Cruisin' on the River

I had to do a double-take on the outside temperature this morning. A little cool front had come through yesterday, and although it had rained out the Monday morning ride, things were looking pretty good today. I mean, the temperature was actually in the 70s - even the low 70s. I haven't seen that in quite a while and my brain took a moment or two to search the "what to wear" database. OK, so it wasn't all that cold, but it sure felt nice riding out to the levee. My legs were sore in odd places, no doubt from climbing around on a rooftop Sunday afternoon, and although the stomach is still a little unhappy, it seemed to be getting better.

The long Tuesday ride felt pretty fast today despite a nagging crosswind, and Tim and Woody were pushing the pace pretty well. Max and VJ were also up there in the mix, although I was definitely not quite pulling my own weight today. Don't really know why, but I just couldn't seem to push myself very hard this morning. Somewhere out by The Dip we came up on part of the Destrehan Gang before they'd had a chance to turn around, and although they were able to chase and briefly make contact when we slowed down after getting back atop the levee, the pace surged again before they were recovered from their chase so we regrouped at the turnaround. Out at the turnaround there wasn't much time for recovery as Tim started back right away. I think Tim and Woody wanted to get to work on time today, so they were kind of hammering on the way back along with VJ and a couple others. I was taking pulls only occasionally, though. Plowing through headwinds is definitely not my forte'. Drafting behind big guys, however, is apparently right up my alley. So anyway, it was a good training day for me.

By the time I left for work it was already getting warmer, but there was nonetheless still a little bit of crispness in the air that hinted of Fall. With the autumnal equinox coming up next Monday, I guess it's about time that for us to start getting those occasional little cool mornings. It'll still be a while before I have to dig out the long-sleeved jersey, though.

Meanwhile back at the office we are beginning to prepare for our big move at the end of the month. Can't say I'm looking forward to that very much. I took the photo above this afternoon when I noticed the new cruise ship docked down in the French Quarter. It's one of the ships that normally sails out of Galveston (probably the Carnival Ecstasy) that left prior to the hurricane and now doesn't have much of a city to which to return, so I guess they'll be here temporarily until Galveston gets pieced back together.

On the racing front, it looks like we will be able to use James Business Park for the Rocktoberfest races, which is a good thing because we weren't getting a response on the Lakeshore Drive issue and time is getting really short. Rocktoberfest is a fun low-key criterium that marks the end of the road racing season for a lot of the local folks. I'll have to get all the paperwork squared away tonight. I had really been hoping to get the race back to Lakeshore Drive, but the hurricanes really threw a monkey wrench into the works so we decided to go with something easier that we knew we could handle without special event sponsorship.