Long Spring Pacelines

This morning you'd never have guessed that just a few days ago we were bundled up in multiple layers of fleece-lined lycra battling icy northern winds. Today I could have gone out in just shorts and a jersey, although I did pull on the arm and leg-warmers in consideration of my old rusty joints. Besides, the shock alone might have been enough to induce tendonitis. The ride started out with the temperature comfortably in the 50s under a clear blue sky and with a moderate breeze. For all practical purposes, it was a Spring day. The grass suddenly looked greener, the Azaleas are all in full bloom, squashed Japanese Plums litter the edges of the neighborhood roads, and the Oak trees are almost fully loaded.

It must have been this nice weather that lured so many riders up to the levee for the long Thursday ride. I guess we had about twenty on hand this morning, a few of whom again reported seeing a Coyote down on the batture a few miles away. I was happy to find my legs finally returning to near normal, although the neck and back soreness looks like it will linger another day or so. Even so, I was intent on keeping my own effort level out of the red zone on this ride. With the race coming up this Sunday, I wasn't the only one holding back today, either. As we started out I could see that Rob was having none of this "save your legs for Sunday" stuff. He hung well off the front of the group for a long time, occasionally visiting the paceline momentarily, but quickly losing his patience and rolling off the front again. There was a nice bit of tailwind on the way out, so we were still rolling along in the 27 mph range. After a few surges and gaps and chases Rob and Brady eventually took off and the rest of the long Spring paceline settled down into a nice fast rotation. Well, most of it anyway. With the relatively warm air and sunshine, this was a great day to be on the bike -- one of those days when you just don't want to go home.

Out by the Ormond Plantation, however, the asphalt ends and we turn around and however reluctantly, we go back home. Now, one thing that had made the ride out to the turnaround so great was that nice little tailwind. Naturally, that meant a lot of headwind and crosswind for the return trip, and with so many people in the group I knew that real estate would be in short supply for those near the back. Sure enough, once we hit a long stretch of crosswind the last ten riders were precariously lined up along the edge of the road, none of them getting much of a draft. When Mark G. got a little too close and bailed out onto the grass, I thought, "we really need to get a second paceline going." As you know, that elusive second paceline is one of the rarest things one will ever encounter in the U.S. Riders seem to prefer risking life and limb clinging to the last three inches of asphalt where they're still not getting a draft. So I thought, "what the hell, let's give this a shot." Once Mark was back on board I said, "Let's get a second paceline going," and Big Richard looked over and nodded approval. Within seconds it happened. It actually happened. We had a beautiful second paceline of maybe seven riders where everyone was getting a draft in the crosswind. I almost couldn't believe it. So we hung there, a couple bike lengths behind the front group, rotating like clockwork and making sure not to get so close that their riders would start dropping back into our group. We rode almost all of the last half of the ride back that way. My legs were very happy!

So it looks like we have a respectable number of NOBC riders signed up for the Rouge-Roubaix this weekend. The weather is looking like it will be warm and so far there isn't much threat of rain, so I expect the turnout will be really good. Fellow blogger Christophe is coming down to NOLA from NY tonight for the Rouge and is planning on making the Friday morning ride with us. We'll probably do some of the Saturday Giro Ride as well, but I'm planning on cutting it short because the last thing I need is to start the Rouge with sore legs. I've had about enough of that already this week and considering my current status I know damned well that I'll be running on fumes by mile 80 anyway. I was sorry to read the other day that Jill had to abandon the Iditarod Invitational after falling into a snow-covered trench, getting soaked with water, and then going another seven hours in temperatues that dipped to 25 below and eventually froze her boot to her leg resulting in some frostbite. Did I hear somebidy complaining about that 38F headwind last weekend??

Meanwhile, the New Orleans triathlete community is in full-on Ironman New Orleans mode lately. They've already been organizing groups for open water swims in the lake, which of course is still pretty damned cold even in a wetsuit. For a lot of these folks it will be their first experiences with wetsuit swims, but lucky for them some of the GNOTRI coaches are holding swim clinics in addition to the big group training rides they've been doing on the weekends.