Another Season

It was a little bit warmer this morning as I rode out the lakefront. As I made my way north on the quiet early-morning streets I formulated my plan. You see, tomorrow is Rouge-Roubaix, and even if it's not exactly on your "A" race list, you definitely don't want to start this one with sore legs. I figured I'd head out with the Saturday Giro Ride, remaining safely in the draft, and then turn around somewhere between the end of Hayne Blvd. and Chef. Highway. There was a little surprise waiting for me on Lakeshore Drive, however. As I approached the intersection with Canal Blvd., I could see a big crane at work, and as I got closer I could also see that the road was closed off. Damn. I looked at my watch. 7:00 am and not sign of the group. They must have taken Robert E. Lee. So I turned around and started back. When I saw Brett coming toward me I told him about the closure and he turned around too. We made our way to Robert E. Lee and then to Leon C. Simon, picking up Brady along the way. I knew we were ahead of whoever had started at the parking lot because Brett was rolling along at a pretty good clip. I told Brady I was going to wait somewhere around the bridges, but after we came over Seabrook I looked up ahead and could see a whole bunch of riders waiting at the top of the Casino bridge. Hmmm. We stopped when we got to them, and although I told them that there were definitely riders behind us, the front of the group rolled out anyway and, of course, we all followed. I ended up turning back at Chef Highway with Brady, and we later picked up Robin and Keith, so we had a nice spin back to the lakefront and I got home with a nice smooth 45 miles under my belt.

Later in the day I cleaned up the bike (for the first time in at least a month) and charged up all of the LAMBRA radios. I decided to swap out one of my carbon water bottle cages - the one that doesn't grip the bottles well - with a good stainless steel one. Don't want to be launching bottles in the middle of the group. It took quite a long time to get my act together for this race, but eventually the bag was packed, the radios and cameras and race clock were fully charged, and the lit to the Great White Box (GWB) was clamped shut.

Tomorrow I'll start yet another racing season by jumping in the deep end. I miss the old days when the Season Opener was a nice little 25 mile road race with a $2 entry fee and a bottle of wine for the winner. I guess this will be my 39th or 40th racing season. Tomorrow I'll be up around 4:15 to load up the car with the GWB, clock, stand, flags, chairs, etc., with the plan to be on the road at 5:00. That should get me to St. Francisville by 7 am. I'll then have to transfer the officiating equipment to the Chief Referee, Ricky, and then make the crucial wardrobe decisions. With a morning temperature of around 40 F, but a forecast high in the mid-60s, I guess I'll have to be kind of cold for the first hour or so. I guess the big decision will be whether or not to wear the knee-warmers. I probably will, since I don't think my knees have seen sunshine in months anyway. Arm-warmers? Definitely. What I'm really hoping for is a late start!