Bicycle racing clubs can seem a bit anti-social sometimes, especially during the racing season. The riders who are able to travel to the area races, most of which consume entire weekends, don't get too many chances to get to know the newer riders who don't or can't. Add to that the various individual constraints on training times, fitness levels, and local geography, and a larger club often ends up with a lot of riders who don't know each other very well. Fortunately, once the racing season and general testosterone levels wind down in October, there are a lot more opportunities for everyone to get together. One of those opportunities was yesterday when we had an NOBC Club Ride over on the northshore. Leading up to the ride day, there seemed to be a fair amount of interest in the ride, but it's always hard to guess who and how many will actually show up for these things. Excuses for not making winter rides are easy to come by, but this time the weather was definitely not one of them. With no rain in the forecast, and northshore temperatures set to rise from the upper 50s to the mid-70s, you really couldn't ask for a better day.
I arrived at the Puccino's parking lot at Lakeside Shopping Center a bit earlier than usual, which is to say, "more than three minutes early." There were already a few people there - Big John, Carin, Mignon, and by the time I'd picked up a cup of coffee, more were arriving, including Mark, John, Brady, and Rich. So we loaded up the Volvo, along with three other cars, and headed north over the lake for the meeting location at Abita Springs. The sky was blue and the temperature was warm enough that I was fully expecting to be riding in just shorts and jersey. By the time we got to the northshore, however, the temperature had dropped over ten degrees and we were driving through some significant fog. I was glad I'd brought the extra jersey and arm-warmers. When we arrived, the place was full of cars and people unloading bikes. Apparently some Crescent City Cyclist riders had organized an impromptu ride starting at the same time. Even so, when our sea of green finally rolled out for our club ride I counted twenty-five, including a lot of riders who we don't normally see on the faster northshore training rides. By the standards of weekend northshore rides on Saints game days, this was huge.
The idea for this ride was basically to enjoy the scenery, keep everyone together, and get a little bit of training on the side. Given the size of the group, I figured that we'd probably split up a bit after the last Enon store stop around mile 40 of the 65 mile route. The ride was really exceptionally good. For the first forty miles the pace remained mostly easy to moderate as planned. Of course, when we got onto that nice fast road back from Plainview to Enon the riders at the front started having a hard time keeping the speed down and some gaps opened up. I'd been expecting that, though, and some of us helped out by pacing some of the small groups back up. Things never did really shatter, though, and everyone arrived at the Enon store for a final break before hitting the Watchtower hill and the last 20 mostly flat miles back to Abita Springs. One thing that was really nice was that we had our own private follow vehicle, a scooter, that would give a little boost to any riders who happened to drop too far off the pace. I think the tandem got an assist on one of the hillier stretches of the route.
As we got close to the Watchtower hill, I looked over at John and commented that this was the famous Watchtower hill. He looked up the road, unimpressed, and said it didn't look too bad. I told him that often, toward the end of long training rides, it was what caused the group to finally split apart for good. Then I rode up toward the front. My plan was to ride a little harder up the hill, just for the training, and then drop back to help whoever might come off the back during the climb. As predicted, by the time I got to the top the group was spread out over a quarter mile of road. I dropped back at one point to help pace Robert and then was surprised when he suddenly came flying past me with the scooter driver pushing him back up to the group at 28 mph. I tried to stay in the draft but they lost me on the next little uphill. There were more riders still behind, though, and eventually we all regrouped a couple of miles later on Tung Road.
After the ride, most of the group walked over to the Abita Brewpub for lunch, where we could also keep track of the Saints game. As I walked in the door Brady handed me a big glass of beer that I think was the AndyGator (http://www.abita.com/brews/andygator.php) which packs a bigger punch than most. It was just what I needed - maybe more. For some reason I hadn't been particularly thirsty or hungry and had finished the 65 miles with practically two full water bottles and an unopened powerbar in my pocked. A few hours later, after a shrimp Po-boy and fries, and back at home, I was surprised to find my legs a little bit sore. I guess that I did a bit more pulling than normal, especially over the last twenty miles or so. Oh well. I'm still in off-season riding mode right now, and I guess that around next weekend I'll start to actually think about training again. For me, that usually just means trying to get in a lot of miles at a moderate pace, working a bit on leg speed and form in smaller gears, and attempting to keep the calorie intake within reason.
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