Bonus Miles

It was around 6:30 am when I left the house, and I didn't make it more than two blocks before turning around.  I was signed up to do the annual Tour de Jefferson ride which started at 9 am, and I knew the temperature would up around 70F by then, so despite the chill in the pre-dawn air, I'd gone out with just a jersey and arm-warmers. It didn't take me long to decide that I'd rather do the ride with a wind vest in my pocket than be cold for the next hour.  A bunch of us were planning to meet at the local Starbucks for 7:00 in order to get about twenty bonus miles by riding to the ride.  It would be nearly twenty miles, including a ferry ride across the river, so even with two hours to spare, the timing would be a little tight.

I was pleasantly surprised to find over a dozen riders in our group as we headed off down St. Charles Avenue for the Canal Street ferry landing.  Although we had plenty of time to make the 7:45 ferry, I wanted to make sure we kept rolling just in case we were delayed by a flat or something.  Fortunately, the ride downtown went smoothly and we got to the foot of Canal Street with a good fifteen minutes to spare.  I was glad I'd decided to wear the wind vest, but knew I'd be stuffing it into my pocket pretty soon.  The nine or ten mile ride from the ferry back upriver to the ride start went pretty well.  I had been a little worried about getting delayed at the Harvey Canal if there had been a ship going through the lock there, but there were no problems at all, unless you count the fact that we overshot the spot where we needed to turn off of the bike path and had to ride back half a mile or so. 

We arrived at Bayou Segnette park with almost half an hour to spare, so we had just enough time to sign in and make our way to the front of the big group waiting for the start, which we accomplished by doing a little cyclocross style riding.

This ride is a 50-mile group ride that is kind of a west-bank Giro Ride since a lot of the usual Giro riders participate.  There's a stretch early in the ride that includes a few miles on the narrow levee bike path, and so it always gets a little fast as riders try to stay toward the front before hitting that.  It's like trying to make the hole shot at the start of a mountain bike race. 

Once we were off the bike path and out on the open road again, the pace ramped up pretty quickly.  I guess were were still less than twenty-five miles into the ride when I dropped back down the paceline only to be surprised when Jeff looked over and said, "I'm it."  Somewhere along the way the group had split and there was already a front group of twenty-five or so. 

It was easy sitting in the draft, since there wasn't really much wind, but the speeds were definitely up around Giro Ride territory, spending lots of time in the 26-30 mph range.  For myself, I was feeling pretty good, but the knowledge that it would be an 87-mile day for me was sufficient motivation to keep me off the front.  Besides, it was an absolutely perfect Fall day and I didn't really know where I was going anyway.  Although I've lived in New Orleans all my life, much of the West Bank remains foreign territory for me.

So we got back to the start just as they were getting the crawfish etouffe and red beans and rice ready to serve. Our original group, of course, had gotten a little split up since some riders were planning on riding easy, some were planning to stay with the front group, and others were scattered in-between.  A few took off for home early while the rest of us waited for the last riders to arrive before heading back downriver for the return trip. As we rode the ferry back across the river I noticed a pirate woman standing at the rail.  No doubt on her way to work in the French Quarter on a day that included a Saints game.  I finally rolled up to the house around 2 pm with 87 miles on the odometer.  It was a nice long ride on a nice Fall day.