Plan B

I don't know if anyone showed up for the 7 am Giro Ride this morning, but if anyone did, I certainly hope he had a good excuse. The night before I had decided to go with Plan B, which was to wait until 10:00 when the temperature would hopefully be above the freezing point of water. When I arrived at the meeting spot on the levee, a mere two minutes early, nobody was there, but a minute later Ed N. rode up, and a minute after that we saw Mignon coming our way. So we headed out, picking up Kenny and Jered (who I think had just arrived in town the day before). I guess the temperature was right around 32F and there was a lot of ice visible down on the batture, but at least the sun was shining. That always makes a cold ride feel better. Shortly after we got started, Ed stopped suddenly to fix something on his bike. We eased up for a minute and the last time I saw him he was about fifteen seconds behind us and closing fast. A couple of minutes later we realized he was gone again, but this time he was nowhere in sight. I still don't know what happened to him. Anyway, Kenny and Jered stayed on the front for probably ten miles, which was pretty nice since it was one of those relentless crosswind days on the levee. I was not really liking the wind today, but on the plus side I'd apparently put on just the right wardrobe was otherwise pretty comfortable.

So Plan B netted me I guess 45 miles or so, which I though was pretty good under the circumstances because if I'd had to go out solo today I probably wouldn't have made more than 25.

After I got back home the neighbor called because one of the pipes under her house had frozen and split. All I could do was confirm that the icicle hanging from her plumbing was indeed due to a split copper pipe. I was a little surprised because although the temperature had gotten down into the upper 20s, it had only been that cold for maybe four hours. Problem was, this particular pipe was right under the edge of the north side of the house, so it got the full effect of the north wind. Lesson learned.

Tomorrow looks like another 10 am start, this time from the Starbucks on Harrison and heading out to do the Giro route, probably with an extension out to Fort Pike or Slidell. Should be interesting.