Out-n-Back

After yesterday's faster-than-expected Thanksgiving Day ride, it would have been easy to go with a nice easy ride today.  But then I saw Woody's email. A 7 am ride out to Slidell and back.  My legs didn't feel all that bad, and a 95 mile ride couldn't possibly be worse than a shopping trip to the mall.  Besides, it's my birthday and I should be able to go for a long ride if I want to, right?  So at 6 am I stuck a couple of PowerBars in my pocket, pulled on the arm and knee-warmers, and took off to meet whoever might show up at Starbucks.

The weather was nearly perfect, except for the east wind, as our little six-rider group rolled out down Lakeshore Drive.  Everyone was pretty much on the same page as far as the pace was concerned. With the headwind, "moderate" translated into a smooth paceline at 21-23 mph except for a brief surge to chase down Howard.  By the time we crossed the Chef Menteur bridge the group was down to Woody, Rob, Chuck, Judd and me, and although we were mostly riding straight in to the wind, traffic was mercifully light and the pace remarkably smooth. The temperature had warmed up a bit, and I was already planning stash the knee-warmers in my pocket for the return trip.  Woody started taking somewhat longer pulls, along with Rob and Chuck, while I was being careful to keep my own pulls a little on the short side to ensure I'd make it all the way back without needing cab fare.

The return trip, once we turned back onto Chef Highway, was really nice.  With a steady tailwind, our moderate effort level was yielding speeds in the 26-28 mph range, although by then most were starting to feel the effects of the distance, especially considering the fact that we'd all, I think, been part of the prior day's hammerfest on the levee. We finally backed off a notch toward the end of Chef Highway, but the pace nonetheless remained respectable for the duration.  Woody split off at Leon C. Simon to ride back to the West Bank (he'd been at Lakeside Mall with his wife at 2:30 that morning and had ridden from there to meet the ride at 7:00).  His day would tally up to at least 100 miles.  By the time walked in the door at home the odometer was showing 95 and my legs were pretty well toasted.  Now the question is, "Giro tomorrow??"