Change of Routine

It might have been just another in my series of same-old weekends. Fortunately there were a couple of tweaks that allowed for a slight -- actually very slight -- change of routine. Saturday morning I got out the door nice and early as usual, arriving at the Harrison Ave. Starbucks (after again setting off the traffic light camera with my bike) around 6:30 am. I had my usual iced coffee with just one shot of milk, and headed out with the group just before 7. Unfortunately I'd neglected to eat anything. This was a bit of a mistake and you'd think I'd know better by now. The combination of an empty stomach, coffee, and milk had my gut churning for the next two hours. The Giro got going pretty fast on Hayne Blvd., and after we went around the turn onto Paris Road, I figured I'd better spend a little time on the front because I was going to have to turn back early. I was signed up for a 10 am CPR certification course at Tulane, so when we got to Chef Highway I said goodbye to the group and headed back home.

The CPR course took from 10 am until around 3 pm and it was reasonably interesting and informative. That evening Jordan was having a party for the Tulane Cycling Assn., so I figured I'd stop by for a little while. Well, I ended up staying there until nearly 10:00. The turnout was pretty good, as were the hamburgers. While I was there, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do on Sunday. There was one of the MS Tour training rides on the northshore, there was a different ride that the Midsouth guys were doing in order to paint the sprint lines for the winter rides, and then of course there was the Giro Ride. I ended up deciding to do the MS Tour ride. I guess I must have been in the mood for a change of routine.

Sunday morning I headed over to Puccino's to meet Joey and Mignon for 6:45. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this ride. I was kind of envisioning a sea of baggy jerseys, rear-view mirrors and recumbents. Of course there were some of those, but most of the various racing team jerseys seemed to seek each other out and we all started together. There wasn't any sort of organized start for this ride, so I guess our group was probably among the last to head out onto the circuitous 60-mile route. I was expecting a fairly easy ride and hoping I wouldn't end up wishing I'd taken one of my other options. I needn't have worried. Once we got past the warm-up stretch along the Tammany Trace, the pace suddenly started to rise and the group started to string out. I craned my neck to see who was up there. VJ was on the front, and close by were Matt, Todd and a couple more of the Giro Ride regulars. The speed stayed quite fast, although everyone stopped at a couple of the rest stops. I don't think I even got through one of my water bottles even though it was getting pretty hot by the time we got back to the car.

So I guess the bottom line for the weekend was that I missed a bit of the usual training intensity but in the process got in some good solo riding on Saturday and some surprisingly fast and fun "social" riding on Sunday. I guess now it's time to start thinking about next weekend's stage race in Pensacola.