Falling Through Ice

It's been a long week of dark, dark morning rides, complicated this morning by strong winds blowing off of Lake Pontchartrain, but it was a different story last Sunday for the kick-off race of the Delta States Grand Prix cyclocross series up in Baton Rouge. I had kind of mixed feelings about officiating that one. While it would have been lots of fun to ride (notice I did not use the word "race")  the nice technical course at Baton Rouge's City Park, I was assigned to help officiate the race which provided a handy excuse for avoiding the hour of exertion. Sometimes I can do both, and indeed I brought the bike with me, but fortunately for the race, and unfortunately for me, the turnout was great which meant sorting out the results was very time-consuming. We even had a good turnout from the collegiate riders even though there wasn't a specific collegiate race.

The course had a nice gentle slope, a sand pit with a U-turn, and lots of very technical sections, so they had only one actual barrier since most people had to dismount and run numerous times each lap anyway. I jumped on the bike wearing my jeans and snuck in one lap while another official was trying to figure out how many times various riders had been lapped. The fast guys were doing laps of around 5:30, while regular riders were more in the 6 minute range and the laughing group at the back wearing costumes were probably doing more like ten minutes. Some races had people lapped four times within 45 minutes, and one of those had three separate races on the course concurrently, so things got really confusing really quickly and it took quite a while to sort out that one race. Hopefully we got it mostly right, but I wouldn't bet on 100% accuracy with that one. Meanwhile we took a shot at getting the date of the South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference CX championship moved since it had been scheduled for Dec. 21 when most of the Tulane riders would be home for the holidays, and in this case home means Illinois, California, etc. They suggested moving it up one week, but of course that put it in the middle of exams, so basically we won't be able to send many riders there. There's apparently a conference rule that you have to race the conference championship in order to be eligible for nationals, which is pretty ridiculous in this case. We have one new medical student who is a Cat. 1 / Cat. A cyclocross rider and really wants to be able to race nationals, so we'll have to see what we can do about that.

So Monday morning it was back to 5:45 am rides, mostly in the dark. The week was pretty routine Monday through Wednesday, except for a near-crash riding home on Tuesday when I stopped for a car and Big Rich didn't. Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly fast, but not excessively so, and with the warmer temperatures and low winds they were pretty manageable. On Wednesday I jumped into the WeMoRi as usual and immediately found myself in a small front group that was going pretty hard chasing somebody way off the front. It was totally disorganized, however. Fortunately, the hard part of the WeMoRi for me lasts only for about six or seven miles. So the first part of the week was pretty unremarkable.  Then there was today.....

I rushed out the door, already knowing I was late, to meet the 5:45 am group about a mile away. I guess I got there at 5:47 so I kept rolling, wondering how much ahead of me they were. I rounded the corner and could see blinking red lights in the distance, so I shifted up a gear and caught them a mile or so later. This was good since we were riding in to a strong northeast wind. A little cool front had come through last night and although the temperature had dropped to only 60 or so, we had a pretty strong wind to deal with. Out on Lakeshore Drive, heading east we had a quartering headwind that forced everyone into a long eschelon that left the last few riders basically without a draft. Then, when we picked up the tailwind the pace just kept ramping up and up. I'm really not all that comfortable going 30 mph in the dark with someone's super-bright red blinky light shining in my eyes. Somehow I survived and we mostly regrouped before hitting the lake trail bike path. Of course with the tail/cross wind the pace didn't stay slow for long and before long I was looking at the rider in front of me starting to blow up. Matt was already way off the front by himself and Woody seemed like he really wanted to try and reel him back in, so next thing I know it's just Woody, Ray and me. Ray took his turn at the front and when Woody came through the slight acceleration gapped him off. When Woody pulled off I stayed on the front just long enough to come around him, but even with such super-short pulls, I could only get back into his draft one more time before I was gapped off too.

The ride back into the wind was pretty brutal. There was a lot of crosswind component to it, so if a one bike-length gap opened up in front of you it took a huge effort to close it. Plus, with the crosswind, there was room for only four or five on the bike path the way we were escheloned, which predictably started popping riders off the back one by one. I kept thinking of Cavendish's quote, "When echelons form it's similar to falling through ice: you know you've got, like five seconds to rectify and get in the right position to save yourself or it's finished – it's over." I had to dig pretty deep to close a couple of gaps but managed to stay in the front group that dwindled to five by the time we got to the end. It was a much harder ride than I'd expected.

So on the bike front, it looks like Bianchi is sending me a replacement Sempre frame thanks to Marc at Bicycle World, so I can't really complain about that. I think I'll need a new bottom bracket and probably headset since they made a couple of changes there since mine was made. I guess I'll have been without the Bianchi for about two months, but it's still better than having to buy a new frame which I really couldn't afford to do right now.

Fall Cyclocross and Collegiate

Last Sunday the LSU folks up the river put on a Louisiana collegiate ride day up around St. Francisville. The weather around here has been pretty spectacular lately, especially if you are willing to put up with a little wind, and so turnout for the ride was surprisingly good. Just a couple of years ago a similar effort drew maybe ten riders.

This year, Tulane alone brought about ten and when we arrived at the start I was a little shocked to find what looked like a sufficient crowd for a local race. I counted at least forty riders as we rolled out. The route was set up so that we did a first loop of around 40 miles, and then a second loop of about thirty. For the first part we regrouped a number of times since there were a few riders who were pretty new to it, but in general it went remarkably smoothly. I guess about half of the group stopped after the first loop while the remainder stopped for a few minutes and then took off on the second loop. I had only a rough idea of where we were going, myself, but the pace wasn't super fast or anything and so I was hanging out near the back most of the time looking at the scenery, which was actually pretty great. Down here in southern Louisiana we are just beginning to get the first hints of fall.  There are a few leaves falling from the trees and the mornings are getting a little cooler, but suffice it to say I have yet to go in search of my knee-warmers.

So anyway, we were probably a good 60 miles into our 73 mile ride when the asphalt gave way to gravel and a couple of the guys at the front kind of put the hammer down. I lagged behind both because I wanted to keep track of anyone who came off the back and because it was too much effort to get my eyes to focus on the road at speeds above 15 mph or so.

As I looked at the front of the group riding off into the distance I thought to myself, "someone is going to either crash or flat."  A couple of miles later I came up on Jaden on the side of the road just before a little bridge as the rest of the group was circling back. He had broken a spoke in his 16-spoke Shimano front wheel.  He had also flatted his rear wheel.  We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere on an unpaved road and we had to walk to the bridge just to get cellphone reception. We took out the brake shoes and loosened up a couple of spokes to the point where the wobble was just barely clearing the fork blades, changed the tube, and debated the wisdom of trying to ride it out. After a few pedal strokes he decided to call for extraction, so the rest of us continued on. A mile or two later, on another gravel road, Ben Spain flatted his rear wheel.  We stopped and fixed it, rode another mile, and he flatted his front wheel. Basically, those last ten miles cost us about half an hour. Nonetheless, it was a great ride.

The rest of this week was just routine training, largely in the dark, with a missed day yesterday because of a work-related day of meetings with someone from PCORI. It went pretty well, but of course it's a fair deal of work and stress dealing with everything from posters to catering to trips to the airport.

This Sunday will be the first race of the cyclocross series so I will be heading up to Baton Rouge early to officiate that and maybe ride a couple of laps just for the exercise. Meanwhile, it sounds like my Bianchi made it back from wherever the folks at Bicycle World sent it to get the brake cable stops fixed. We're trying out a 5.5cm stem on Danielle's CAAD-10 this week. It's only a 10-degree, so it raises the bar more than I'd like but it seems to be a lot better on her neck because of the shorter reach so we may stick with that for a while.  Perhaps I can find some 36 cm bars with a deeper drop.

Chilled Out

City Park Stables along Marconi

Rode out to the WeMoRi this morning with Quentin and Brendan wearing arm-warmers. It was perhaps a bit cooler than yesterday morning but much, much less windy.  We made good time and arrived at Lakeshore Drive perhaps a couple of minutes early, so we rode east all the way to the base of the Bayou St. John bridge before spotting a couple of headlights coming the other way. I strained in the dark to see who it was and when I realized it was Brian Baum and Daniel we made a quick U-turn fully expecting to be quickly absorbed by a thundering pack. Instead, another two riders went by with the pack still missing so we latched onto them. They were cruising pretty well, but it was by no means a super-hard chase effort, and of course I was still expecting to get absorbed by the pack at any minute. We rounded the corner onto Marconi and then onto Robt. E. Lee, and the pack was still nowhere to be found. Daniel (I think it was Daniel? or was it Jaden?) sat up and got in with us but as we turned onto Wisner Brian was still way off in the distance. Our little group was rolling at a pretty good clip, but it wasn't a chase by any means. We eased up along City Park Avenue and after turning onto Marconi I looked back and could see the group nearing the corner, so other than Brian we were all back together for most of the way down Marconi. The second lap around the park was a little faster than usual, which is to say it was faster than 15 mph. -- still easy enough for conversation. It turns out that someone had flatted on Lakeshore Drive, which explained the long wait for the main group. Afterward, Quentin and Brendan decided to do a few more miles while I headed straight for Starbucks for a cup of coffee. Although I didn't stay all that long, by the time I got back on the bike I was feeling pretty chilled. The air was still quite cool and dry, and I was still rather sweaty from the earlier effort. As I turned into City Park I came up on Quentin and Brendan on their way back, so I guess the timing worked out pretty well.

The Wind and the Will

I pushed the "Start" button on the Garmin, turned on the headlight, and as I clicked my right cleat into the pedal I told Danielle, "Some people aren't going to show up today." A cold front came through last night and although the temperature was still around 60F, the 20 mph northwest wind had convinced me to dig out the arm-warmers anyway. When we got to the meeting spot at the end of Nashville Avenue it was deserted. Two riders arrived but none of the usual regulars were there, and we finally rolled out a few minutes late after a final look down the road for headlights. The wind didn't really hit us until we turned onto Lakeshore Drive heading west. That's when I shifted to the small ring and our speed dropped from 20 mph to 14. Down at West End we picked up a couple of riders, but most of the Metairie/Kenner crew never materialized. We turned around and started down Lakeshore Drive with a 20+ mph wind at our backs, quickly picking up Woody and Judd. Soon we were cruising east at 28 mph with hardly any wind on our faces. Judd sat at the front for a few miles while I contemplated what would come after the turnaround at Seabrook. It was not going to be pretty. The ride back to the west on Lakeshore Drive probably averaged 17 mph, at best, and as we neared the end Woody rode up alongside and said they were going to opt for a lap around the park rather than another ten miles fighting the headwind on the bike path. There was just no will to suffer any more that morning.  We turned around, enjoyed the tailwind down to Wisner, and started the City Park loop. Since there was a significant northern component to the wind direction, we were rolling pretty easily and it was clear that the training momentum had dissipated for the morning. I somehow rolled a few bike lengths off the front and just after passing Esplanade I heard a whistle behind me.  Judd and Woody (all that were left by then) had turned into the park.  So I just continued to City Park Avenue and made the loop down Marconi and Robert E. Lee without ever meeting up with them again. By the end I was seven or eight miles short for the day, but not particularly tired since we'd really only gone hard for that one lap of Lakeshore Drive. Other than the wind, the day has been beautiful. Tomorrow morning should be in the upper 50s, but at least the wind should be back down to single digits by then.

So after years of using just a simple blinking headlight, I've finally had to start using something that will actually illuminate the road.  All of this early morning riding on city streets has made such a thing a necessity. Danielle got me a Light & Motion Urban 350.  This headlight has three brightness settings and one semi-flashing setting and a rechargeable battery. Most mornings right now it's on the brightest setting for at least forty minutes, so even if I remember to dim it and turn it off appropriately, the battery will run down after a couple of long rides. I sure do miss riding in daylight!

At the Track

Saturday's Giro Ride seemed strangely civilized. The turnout was pretty good, the wind was light to nonexistent, the temperature about normal, the humidity, well, the humidity was impressive. For some reason, however, there wasn't much will up at the front to sustain the pain for very long. The Daughter had taken the Volvo out to Jacksonville to meet a friend and see a concert, and since I had to officiate our track championship in Baton Rouge I had rented a tiny little Chevrolet for the weekend. I'd picked it up on Friday, parked it at the house, and then ridden the bike to work. When I got home there was a little dent in the door that hadn't been there before. On the plus side, the city had finally come out, after repeated requests and one photo on my part, and cut the grass on a little triangular section of median that they had been ignoring all summer. On the minus side, they were probably the ones who had dented the door since they had shown up with a big mower on a trailer and various other pieces of equipment. So I wasn't in a good mood Saturday morning. Fortunately, as I was sitting at Starbucks drinking my coffee and complaining about it, Woody gave me the name of a friend of his who does paintless dent repair, which by the way is a pretty amazing process. Near the end of the ride Woody flatted just before the Seabrook bridge and a few of us stopped to help out, which generally consists of offering suggestions on how to change a flat better or faster or more elegantly.

So that afternoon I headed out to Baton Rouge, got stuck in traffic for a while over the spillway, officiated a few races, and was back home by 8 pm. I was back on the road Sunday morning by 6:30 to basically repeat the process, except that the traffic jam was on the way back rather than the way out.

So Danielle got her new Cannondale CAAD 10 on Thursday. Mike Lew, who has known her since she was a baby and who has recently opened a bike shop in Hammond made us a sweet deal on a CAAD 10 Force women's edition in the smallest size they make, which is a 44cm. Even so, that put the handlebars rather high and far away for someone barely 4'10" so we threw away the headset top cap and put on a Slam Your Stem top cap, along with a negative slope 7 cm stem, which involved some creative cable re-routing. The saddle position is fine and the handlebars, although about 2 cm farther out than before and perhaps a bit higher as well, should work OK. We could always to with a tiny 5 m stem or even a downhill stem, although the shorter reach would come at the expense of a higher handlbar.

Life is a compromise.

Tuesday in the Dark

The lovely weather we enjoyed over the weekend is rapidly becoming nothing more than a fond memory. By the time we were ready to head back home from the lakefront Ray's shoes were dripping sweat with each pedal stroke. Granted, Ray could probably be the poster child for hyperhidrosis, but he nonetheless serves as a valid and easily referenced indicator of relative humidity. It is by no means as hot as it might be, however, and in the pre-dawn hour when the Tuesday ride started it was still feeling rather comfortable. As we work our way through town toward the lakefront the group sometimes gets split up a bit. Even 18 mph can seem pretty fast in the dark when you can't quite see what you're riding over, or into. This morning we were rolling along at a pretty good clip and between the overpass and the stoplights and the darkness along Jefferson Davis Parkway some big gaps opened up about which the front of the group didn't know, so we had a general regroupment somewhere around City Park.

By the time we were halfway down Lakeshore Drive the group had picked up a bunch of riders and I guess we were up to around twenty for a while. It was still plenty dark, but not too dark to see that Woody was pushing the pace and Brian Baum was in full complicity. Every once in a while they would ease up a bit, gaps would close, and then Woody would accelerate again. It was definitely a workout, and one that continued pretty much all the way out to Kenner. We got a little break after the turnaround for a bit but soon enough it was all strung out in a long line. Luckily there was practically no wind this morning so I don't think we lost anyone, not even Eddie C who had jumped into the paceline on his mountain bike. Then, right at the end of the lake trail bike path, at the top of the levee, Brian punctured and we had a little siesta amidst all of the Bucktown seafood restaurants.

The ride back, as always, is more commute than training, and the group got split a couple of times when everyone didn't make it through the stop lights together. I got back home sweaty and tired. Situation normal.

Wind and Warmers

Every fall there's that day. That fateful, foreboding day. The first day you feel the need to pull on the arm-warmers. That day was today.

The cold front had moved through Friday night and by Saturday morning there was a strong north wind and the air was cool and dry. It wasn't quite cold enough for arm-warmers, but I did stick an extra layer under my jersey to take the chill off as I rode slowly into the wind to meet the Giro Ride. I wondered what the turnout would be like. The annual MS Tour was this weekend, and we are in-between road season and cyclocross season, so I figured we'd be missing a few. Well despite all of that, the turnout seemed almost normal, Despite the rather brutal wind, the ride was surprisingly fast on the way out. Danielle had gone out to meet the Saturday ride that leaves 15 minutes earlier, and I was surprised to see her riding back alone down Chef Highway as we were heading out. Her neck has been hurting her since Six Gap and she had decided to back off before it got too bad. Anyway, the return trip was relatively slow so we never caught the early group. Other than the wind, though, the weather was perfect for riding.

By Sunday morning the wind had died down quite a bit, but the temperature was down to about 60F, so I dug out my arm-warmers before hitting the road. I arrived at Starbucks a bit before 6:30 and wasn't too surprised that I was the first one there. A number of the regular riders had decided to do a Century Ride over near Gulfport, so that, combined with the second day of the MS Tour, would take a bunch of riders out of the Giro mix. Even so, when I walked back out of Starbucks after getting my coffee I was surprised to be still alone. It wasn't until 6:45 before a few more riders showed up, so I knew we'd have a small group today. We rolled out from Starbucks with maybe seven or eight riders. Fortunately we picked up a number more along Lakeshore Drive, so by the time we came down the overpass onto Hayne Blvd. the group had grown to a respectable size. There seemed to be a general consensus to keep the pace smooth and steady today, and about half of the group spent a lot of time in a nice double paceline. The weather was practically perfect today and I had little inclination to suffer and was quite content with the consensus pace of the day.

Later that morning I rode over to meet the Tulane Sunday social ride. I think we had about ten riders for that ride. We decided to brave River Road in order to do a ride on the levee bike path. Fortunately, traffic was pretty light and there were only a couple of impatient drivers willing to risk everyone's life in order to save themselves a couple of minutes. The temperature had warmed up to the mid-70s, so the arm-warmers stayed at home for this ride. We did almost 30 miles at an average speed of 15 mph, stopping at Breads on Oak on the way back. This was the first time in at least two months I'd ridden on the levee bike path.

Six More Gaps

It was a week before the annual Six Gap Century and I was starting to get a little worried. We had about twelve Tulane riders (well, I'm including Kenny and me) interested in going and the weather forecast was calling for rain. Only a few of those going really had enough miles in their legs for such a long and difficult ride, and the idea of them careening down slippery unfamiliar downhills was a little frightening. Fortunately, as the week wore on the forecast improved and my stress level abated a bit. During that time Kenny strained his back and another rider dropped out because of school, so we were down to eleven.

On Friday I left the office a few minutes early and we met up at the local Enterprise car rental place to pick up three minivans. The plan was to head out around 7:30 am so we would arrive in time to sign in and pick up our numbers, watch some of the criterium, and eat dinner at the local Mexican restaurant in Dahlonega. Most of the riders ended up having a bit of a party the night before we left about which I fortunately know little. While they were doing that I put together a couple more fork-mount sliders so we would have some for the third van.

Saturday morning we learned that David had crashed on the streetcar tracks somewhere and put a gash in the heel of his hand that required stitches, so we were down to ten riders -- still a pretty good group. The drive up to Dahlonega went really smoothly and we got there in plenty of time. After we picked up packets I watched Debbie Milne win the women's criterium again and then walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant to get on the list for a table for ten and about half an hour later we were seated. So basically everything on Saturday went according to plan.

Six Gap actually offers both the full Six Gap Century at 104 miles, and a shorter Three Gap ride at around 55. This was good since the shorter ride with two big climbs was quite enough for a few of the riders. Although the 3-Gap riders are supposed to start an hour after the 6-Gap riders, I think we all started together.

It was cool but not cold at the start this year, despite the overcast sky, and I wore just my summer kit plus a little wind protector under my jersey. We got down to the start 15 or 20 minutes early and blended into the masses a few rows behind the "sub-6-hour" section that they reserve for riders who finished the prior year under that threshold. For a change, I wasn't cold as I waited for the start. I guess the temperature at the start was around 63F which is about perfect for this sort of thing. I had one little bottle of HammerGel, an emergency powerbar, and my phone in my pockets and two full water bottles on the bike. I was riding my old Orbea since the Bianchi is still out getting its cable stops fixed, so I had both the Garmin and the old Campi computer on the handlebar.  Redundant systems. I zeroed the Campi computer and started the Garmin and waited in the middle of the sea of riders. Next to us were Steve J. and Pat F. Ben B., Ben S., Danielle, Grayson, Graeme and the rest of the Tulane crew all started together, kind of walking the bikes as the crowd inched toward the start line. I think I finally clipped in just before crossing the timing mat.

The front part of the group this year was relatively calm this year, but I could tell right away that Ben B. wanted to get closer to the front. Soon a few of us were following him in the left lane moving up closer and closer to the front. You have to understand that, in the case of Six Gap, close to the front means being within the lead 100 or do. Danielle was right there with us for most of the first ten miles or so before the first long climb. Looking up ahead I was a little surprised that there didn't seem to be a group off the front.

So my plan this year was a little different from prior years. I had decided to try and keep the pain level down on the climbs and was open to the idea of stopping at a rest stop, which I'd never done before except to wait for an ambulance. The first couple of climbs went pretty well and I rode up them at my own pace, spinning a 39x25, keeping the 27 in reserve for later when I knew I'd need it.

By the time I crested the first "gap" Ben and Graeme were up ahead somewhere. Ben Spain and Steve were nearby, with Ben up the road a bit and Steve dropping back a bit. Things got split up a bit on Jack's Gap, but I was happy that I had company around me the whole time. As usual, the long climb up Hogpen featured a few miles of tortured climbing at 5 mph in the 39x27. Up at the top I saw Ben S and Graeme at the rest stop, but I didn't want to stop yet so I continued on, hitting 50 or so on the downhill. Somewhere on the flatter section between Hogpen and Wolfpen Steve caught up to me and a small group I had latched onto, but once we started up the Wolfpen climb he rode up ahead. Graeme was riding with a low gear of 39x23 and was very unsure about whether he was going to be able to make it up the next climb, but he rode away from me as I slowly spun and stood and spun and stood and spun my way up Wolfpen. By then my lower back was killing me and my right foot was screaming. On the plus side, all of the standing was giving my neck and upper back enough relief that those areas didn't hurt any more than usual.I stopped for a few minutes at the top of Wolfpen where Steve had also stopped to fill a water bottle. Steve would later pass me on the next climb.

So I finally made it over the last climb, Woody's Gap, flew down the downhill picking up one other rider toward the bottom as we came around the sharp hairpin turn. As usual it was looking like I'd be finishing at somewhere around 6 hours. Fortunately, the rider I was with was working with me and helping keep my speed up, and when a pair of faster riders came around us we both latched onto their wheels. Those two riders got us going a little faster but it wasn't looking like I'd make it to the finish in under 6 hours. The last ten miles or so were really fun. The rider I'd come down Woody's Gap with dropped off, but the other two were basically riding a team time trial with me mostly hanging on the back and just taking an occasional pull. Thanks to their help I ended up finishing at 6:01:43, so considering the fact that I'd stopped for water, that time was right in line with my usual times for this ride. Steve finished at 6:00:35. By the time I finished, Ben had already been there for over half an hour. He'd finished at 5:32:18, which was 26th overall.

So Ben Bradley was 6th in the 34-and-under KOM competition, 2nd in the 25-29 age group, and  26th overall. Steve was 107th (18th in the 50-54 group), I was 111th (first in the 60-64 group) , Ben Spain 172nd. Graeme finished at 6:18:55 with Ben. Meanwhile, Danielle was 8th in the 3-Gap KOM competition. I'm not sure where she finished overall since they don't have those results up on the website yet. They were using disposable chip timing, so there a long list of about 400 riders on the "Missing Splits" page.

We finally rolled out of Dahlonega in a light drizzle for the long drive home. That 9 hour drive feels really long after a day with a 5 am wake-up and 6-hour ride in the mountains. We got into New Orleans around 1 am, which was right when we had expected. I was basically worthless at work on Monday, of course.