Mardi Gras Weekend

Surviving Mardi Gras weekend is all about balance. It's especially true if you have visitors and plan to hit most of the parades too. After a few days of less than ideal weather, I was glad to find a clear sky Saturday morning. Granted, it was freezing cold and I went out with knee-warmers underneath my tights. We'd hit the parades Friday night and I was still feeling the effects as I rode out to the lakefront. To make a long story short, I was feeling pretty miserable for this Giro Ride, and although I was prepared to go out to Fort Pike I was kind of relieved when basically everyone turned around at Venetian Isles.

That night we went over to the Tidewater Building downtown for the big Endymion parade. As usual, that worked out nicely. We had tons of food and drink up in the Psychiatry offices, unlimited bathroom access, and didn't have to stand around in the cold any longer than necessary. Of course, Endymion usually features long unexplained gaps in the parade, and this year was no exception, but we were still back home around 11 pm or so, I think.


A couple of hours later the phone rang with a pick-up request from some of the folks who are crashing at the house. I headed downtown thinking that by then I'd have a pretty clear shot at the French Quarter, but found Canal Street still closed down because the clean-up army hadn't gotten to South Claiborne yet. Not a problem, though. The locals know how to get across the usual parade routes by way of the interstate. So I picked up the crew at Esplanade and Royal and was back home inside of an hour, which was pretty good under the circumstances.

It was hard to get out of bed a few hours later to ride back out to the lakefront for the Sunday Giro. I was pretty sure we would have a group for the long ride out to Fort Pike. It was still pretty cold, and as I fumbled around getting ready to head out, all I could find to put in my pocket was a single gel pack leftover from one of the summer races. I was completely out of PowerBars, my usual training ride stable. This would later come back to haunt me as I flirted with bonk toward the end of the ride. At least I was feeling a bit better and didn't spend the whole ride sucking wheels like I had on Saturday. We had a nice group that did the long ride, and together with the very welcome lack of wind, it made for a really good smooth training ride. I ate that one gel out at Fort Pike (I practically had to chew it because it was still pretty cold), and felt pretty good for most of the way back, but when I sprinted up the Seabrook bridge I think I used up my very last glycogen molecule. Oh well; close enough. I rode back home from the lakefront nice and easy, and when I got home dug into whatever I could find to refuel. My legs would be sore for the rest of the day.

Last night was the Bacchus parade, and for that one we went over to the neighbor's parents' condo right on St. Charles Avenue. The weather was much warmer, so it was pretty nice. Since Drew was the King of Bacchus this year, the crowd for the first part of the parade was even bigger than usual, but toward the end as it got colder and later the crowd thinned out nicely.


I took some photos, most of which are a little rough:

• Friday Parades


• Saturday Parades


• Sunday Parades