viewing experience, camped out at a sweet top-floor condo on St. Charles Avenue, coming down just in time to see the Krewe of Bacchus with honorary King Hulk Hogan (who was clearly enjoying himself!) make its slow and unsteady way downtown. (Photos are here.) The crowds were nice and the floats were huge, especially the famous Bacchugator float that is about a block long. I have to give my vote to last night's Endymion, however. Of course, the whole time we're watching the parade we're trying to keep track of the Superbowl to see if local boy Eli Manning would be able to secure another ring for the family collection. He took it down to the last minute, but finally delivered, resulting in a happy New Orleans and a big red wine stain on the couch!

So today is Lundi Gras, a sort of pre-Mardi Gras thing that was revived some years back, and the university is closed until Wednesday while the city is in full-on Mardi Gras mode. I think we may take a shot at another parade tonight, and then of course Mardi Gras morning (although I'll probably slip in an early-morning ride first). The weather is supposed to start going rapidly downhill in the early afternoon, but at least it will remain unseasonably warm. We'll just have to cross our fingers on the rain and hope it somehow skirts the city.