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.