Cooling Down

The Jet Stream seems to be taking a brief subtropical vacation here in the gulf south, and although this morning wasn't cold by anyone's standards, I could definitely feel the lower humidity. The forecast low for tonight, which is always wrong this time of year, is 59F. Here in town that probably means something more like 63, but hey, I'll take it. Fall is finally starting to inch its way into southern Louisiana, and after a long hot summer everyone's always happy to see things cooling down. October and November typically offer some of the nicest weather we get all year, and every time one of those northern cool fronts manages to push its way through we are treated to exceptionally clear and crisp air with deep blue skies and starry nights. After so many months of humid and hazy horizons, we probably appreciate days like that more than most.

For a couple of weeks prior to Six Gap I'd been holding off on installing a new chain, so last night I finally broke down and got it done, only to discover that I'd waited a bit too long. (By the way, the chip timing results are on the Buttar.com site.) Of course I didn't know for sure until I took off from the house this morning and felt the chain skipping. A couple of cogs on my training wheel's cassette were already too worn by the old and slightly "stretched" chain. While that probably explains some of the chain/shifting problems I had last weekend (worn chain on an relatively fresh "race-only" cassette), it means I'm due for a new cassette. Damn. I should have changed that chain a month ago. So in the meantime, the Orbea's 13, 14 and probably the 15 are going to be off-limits. I'll probably just ride the Cervelo for a few days.

With both the weather and the racing season cooling down, this morning's ride was pretty smooth for the most part. For the past couple of months, the Wednesday ride had been fairly fast, but today it felt more like it is during the winter. Although there was a little split after Williams Blvd. on the way out, only Jay made an effort to bridge up to the front group. Everyone else, including me since I was taking a picture at the time, just continued on at an easy pace.

A couple of people are looking into the availability of the Natchez Trace, either near Natchez or near Jackson, for the last-minute relocation of the Time Trial Championships. Hopefully one of them will work out. It's one thing to have a season without a team time trial championship, but I'd really hate to see a season end without a TT championship. Hoping for the best.....