Wet Asphalt and Flat Tires

It's that time of year when we tie our children to
the top steps of ladders where it says "do not stand."

Springtime in February continues!  I went out Thursday morning in summer wardrobe expecting a pretty fast group levee ride.  The road was wet, again, but this time it was due mainly to the night's fog rather than actual rain.  Fortunately, but ride time there was hardly any fog along the levee, although VJ said that it had been so thick at his house near the lake that he almost hadn't gotten out of bed. As we got underway we continued to pick up stray riders all along the stretch from the start to the playground.  As we passed the playground (it was still pretty dark) I looked over to see a bunch of film production trailers and tents set up next to the stable.  I guess maybe another segment for Treme?   Anyway, just as the pace finally started to pick up I heard some discussion behind me as riders started to freewheel again. We soft-pedaled for a while to wait for someone, I think maybe Donald, to come up the levee and join the group. Once everyone was finally back together, which seemed to take a particularly long time, we finally got up in to the mid-20s with an occasional visit to 27-30 mph territory.  The number of people pulling started to dwindle a bit but for the most part there was a decent steady rotation going for the next ten miles.  When we turned down the levee at The Dip, however, I could feel the unmistakable squishiness that accompanies a deflating tire, and as we climbed back up to the levee top I eased over to the right just as my front rim started to bottom out. I told everyone to go on, although Keith hung around to keep me company while I pulled a big chunk of glass out of the tire and swapped out the tube.  We continued on at an easy pace until we saw the group coming back around the bridge, then jumped back into the paceline for the return trip.  There was a bit of a southeast wind that kept the speed down, but otherwise it was good.

For some reason my phone's GPS or Strava app must have flaked out somewhere around the bridge because afterward it just showed a straight line from there to Carrollton Avenue where it picked up again.  Go figure. I think it therefore included my coffee stop in my average speed for the day too.

The Team LaS'port guys up in Shreveport seem to be getting targeted by cars this week, and I think one of them suffered some pretty serious injuries, including some broken bones, after a car pulled over into them.  There's a news report on the local station.  Be careful out there!

So this morning I looked out the window to see wet streets again.  This time it was apparent we'd had a little rain overnight. It was still warm (in the 60s), so I went ahead and took the Rain Bike out again for an easy ride, once again taking some comfort in the fact that it has both fenders and Tuffy's.  I really need to put a speedometer on that thing, though, along with a freewheel that might give me a gear big enough to get up to 25 mph without looking like a treadmill gerbil. There was a pretty brisk east southeast wind blowing, so although my speed may not have looked very recovery-zoneish, my effort level definitely was.  Out in Kenner near Williams Blvd. I caught up with Taylor who then flatted just in time for the turnaround.  The ride back was mostly into the wind, and since I was trying to at least approximate a recovery ride, I was probably spending a lot of time around 15 mph. This weekend will probably be a repeat of last weekend for me, weather permitting.  It's also the first weekend with a few of the early Mardi Gras parades, the most fun of which would have to be Krewe du Vieux on Saturday night for which the official theme this year is "Crimes Against Nature."  Should make for some interesting social commentary style costuming.