Back on Top

Well, I was back on top of the levee early Tuesday morning, feeling quite acutely the effects of seven days spent sitting in conference room chairs.  The morning temperature was on the chilly side, and for the first time this fall I felt the need to pull on the knee-warmers and full-finger gloves.  As often happens this time of year, the group was on the small side and nobody was looking for a hammerfest.  This was good.  Even better, the time change meant I could leave the headlight at home.  It's funny how much of a burden that little headlight seems to be.  It always feels like such a relief to take it off the bike, as if it weighed twenty pounds.  I suppose it's because of its location on the handlebars where you just can't ignore it, and the fact that it symbolizes rides that are cold, dark and/or windy.  Anyway, it's mainly a psychological gesture, like the way I remove my water bottle cages for 3 mile time trials.

So the ride was pretty steady and routine, and aside from the fact that I felt chunky and sluggish, like I'd been off the bike for a week, it was otherwise pretty featureless. Later that day, back in the office, things got quiet and slow and I started thinking about that long to-do list in my head with the "bike racing stuff" heading at the top.  Should I go up to Baton Rouge for the cyclocross race?  What would I ride? More importantly, what disguise would I wear? It was also time to start getting my act together for the annual LAMBRA business meeting, order the 2010 LCCS trophies, check on the new jersey order, update the calendars, update the LAMBRA website with the 2009 LCCS winners, etc.

Wednesday's ride was also quite small.  At the start there were only four of us, even though it was warmer than the day before.  I can never quite figure out when riders are going to show up for a ride. The first thing I noticed was that my legs felt a little stiff.  Apparently jumping into a 40 mile training ride after being completely inactive for a week does have its downside.  We had a nice steady ride, eventually picking up a few more riders along the way.  On the ride home I decided to stop at Zotz for a quick cup of coffee where I could ponder the upcoming Oak Street Po-boy Preservation Festival which would probably be my last chance to see the good ol' Radiators play.  They just announced that they will be disbanding after 33 years.  As one commenter commented, "First the Beatles, and now this?"  Even though I am compelled to admit that The Radiators arrived just a little bit after my time (I'm more of the Deacon John and Ivories vintage), they have certainly been a defining fixture on the local scene ever since.

So after getting home this morning I pulled out that big old cardboard box that we all have, the one full of discarded but potentially usable bike parts, and found a couple of 5-speed freewheels with really low gears.  Hmmmm.  Suppose I put one of those on the old Pennine and call it a 'Cross bike?  Cyclocross tires would be a nice addition, but there can't possibly be any in a 27" size within a hundred miles.  I wonder if I have a 700C 5-speed clincher hanging around somewhere.....