Back to the Bluff

It was nearly 11 p.m. when I made the decision. Jason had sent out an email on Friday about a group that would be riding the infamous Red Bluff route on Saturday. There hadn't been any replies, perhaps because they were meeting at the Mandeville IHOP for 6 am. As I later learned, our group was only one of two. An earlier group of mostly triathletes was meeting at 4:30 am, which was well before my alarm went off, even though I had a good 40 minute drive across the causeway to make first. The Red Bluff loop is probably one of the hilliest training rides within easy driving distance, with a typical 32 mile circuit racking up nearly a thousand feet of accumulated climbing. Add to that some rough chip-seal roads, some long stretches of loosely attached gravel, and three or four long and steep climbs, and you have a recipe for a real leg-breaker, especially if you're planning on doing two or three laps.

The plan for the day was quite up in the air. When we arrived, we decided to head out on the course backwards to meet the early group, so we basically had a ten or fifteen mile warmup that brought us back to the cars. We hung around as the early group got water and stuff, finally heading back out to the course with our original group and a couple others. Riding the course in the normal direction, you get about a mile of flat road before starting the longish climb up to Red Bluff. By the time we got to the top, our group was already fragmented. Jerry was pushing the pace up the hills pretty effectively, but eventually we all came back together before turning left and starting the long return side of the loop. The pace stayed fairly fast and things kind of came apart again - more than once - before we got back to the cars with maybe 50 miles. Another stop of fluids and we headed out again for another 20 miles or so up Red Bluff and White Bluff and back. By then it was getting pretty warm and my legs were getting pretty tired, but I still couldn't resist pushing a bit over the hills.

So with all of the delays and route changes it turned out to be a longer day than I'd anticipated, but as I drove back across the Causeway I was feeling satisfied and happy that I'd made the decision to go back to the Bluff. When you do most of your training on the dead-flat roads around New Orleans, going for a nice challenging ride in the hills is always a treat, even when it hurts. I just wish I'd remembered to bring my camera along.