Rising Tide

Tuesday morning was warm and humid. This time of year, that's a good thing because the only other option is generally hot and humid. I was running quite late when I left the house and time-trialed all the way out to the levee. The whole way I was thinking that I could make up a lot more ground on the group now while they were still going slowly than later when they really got up to speed. So I was rather surprised to find that they hadn't left when I finally arrived four or five minutes late. I was planning on turning around at the Dip today because I wanted to do the Tuesday Worlds training race in the evening out on the lakefront. As usual, the pace kept ramping up as we got farther out, so I wasn't too unhappy about easing up as we approached the Dip. Behind me, Big Richard had already eased up too, so at least I had some company for the ride back down the river. Richard and I make for a pretty unlikely pair. The other day when we were stopped waiting for someone to change a flat I discovered that I could slide my handlebars completely under his, which emphasizes the fact that his head tube is about as long as the seat tube on my sloping top tube Orbea. Even so, I very often find that he ends up on my wheel in the pacelines. Perhaps he likes the extra visibility, or perhaps it's just that he's quite a strong rider who rarely hesitates to close a gap or take a pull at the front.

Anyway, as we were Rollin' down the River into the ever-present headwind, I was surprised at how much the river level had risen since Friday. It was now lapping up against the base of the levee in most areas, and the batture was now covered with all manner of flotsam and jetsam representing a fine sampling of the junk that passes through our fine city on its way from the rest of the Mississippi River Valley states to the Gulf. Along the way I noticed at least two refrigerators.

By 3:00 pm I was already anticipating the Tuesday Worlds training race out on the lakefront, and even took a few minutes to update the NOBC "Rides Page" with the current information. Keith called and we agreed to meet at my house for 5:30 to ride out to the lake together. Then things started sliding downhill. The sky was growing darker and darker to the north, and by 4:30 I could see from my 25th floor observation deck that it was probably already raining on the lakefront. So I took a look at the current radar on weather.com to see how bad it was. There was indeed a little shower passing from west to east along the south shore of the lake, and another one right behind it, but they didn't look too big. I thought it was likely they would be gone by 6:00, and besides, it wasn't looking like rain at my house. So at 5 pm sharp I headed home and was surprised to get a few little sprinkles along the way. Looking north over my right shoulder the sky was not looking any better at all. At home I changed into riding clothes and swung open the basement door a bit before 5:30 to find a light drizzle falling. I rushed upstairs to have another look at the radar and what I saw was bad. In the time it had taken me to get home, those little showers had blossomed into much larger and more significant rainstorms. Damn. Just about that time the phone rang. It was Keith, of course, and as the rain started to increase we decided it was going to be a wash-out. I sat in front of the computer for another half-hour, still in my riding clothes, hoping for a chance to ride, even if it was meant taking the old full-fender Pennine out to the levee. By 6:15 the rain at my house went from drizzle to a full-on torrential downpour complete with thunder. Game over. I reluctantly changed back into civilian clothes and called it a day.