Rough Week

It's been a rough week for riding thus far, having started out with two rainy mornings.  I went out into the humid chill on Monday with every expectation of doing a normal recovery ride.  It was overcast and therefore darker than usual, but I'd checked the forecast the night before and rain wasn't expected until later in the day.  I should have checked the radar.  I was only four miles from home when I felt the first light droplets hitting my cheeks.  By five miles I knew it was here to stay and I circled back toward home.  By then it was a steady but light drizzle.  I wanted nothing to do with getting soaked, being cold, or sliding around on slick streets, and was happy enough to make it home before getting truly wet. The next morning was even worse and I didn't even consider trying.  By Wednesday the front had passed and it was cooler and drier. I had two full days of meetings on my dance card, however, and would have to improvise.  On Wednesday that meant a short early morning ride that was mostly in the dark, but at least it was something. I'd normally have accumulated around 85 miles by the end of Wednesday's ride.  This week it was a mere 30.  I had an extra half-hour on Thursday, so I met the 6:15 group and was able to ride out to the little dip with it before turning around and coming back with Woody and Mignon and Daniel.  That one netted me 30 miles and even though I had to rush to get downtown in time for the first meeting, it was worth it. Today it was just Scott and me, ticking off the regular 26 mile ride at a steady 21-22 mph.  I'd received an interesting "gift card" from my sister-in-law for coffee at Zotz.  They don't actually *have* gift cards there, so she gave me this handwritten thing that said "Absolutely Legit" at the top.  Anyway, they did indeed have a little tab set up for me so I had a nice little Americano this morning after the ride.  Tomorrow I should be able to do the regular Giro Ride, but then on Sunday I have to go up to Brookhaven for the annual LAMBRA meeting.  As usual, a number of clubs are backing out of sending anyone there, claiming it's too far or that nobody can make it.  I'm about ready to just do away with the meeting and make up the rules and settle the schedule all by myself -  take it or leave it. Later, they will be complaining about the schedule or the LCCS rules or something else that happened in their absence. The fact that I will be giving up my first good opportunity this Fall for a long ride in the country is just another twist of the knife.  On Monday our contractor is going to start tearing up our kitchen, which I'm sure is going to present all sorts of unexpected challenges and expenditures, none of which I am looking forward to.  On the plus side, I bought a Bianchi Sempre frame (used, of course, and Celeste, of course) on Monday and am waiting for a few little bits and pieces to arrive before starting to build it up.  The geometry is extremely close to that of my Orbea, so I'm not expecting any big surprises and had originally planned on transferring stem, bars, seatpost, etc. from that bike to the new one, but late one night after a couple of glasses of wine, and considering the effects of the impending renovation project, christmas, and property taxes, I decided I deserved some new stuff instead.