Scent of Rain

Flat Number Two

The minute I walked out the door at 6:30 a.m. I smelled it.  The unmistakable scent of rain.  There was a smattering of raindrops on the car, but that was about it, so I chalked it up to a little passing shower and headed off to pick up Zack and then rush over to Puccino's to meet whoever else was going over the big pond for the weekly northshore training ride.

I'd been expecting more of the Herring guys for this weekend, but as it turned out we had only Woody and Jacob on hand.  When we pulled into the parking lot at the Junior High forty-five minutes later, however, I was surprised by the number of cars.  Like last week, we started out with about twenty riders for the traditional 65 mile route.  The difference, though, was that this time the sky was cloudy and the temperature a good ten degrees warmer.  The forecast was calling for increasing winds out of the south and a 30% chance of rain. Such a prediction would normally be fine, but I had definitely been spoiled a bit by previous three weekends of perfect weather.  I think we had four or five Tulane Cycling riders, most of whom were also regular NOBC riders as well, and before we started, Jordan walked over to give me one of our new T-shirts.


Robert and Woody

As the group headed out toward Enon, I was glad to see that nobody was looking to make the ride into a long hammerfest, but nonetheless I was anticipating one or two fast stretches up on the far end of the loop.  A few miles past Enon, after the traditional "nature break" at Dummyline Road, a car with bikes on the back went flying past the group.  Then, as we came up the little hill toward the fire station at Tullos Road we saw Robert jump out of the car, pull his bike off the rack, and hop on, merging smoothly into the group just as we made the turn.  Good timing! 

Despite its size, this was a pretty good and evenly matched group, which made for a smooth and brisk paceline all the way out to the top of the course at Highway 10.  As usual, things started getting faster as we headed back toward Bogalusa and Plainview, and the surges over a couple of the steeper climbs eventually split the pack.  Down at the end of Sie Jenkins Road we stopped to regroup just in time to hear Robert's tire explode.  A few stragglers arrived, but Carlo was inexplicably missing and there was some discussion about whether he might have turned around or taken a shortcut.  That was kind of doubtful because we didn't think he knew the course, and if he'd missed the turn onto Sie Jenkins, we'd probably be getting a call from Bogalusa.  Anyway, just as the "Dropped Rider Statute of Limitations" was about to expire, we finally tracked him down thanks to cellphones, and found out he'd dropped his chain twice but was only about a mile away.  So by the time the flat tire was fixed, everyone was back together.

We were only a couple of miles west of Plainview when I heard people behind me yelling "Flat!"  Robert's tire had flatted again, so we stopped to fix it, putting a little boot over the sharp edge of the valve stem hole that we suspected to have caused the flat.  Just after that the sky started getting darker and by the time we were approaching Lee road it was already starting to drizzle.  I wasn't really surprised, and sat up to put my camera into the ziplock bag that was already holding my Blackberry.  With the Saints football game scheduled to start at noon, the decision was made to take the Dummyline Road shortcut to make up for a little lost time.

As we made our way back south on Lee Road the rain continued, and by the time we rolled into Enon I could feel the water swishing around between my toes.  You never really feel "wet" until the water soaks through your socks and your feet get wet.  This was no longer simply "drizzle," it was "Rain," and it continued as we climbed up from the Bogue Chitto bridge to the firetower and sprinted for the parish road sign. It's actually now a "virtual" sign, since it's been missing for a couple of years now, but a few weeks ago Jason went around the course and painted finish lines for the sprints, along with 1km and 200M marks.  By then the group had split, as usual, so there was a final regrouping along Tung road, followed by that long final stretch back to the cars.  It was another good training ride, despite the soggy clothes, and I think everyone arrived back in time to catch the second half of the Saints game, which may or may not have been a good thing.