Mea Culpa

Well the little cool snap we had on Wednesday turned around on us, making Thursday morning a bit warmer. Somehow I had done something to my left knee on Wednesday and by the time I got home from parade watching it was feeling pretty sure.  Knee problems are extremely unusual for me, and as the nagging pain in around my patella grew worse, my level of concern increased. I took some aspirin and went to sleep hoping for the best.

When I hit the floor Thursday morning I was relieved to find that the knee felt perfectly normal again.  Even so, I thought it wise to pull on the knee-warmers anyway.  The temperature was just above 60F, so I might ordinarily have left the knees out in the wind, but I figured there was no harm in playing it safe just in case I was developing a bit of tendinitis.  Besides, it made the ride out to the levee feel all warm and cozy. Even though there were a few clouds in the sky, by the time I met up with the Thursday morning group at 6:15 am it was already light enough to turn the blinkies off. We had a pretty typical group that numbered around a dozen, and the pace started off nice and steady.  I think Woody and Tim were planning on heading over to Florida for a race this weekend, because they looked to be in partial taper mode.  Anyway, pretty much the entire ride out to the turnaround was fast but smooth with half of the riders rotating at the front and the other half lounging on the couch in back.

Once things got going again after the turnaround, it was looking like it would be more of the same, but after a while I realized that nobody was dropping back. Somewhere way up ahead the rotation was getting short-circuited despite the fact that the speed was staying well within normal parameters.  Back in the paceline I started to feel like I wasn't getting much of a training effect, so after a while I rode up the left side and slotted in ahead of the gatekeeper.  When my turn at  the front came up I thought I was maintaining the consensus speed, but when I pulled off it took a long time for the next rider to come through.  I didn't think much about it until it happened again.  I guess I was surging a little more than usual because things kind of started coming apart.  I'm sure there were a few riders cursing me by then, but anyway the net result was that a couple of other riders started going harder, and then gaps started opening, and then the pace started getting choppy, and, well, you know how that goes.  The group eventually split.  Oh well, mea culpa.  I rode back home via Zotz, and then while I was undressing to take a shower I noticed something on the back of my leg.  A tick!  I'd caught two ticks walking around in my arm hair after our excursion in the woods last Saturday, but I sure wasn't expecting to find that one had been hanging around since then.  I mean, it's not like I hadn't checked for them.  This one was a tiny little deer tick with a belly full of my blood.  I hope there aren't any others that I missed! Last night I went back to the parade route and caught some of the Chaos and Muses.  When one of the floats stopped momentarily right in front of us there was some commotion and then someone on the float started waving the "police" sign. I think that one of the krewe members was falling-down, throwing-up drunk or something.  Anyway, there was a delay as they summoned an ambulance and got her off the float.  Getting drunk before riding on a float is kind of like getting drunk before a long boat ride.  Definitely unwise.

We are currently making an attempt to pull together a very small criterium on a very small course in the French Quarter as part of the Bastille Day festival. Mignon called our contact at the French Quarter Corporation and she's still interested. My proposed course is coincidentally just about the same length as the one we used to use back in the late 70s and early 80s near the World Trade Center that went around the statue of Jeanne d'Arc. We're talking short, here.  Like 0.38 mi.  Even more coincidentally, the new course would be about a block from the location on Decatur where they moved Jeanne's statue when the casino was built.  Perhaps Jeanne is looking after us.  Anyway, if we think we can raise enough sponsorship to cover the cost of police and barricades, we might still only be able to do one or two short races, but regardless, I'm sure they would be a blast.  We'll see.

This morning I awoke to wet streets and took it as a sign that I should take a day off.  I ran around the house for a couple of hours cleaning up a bit since my niece and company are expected in late this afternoon, followed at some point by whoever else shows up for Mardi Gras weekend.  I guess I'll ride the Giro Rides Saturday and Sunday since a trip to the northshore will involve a bit too much complication to be feasible.  Tonight and tomorrow are looking kind of sketchy weather-wise.  If they end up postponing the big Endymion parade and running it after the Bacchus parade on Sunday, it could make for a very long night!