Into Summer

It's beginning to feel a little like Summer around here.  Granted, a hint of pre-dawn coolness still lingers, but within half an hour after sunrise the temperature rises relentlessly into the mid-80s.  Of course we haven't even begun to hit our mid-summer stride, but even so, it takes a little time to make the adjustment.  Last weekend was a two-Giro weekend for me, and I finished both straining to see through sweat-smeared glasses.  There are already four pair of riding gloves next to the bike.  They all stink and the most recently worn ones are still damp the next morning. They'll all go in the wash again tonight.  At least they're a lot better than the old leather and cotton mesh ones we used to use. Those didn't just smell bad, they would sometimes start to actually disintegrate by mid-season.

So last Friday I agreed to do a little half-hour "interview" on one of those mid-day radio talk shows.  You know, the ones hosted by guys who go by names like "Spud."  It was a bit of a gamble, as the topic was whether or not bicycles actually belonged on the road, and it was a call-in type of show.  Fortunately the host was reasonably sympathetic to cycling, especially for someone of his, shall we say, ample size.  There was only time for a few callers while I was on, so I think more good than harm was done.  If you're really bored, or just morbidly curious, you can listed to it here.  Also on Friday was the Red Stick Crit in Baton Rouge.  There were a lot of mixed feelings about this event within the racing community since it was being promoted by individuals who were clearly pretty clueless about bicycle racing. Fortunately we got the promoter and his event to a point where the course looked fairly safe, there were some normal classes and categories, and there would be actual officials on hand.  Although the turnout for the Cat. 4/5 and Cat. 1/2/3 races were quite thin, that may have had a lot more to do with the timing than anything else.  The Cat. 1/2/3 race was scheduled to start at 11:00 pm on Friday night.  Anyway, I think it was a great learning experience all-around.  The promoter came a very long way over the last month or two and probably has a much better idea of what will work and what won't should he decided to do the event again.  I myself was really quite surprised at how much I have come to take for granted from even our less experienced race promoters. Generally, those are guys who have some race experience, and have at least a general understanding of what a bike race looks like.  They know a criterium from a road race, they know about USAC licenses and the usual classes and categories, etc., etc.  Fortunately we were able to have four experienced officials on hand that night, so although the turnout might have been a little disappointing, the races themselves went off fine by all accounts, and I heard nothing but positive comments from those who went.

After two rather low-volume weeks, last week was, for me, all about getting back to some semblance of normal mileage and intensity.  In fact, I was intent on adding a little more intensity to my workouts than has been the status quo for the last few weeks. Most of that was focused on the weekend Giro Rides. Since I don't ride with any kind of power monitoring electronics, I can't quantify the increase objectively, but suffice it to say that I spent more time in the wind, pushed a little harder, and rode just a bit more aggressively.  It's that time of year.  May has always been a transition month for me.  Yes, I know it's rather late in the season for that, but for reasons that elude me, that's just how it always seems to work out for me.  Saturday's Giro was fairly fast, averaging a bit under 25 mph 35 miles that constitute the meat of the ride, even though the maximum speed remained relatively low at 32 and change.  Since there was a big fundraising ride in Thibodeaux for local rider Scott Hoppmeyer who suffered a serious spinal cord injury earlier this year, I wasn't expecting a big crowd on Sunday. Normally, I would have done the Thibodeaux ride, but The Wife had a contractor scheduled at 1:00 that afternoon to start negotiations on a kitchen renovation and as a matter of fiscal self-defense I felt it important that I be there. So I sent in a donation and set my sights on another Giro Ride instead.  Anyway, with so many of the regulars out of town, the group for the Sunday Giro was indeed smaller than usual. 

A quiet day on the levee.

We rolled out at an easy pace and for a while I wondered if I'd really be able to get the workout I was looking for.  As it turned out, though, that wasn't really a problem.  Aside from the fact that I spent more time in the wind than usual, the fast parts of the ride were just as fast as usual.  They just didn't last as long since there weren't enough riders to sustain the speed once things got up over 27 mph or so.  As a result, the sprints were even faster than they had been the day before, since more riders had fresher legs for them, which in turn yielded a max speed for the day that was a tad over 35 mph.  On the other hand, the Thibodeaux ride looked to have turned into a bit of a race because the usual Giro riders covered the 67 miles through the swamps at an average speed of 24.2, topping out with a maximum of 35.9.  Not exactly a sightseeing ride, I suspect.

This morning the legs felt pretty good, considering, but I did a pretty easy recovery type ride up on the levee anyway, even backing off on the way back to chat with a local triathlete.  As is typical for a Monday morning, the levee was really quiet.  The only other regular riders I saw were Celeste and, I think, David who were on their way out as I was coming back.  Otherwise, though, the morning weather was practically perfect for riding with a cool but humid mid-60s temperature and practically no wind at all.