Planning to Plan

So I spent this week's riding time more or less in recovery and sightseeing mode.  With only the track championships (which I'll probably be officiating anyway) and local Tour de Jefferson "ride" on the horizon, it seems appropriate to be winding down just a bit.  The truth is, however, that I haven't really been all that wound up this year anyway, so it's more a matter of roadie tradition and habit than anything else.  The air this morning was dry and cool, and it's looking like we'll have a little taste of Fall for the next couple of days, at least in the early morning hours.  Around here, that means a temperature of 70F, or even (brrrrrrr!) down into the upper 60s.  I'm thinking about plans for the next few months, which are always rather busy for me.  Somewhere in there I absolutely need to replace my worn-through saddle and maybe pick up some new gloves and shoe-covers to tide me through the winter. We will have a couple of visits from family members, a little Halloween open house, some travel, etc.  Some travel arrangements have been made, others not quite yet.  Plus, I need to schedule the annual LAMBRA meeting, make sure the awards get ordered on time this year, officiate the track championships, hopefully sell a property of my mother's, etc.  I actually just this week got the awards and team trophy for last year's LCCS!  Better late than never, I guess.  I'll probably order the ones for this year when I go pick them up tomorrow. 

Words to live by

Speaking of awards, USA Cycling has worked out a deal with Voler for state championship (and I assume BAR/LCCS) jerseys that looks promising.  We've never given out state championship jerseys before because of the cost and order minimums involved.  The deal with Voler, however, would allow LAMBRA to come up with a standard LAMBRA championship design, and then the winning riders in all of the championship classes and categories could buy championship jerseys, if they want to, via an online ordering system after confirmation from LAMBRA. It is essentially the same system they now use for the national championship jerseys, and the cost per jersey is really low - under $40.  LAMBRA would even get a small "royalty" on each one ordered.  Once they have the design set up, they can print jerseys as needed and ship them out within three or four days.

This morning's Friday ride was smooth and easy -- a lot of time at 20-22 mph taking long pulls with Scott, David, Zack and Taylor.  So anyway, I guess I'll be riding the Giro this weekend (possibly with arm-warmers?).  The rides may be a little smaller than usual because this is the MS Tour weekend, so a fair number of the local riders will be battling the north wind from Hammond to McComb tomorrow and then reversing the route on Sunday.  I did that ride one year and it was a lot of fun, but I will kind of have my hands full this weekend anyway.