Spring = Water

It was warmer Sunday morning as I rode out to meet the Giro Ride once again, and I knew it would be a good one when all of the traffic signals along Carrollton and Wisner turned green as I approached. It was only 6:30 am, but a couple of riders were already at the Starbucks when I got there, and a few minutes later Woody rode up on his shiny new team Orbea Orca.  Most of his right arm was bandaged thanks to an airborne front wheel midway through a turn at the Dothan Cityfest on Saturday.  The awesome photo came from Debbie M's facebook page and was taken by Dothan Eagle photographer, Max Oden.  Looks like he must have clipped that road reflector at high speed halfway through the turn as he and two others were trying to bridge up to a breakaway.  Anyway, Woody was in pretty good shape, considering. There was actually a pretty good sized group for the Sunday ride and I decided it would be a good day to get in a little intensity. 

We were halfway down Hayne Blvd., and flying along at 28 or so in a long thin paceline when I hit something I never saw.  I could feel the front rim bottom out and reverberate through the frame and immediately thought, "Pinch flat."  A minute later it went flat as expected and I dropped backwards through the group.  Luckily for me, everyone stopped to wait while I fixed it. In contrast to Saturday, the group was reasonably cautious at the intersections, even when it was running through the red lights. I tried to put in a fair amount of time at the business end of the paceline.  I was feeling a little stronger than I had for the last week or so and figured I'd finally recovered from the damage done at Rouge-Roubaix.  As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Monday morning was windy, as in "Wind Advisory" windy.  I went out anyway, planning on putting in an  easy hour or so on the bike.  One thing about these lonely recovery ride days is that you get a chance to look around at the scenery.  Up on the levee, the first thing you notice right now is that the water level in the river has been creeping up a bit more each day.  Much of the batture is already underwater.  On the plus side, all of the water attracts lots of birds, especially Mexican Whistling Ducks, Wood Ducks, and various Egrets/Herons.  Another result of the high water is that it forces other animals out of the batture.  Tonight on the news they were reporting a story about a Coyote that has been spotted roaming through the yards of high-class uptown houses.  A cool front just came through about an hour ago and the temperature tomorrow morning is supposed to be back down to the 50s (it was in the 70s this morning before sunrise).