No Break

It's been nearly a week since I've gotten back from a ride with a clean bike.  Odds are tomorrow will be no different.  Somehow I managed to log 250 miles, although I'd venture to say that most of that barely qualified as training.  On Saturday I rode out to the Giro Ride on very wet streets, and although we were never seriously rained on, the combination of soggy pavement and foggy air nonetheless made for a very wet ride. Suffice it to say that I took the garden hose to the bike before bringing it inside.  I rarely do that.  At least it wasn't cold. 

Sunday morning was marginally better. It was still warm, but a moderately strong wind was keeping the fog at bay, and although the streets were damp, it wasn't bad enough to create a lot of wheelspray. I tried out the Garmin heart rate monitor on Sunday.  It was the first time I'd ever used one.  It turns out that when I ride harder my heart rate goes up.  Who knew?  Anyway, the Sunday Giro was fairly fast on the way out and then fairly slow on the way back.  There was a line of rain storms inching its way toward us from Texas, and I was worried we might catch some rain, but as it turned out it was moving so slowly that it was early evening before it actually came through.  After the Giro we went straight over to the Reily Center to meet the rest of the Tulane team or an easy "welcome back" ride through the city.  Ordinarily it would have been a fairly long ride, but we were worried about the rain so we decided on a shorter 20-mile ride out to the lake and back that included a couple of stops for photos.  A number of riders couldn't make the ride (classes didn't resume until this week).

In other news, I received a very positive response from the City of Covington concerning our request to have the Tour de Louisiane criterium there, so that was certainly nice.  Still need to confirm the date and make all of the arrangements, but it's encouraging.  The new team kit design is almost finished.  It will be a couple of months before we see anything, I think, but at least it's all about ready to go to the folks at Voler.  The kitchen renovation is progressing, although a little more slowly than I'd like.  Cabinets are in place, counter tops are being made, light fixtures are ordered, bank account is hurting.

On the New Bike front, I've put a couple hundred miles on it thus far and all is good.  I am still debating whether or not to try and go the "slamthatstem.com" route to get my bars down to where they were on the Orbea or just live with them where they are.  The difference is maybe 1.5 cm, and I can't say I feel uncomfortable with them where they are.  Meanwhile, the shipping industry conspiracy continues unabated.  The little Campi derailleur clamp that I ordered way back on Dec. 21, and that mysteriously disappeared in U.S. Postal Service land, seems to be back in play.  I got a tracking notice this morning that it had been delivered at 8:53 am.  I was still at home then waiting for the contractor to arrive.  Nothing was delivered then and nothing was delivered the rest of the day either.

The weather tomorrow may be more of the same.  Once the front passed Sunday evening the temperature plummeted and so the best case scenario or tomorrow is cold and windy.  Worst case is cold, windy and raining.