All to Myself

Down here on the delta people tend to associate any temperature below 0°C with things like polar expeditions and animated movies about dancing penguins. Perhaps that explains how quiet it was this morning up on the levee bike path. My outdoor thermometer actually showed 31°F this morning -- precisely as predicted -- so I pulled on an extra shirt, one of those stretchy long-sleeve high-tech ones, and rolled out to see if anybody else would show for the Friday ride. There was a bit of a north wind, but nothing you'd call harsh, and I knew I'd be pretty comfortable for an hour or so, even at the relaxed pace I knew I'd be enjoying. My short trek from home to the bike path takes me in a mostly southerly direction, so in the winter I have the luxury of getting warmed up a bit before confronting the usual north wind. Arriving at the meeting spot a few minutes early, I hovered about, riding little circles at the top of the Pump Hill, just in case someone else might show up. When 6:40 came around, though, I didn't hang around since I knew the chances of having any company today were slim. I was out past the Country Club before I saw another person, a well-bundled runner, on the path. Spinning along in a 39 x 15, it was nice to have the path all to myself without most of the usual dog-walkers and other pedestrians. Even so, I turned back a little early today, knowing that my slow speed would otherwise lead to a late return home and probably also some rather cold toes. As I came around the long bend in the river at the Country Club where the road turns to the NNE I came face-to-face with the north wind and finally started to feel the cold air seeping through my clothes all the way down to the already-damp base layer. A few fingers were starting to feel cold, and my feet had been gradually chilling the whole time, but when above 31° it's pretty hard to get into trouble during the course of a 75 minute ride.

Earlier in the ride, when I was still trying to get warmed up, I was reminded of that infamous Rouge-Roubaix in 2002 when we started, and finished, the 100 mile race in sub-freezing temperatures. Just last night I was emailing the promoter of this year's edition of "the Rouge." Having finally grown large enough to run afoul of the USAC's 75-rider field limit (for any race that includes Cat. 5 riders), they will likely be expanding the usual two groups into three. It won't have much of an effect on the 100+ rider "A" race, since the only Cat. 5s in that one are a handful of the Masters riders, but it will probably mean a separate race for most of the Cat. 5s and smaller fields of 50 or so for the "B" and "C" races. Given the narrow country roads used by the race, especially for the first 25 miles or so, that's probably a good thing. We actually tried to see if we could get some flexibility from the USAC on the field limit, given the race's traditional format, but they weren't buying it. Not surprised, really, since there are some serious insurance and liability issues involved there. Meanwhile, I'll try and find some time today to get the announcements out on the upcoming Officials and Promoters clinics. The season's first race permit for a Feb. 22 time trial and criterium was just approved, and the Rouge permit will likely be finalized in a day or two, so welcome to the 2009 racing season!

Oh, I should mention that Bo Bourne (Herring) is in town this weekend and will probably be doing the Saturday Giro. It's going to be a really cold one on Saturday! Also, Rick Carpenter (ACCM/Marx and Bendorf) from Memphis is in town for a conference and will probably be doing the Sunday Giro. Hopefully I'll also hear from Mitzi who's also in town for the same conference.