Long Ride Back

It was my first early morning ride in well over a week, and I was surprised how dark it still was at 6:00 am when I stepped out the basement door and down onto the sidewalk (yes, here in New Orleans, one often steps down from what we call a "basement"). I think it was also one of the coldest mornings we've had yet this Fall. I had even resorted to firing up the central heat at home. I'm sure the 39 F temperature wouldn't even raise an eyebrow this time of year up in the Midwest, but down here on the delta anything below 40 qualifies as cold. Fortunately the wind was calm, and that made all the difference. I had, as usual, dressed for arctic conditions. Up on the levee there was quite a range of cycling clothing on display. There was Rob, who seemed to be wearing little more than knee-warmers and a long-sleeve jersey, and then there was Jeff, who had on a balaclava and winter tights. I tended more toward the Jeff side of the velo-fashion bell curve, finally having resorted to full-length tights and arm-warmers underneath my Kodiak jersey which itself was underneath a vest. Really, though, it's all just a matter of personal preference whether you prefer to be cold at the start and comfortable in the middle or warm at the start and warmer in the middle. All I can say is "layers, layers, layers!"

Today it seemed that the chilly temperature was keeping the speed down quite a bit as we made our way out to Destrehan. When I saw Tim and Woody join in out toward Kenner, I wondered if they would start pushing the pace. Instead, though, they were obviously out for an easy spin and when they and Donald turned back somewhere near the Big Dip, a number of other riders did also. The paceline had already been short-circuited for a while, so most of us up front didn't even notice for a while. Although we were only going 22 mph or so, it still seemed like an effort today. My legs were still feeling a little bit of Sunday's ride, and of course all of the extra layers always make me feel slow as well, so I shouldn't have been too surprised.

After a while we picked up David and Rolan, but David headed home at the turnaround, and Rolan was working hard on technique, spinning a really low gear at a really high RPM. By the time we were on our way back, my vest was in my pocket and the effort level had increased a notch. I was trying to keep it one cog lower than normal so as to avoid straining my still-achy legs. Still, the speed was staying in the 23 mph range most of the time, and there were only four or five rotating at the front. I was probably not the only one who was getting tired, and I remember thinking, "it sure is a long ride back on a day like this!" It seemed like forever before we finally arrived back at the playground where those of us left eased up considerably. It was still a good ride, even if I did get home a few minutes later than usual.