Three Days to Go

After skipping my Monday ride to allow for a little recovery time, I was hoping to feel fresh on Tuesday morning. So I was disappointed to find that everything felt achy on the long Tuesday levee ride. I felt pretty lousy all day, so I guess perhaps it wasn't just the riding to blame. Whatever the reason, I blew off late night bike race work and hit the sack a little early.  The Tour de La is only three days away.  The race bibles are being printed and should be ready today.  We've touched base with all of the appropriate authorities for the three venues, volunteers are more or less lined up (there are never enough), we have a few motorefs coming for the larger groups, the results spreadsheets are done, etc., so there aren't too many last-minute emergency things to which to attend (yet).  I'm planning on buying a new printer tonight.  It's getting hard to find a simple printer, but I think Wal-Mart has the standard $35 HP printers. The ink cartridges cost about as much as the printer. Printers always seem to be a problem out in the field for some reason, and my old one just flat out died after the 2-Person Time Trial. 

I still need to go through all of the NOBC race stuff to sort it all out, organize the bib numbers, figure out how many and which types of batteries I need, charge the radios, and of course pick up some Turkey Bags in case of rain.  They are clear and large enough to handle a clipboard and your hand so you can write on dry paper in the rain.  The forecast is looking pretty good for Saturday and Sunday, but this time of year you can get a little thunderstorm at practically any time.

So this morning I felt a little better for the regular Wednesday ride.  One thing for sure:  It's starting to feel like summer around here, which means I get home from the morning ride pretty much soaked in sweat, even after relatively easy rides like today's. I stopped off at Zotz for a coffee after today's ride, sitting outside watching the Mississippi Kites soaring above and thinking about how they are one of the sure signs that it's summer.