We are getting in to the meat of the summer now. Most rides now end with sweat-coated glasses, wet clothes, empty bottles, and road grit plastered all up and down my shins. And there are the smells - the rather unique smell of helmet straps and pads from which the sweat never quite evaporates between rides, and the similar but distinct smell of festering riding gloves. Ahhhhh, summer! Along with the heat and the sweat, however, always comes the rain. This time of year it can pop up any time. Yesterday morning, for example, it was raining steadily when I awoke, so I slept an extra half hour and then, after it had stopped, went over to Starbucks and took the opportunity to actually sit down and drink a cup of coffee in the air-conditioning rather than rushing out the door and taking it with me to work. This time of year my coffee consumption always drops and my carbonated beverage consumption always increases. At the moment I have two "free drink" cards that I haven't used because I hate to waste them on my usual small cup of coffee, so I need some suggestions for over the top Starbucks creations. The only problem is that I really can't handle too much milk. I'm thinking something like a caramel macchiato. I wonder if that works with soy milk instead of regular milk. I'll bet it's about 400 calories either way!
So Wednesday afternoon Kenny had another training race organized out on Almonaster. I'd not been able to make any of the others, but things were looking promising for this one. After work I quickly changed in to my riding clothes and jumped on the bike to ride out to the east. The distance was only eight miles or so, but getting there involved riding through some busy and occasionally sketchy areas around downtown and I figured all of the stop lights and traffic would slow me down a lot. I heard "Ride that bike, white boy!" from the sidewalk at one point. I'll take that as a "racial slur." I wish I could say that sort of thing was uncommon around here. Even so, I arrived in plenty of time. Unfortunately the only other person who arrived was Kenny. I guess that with all of the rain we had during the day a lot of people made other plans. Anyway, we rode a few miles and I headed back home feeling satisfied that at least I'd gotten in some riding.
Today's long ride was pretty civilized. Maybe it's the heat, or just the summer doldrums, but most people seemed content to roll along at a relatively steady speed. Granted, that steady speed tended to be from 26 -29 mph, and at least half of the group wasn't in the rotation, but it still seemed a bit more relaxed than usual. Along the way we got to hear some of Lawrence's stories about the Ochsner team's Race Across America race. Sounded like it was a blast. I think doing that race as a relay team is definitely the way to go.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the bathroom walls and ceiling are done and the woodwork is primed. Since I rode yesterday evening, I blew off painting for the night, so I will have to try and catch up tonight. It's amazing how a little project like this always seems to take so much more time and effort, mostly mental, than I expect. I'm now at the point at which I can say for sure that some compromises will be made. There will be some latches that get painted over, some scratches and gouges that don't get filled, some sanding that doesn't get done. Nobody will notice except me, of course.
And then there Jeannie. I looked at VeloNews this morning and there's an article about Jeannie Longo winning the French Time Trial Championship. Jeannie is 51. That's old. Trust me, I know. This was her 57th national title. 57th! That's nearly two a year for the last thirty years. And she won by over a minute in a 25 km Time Trial. Damn. Those other French girls need to put down the pastries and step it up a notch.
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