Tuesday. Parade Over...

Fat Tuesday started out with a foggy and warm 6 am training ride. We had I guess eight or nine up on the levee this morning, and both the temperature and the pace were unseasonably hot. I was a little bit torn between getting in a good training ride and hanging out at Audubon Park for the7 am Royal Run, but ultimately decided on the ride. It was a bit of a sacrifice, really, because I knew there would be a good turnout because Rex this year is a member of Tulane's Board of Directors and someone who I knew wouldn't balk at the early morning start of a day that won't end for him until early tomorrow morning. So anyway, the ride was pretty fast, but David and I turned around at the Dip in order to get back home in time to get things together for the day's festivities. It was actually pretty nice having just the two of us taking long steady pulls into the wind.

I ended up riding down to St. Charles and Second St. with The Wife and her sister. It was incredibly warm and very windy, which was pretty nice because with Mardi Gras being so early this year we were all expecting it to be freezing cold. First up for us was the Rex parade that started at 10 am. It was probably over an hour before it arrived where we were, but then it stopped and didn't move again for a good hour or more. The entire LSU band and cheerleading squad was preceeding Rex this year (it's usually the Navy band) because of the recent BCS championship win, so they put on a little show while we waited in front of a big mansion that was flying official Rex and Comus king flags. Despite the big LSU presence, however, I noticed that the King had, tucked discretely between his leg and the seat of his throne, a Tulane flag. I saw it again on TV later in the day as he waved it while toasting the Mayor (or maybe the Queen).

We walked down to Jackson Avenue to see what the problem was because when this happens it's always some issue with the Zulu parade (some might suggest it's actually intentional). In this case, one of the floats had broken an axle, so Zulu was stalled until a replacement float arrived. On the plus side, we got to see the last few Zulu floats. Finally everything got rolling again, probably two or more hours behind schedule. Before the truck floats, which follow Rex, came along The Wife and I took off down Prytania on the bikes headed for the French Quarter. it was actually a very nice ride, and as we came up Convention Center Blvd. we caught Rex as he was being escorted to the place where he gets off of the float. The road was closed to traffic, but being on bikes we had snuck past the barricades, so it was kind of neat to see the first few minutes after the end of the parade.

The French Quarter was not particulary crowded when we arrived, probably in part because the parades had been so late and lots of people were still stuck on the other side of Canal Street until the many truck floats went by. Anyway, I wandered around and took some photos along Bourbon and Royal streets for an hour or so, wishing I could stay longer. As usual there was an abundance of people who should probably never be allowed in public wearing, or not wearing, what they were, but every now and then I stumble across a few who remind me why I love women so much. We headed home around 4:30 in order to avoid being on the road after dark on a day when probably 80% of the population has been drinking since before lunch. Photos are here.