Hoping for Rain

I looked down at my computer, and then my watch.  6:30 am and the paceline was already strung out at 28 mph, racing upriver through that light morning haze we get on summer mornings like this.  I'd listened with both ears to my body telling me to take Monday off, and I suppose it must have helped because I felt reasonably decent on the bike.  Less than halfway out and the paceline was starting to stretch really thin.  Little gaps started turning into bigger gaps and then, as we negotiated our way around some pedestrian obstacles, there was a big gap. 

Someone attacked down the left to try and bridge, but I had to wait a moment to get out from behind someone.  I took a pull, then Jordan went to the front and ramped it up to 31 mph for probably half a mile.  I didn't dare look back.  The main power sources at the front were planning on turning back early, at The Dip, and as they started to ease up we all came back together for the last five miles or so out to the turnaround at Ormond.  Although the pace didn't slack off dramatically, it did drop down just enough to make 26 mph feel like recovery, at least if you were a few wheels back into the paceline. The wind was, for once, negligible.

As usual, the return trip started out easy and then gradually ratcheted up to somewhere between pain and suffering.  Situation normal.

Today there are lots of emails bouncing back and forth among the handful of people organizing this weekend's Tour de Louisiane.  The latest drama was a new requirement, about which we were informed this morning, that the "Non-Flood Protection Asset Management Authority" be included on the Certificate of Insurance along with the "Orleans Levee District."  Never mind that the Non-Flood Protection Asset Management Authority, which is charging us $300 plus police costs for the criterium course, is just an office withing the Orleans Levee District for which we had already requested and forwarded a Certificate of Insurance, which itself is not strictly necessary since they are covered under the event general liability policy whether or not they have the aforementioned certificate in hand.  Thanks to USAC, though, because it took exactly 12 minutes from the time I made the request to the time I got the new certificate from the insurance company.

Yesterday a strong thunderstorm rolled through here, bringing a heavy rain that we badly needed.  Here at my office the rain was pounding the windows.  Imagine my surprise when I got home at the end of the day and discovered that hardly a drop had fallen there, only a couple of miles away.  At least it cooled things down a bit.  We got a little more rain this afternoon, so I'm hoping some of it fell at home this time.