
We have our annual training camp next weekend up at Natchez State Park where we also did the Tulane training camp a couple of weeks ago. I am hoping the weather will be OK. Right now the City of New Orleans is bracing for another round of sub-freezing weather with the accompanying road closures due to ice. They have already announced that schools will be closed tomorrow and possibly Wednesday as well. I don't think it will be too much of a big deal for those of us in the city who don't have to commute to work over various bridges, but since they are expecting some freezing rain, or sleet, or snow, or all three, it might be a repeat of last week when the Interstates and Causeway were shut down.
So Sunday's Giro was entirely different. The temperature had warmed up into the 40s, resulting in a pretty big turnout. Although the pace in general was faster than Saturday's had been, I probably did less actual work, being mostly content to hide in the middle of the pack and make only brief efforts at the usual sprint locations. On the way back down Bullard half of us caught the light at I-10 so there were riders kind of scattered all over the place. The pace is always easy along there, so it wasn't a problem. I knew we'd all come back together by the time we got to Hayne Blvd. Apparently Mike W, once again riding his TT bike that lacks actual handlebars (he has only the aero-bars, so it's more like the tiller on a boat than the handlebar on a bike) had ridden off the front well ahead of us.
As we approached Hayne we could see a group of riders in the middle of the road and when we got there it was apparent that Mike had crashed. He was still lying on the concrete. This is the third time I've seen him go down by himself like that. I was at least glad that there had been nobody immediately behind him when he lost control of the handlebarless bike. The next time he shows up for a group ride on that thing I suspect some riders are just flat out going to refuse to ride. Anyway, he looked pretty dazed and I fully expected he'd be hauled off by ambulance, but eventually he got up, decided nothing was broken, rather tenderly remounted his bike and limped home. His helmet apparently looked OK and he said he had been doing something with his arm-warmers when his hand slipped off the handlebar (I use the term loosely). Most of the group went on ahead once he was back on his bike, although a couple stayed with him to make sure he stayed safe. Had he been anyone else, I think the whole group might have ridden in with him, but frankly I think a lot of riders were having some trouble generating a whole lot of sympathy under the circumstances. I was one of them. Coming out to a group ride on that bike, which I think is virtually uncontrollable if something unexpected happens, is a significant danger to everybody, especially considering Mike's well-known challenges with riding in a straight line. There are a few other riders who show up with TT bikes, but when they're in the pack they ride on the bullhorns, and when they ride on the aero bars they ride on the side of the group or at the back in a predictable manner. I know, because I often find myself behind them.
An hour or so after I got home I was on the road to Baton Rouge for an organizational meeting to establish a Baton Rouge Velodrome Association. I think they're on the right track with this and hopefully the end result will be a more active racing calendar that includes some races large enough to attract track riders from velodromes in Texas, Georgia and Florida, among others. There is still much to be put in place, of course, but I expect that the first step of establishing the nonprofit corporation will be done very soon. At the meeting they set up the 5-member Board of Directors and elected a President and Treasurer, so it is finally looking like it will actually happen. There is still the major issue of coming to terms with BREC, which owns the facility, but I think there is sufficient room for flexibility that it can be accomplished. Should be interesting. Coincidentally, I happened to see the brief writeup of the first state championship track races that were held in that velodrome. It was in 1985, shortly after it had been finished for the national Olympic Festival.