It was time to get back on the bike. The thick congestion still lingered deep in my chest and I had awakened in a t-shirt damp with sweat, but I needed a ride anyway. I threw on an extra layer and stepped out into the cold wind thinking, "I might be crazy." Well, I guess that's not really news and it's rarely stopped me before, so I headed off for the early levee ride. I don't know how many times I've gone through these little setbacks, but I guess by now I've gotten it down pretty well. The plan was to ride with the group, keeping the effort level as low as possible, and backing off if I started to "feel" my lungs. I once made the mistake of ignoring my own advice and ended up with a little case of pneumonia a week later.
The group was a small one, thanks to the wind I suppose, and the result of that was a nice steady pace as we headed up the river. The first thing I noticed was how fresh my legs felt after five days of relative rest. So things were going along pretty smoothly. I was already planning on dropping off the pace around the parish line and riding alone at a recovery pace while I waited for the group on its way back.
Out past River Ridge, a couple of miles before Williams Blvd., we saw a coyote run up and over the levee heading toward the river. The batture there was mostly flooded, so when he got down to the bottom, all he could do was run along the thin strip of grass between the concrete apron and the water. I guess he could see us coming up from behind and was trying to stay ahead of us. We were rolling along at around 23 mph and this guy was pulling away from us. This went on for at least a mile. The coyote was just cruising smoothly along at maybe 24 mph looking like he could keep it up all day. Finally Brady put the hammer down up front, pushing the pace up a couple more mph in order to catch up. There was a pretty good crosswind along that stretch, so I decided it would be a good time to ease up and give my lungs a little break. The coyote soon came to a section of batture where he quickly disappeared into the brush.
Most of the group turned around at The Dip, so it wasn't long before I was back in the pack. After a quick stop at Zotz for a cup of coffee with Mignon who had a little time to kill, I got home none the worse for wear. So I guess that's progress. I guess I'm still a little ways from being fully recovered, but it looks like there's hope.
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