The 50's and Riding on the Other Side

The annual Tour de Jefferson, otherwise referred to locally as "The Westbank Giro," was last Sunday, and since there was nothing else going on locally I once again decided to ride it. Although last year we drove over to the other side of the river, in years past we have gotten a small group together and ridden there by way of the Canal Street ferry. Well, things are different this year. The ferry doesn't start running until around 10 am, so I thought it would be interesting to ride to the westbank via the newly renovated Huey P. Long bridge. Some of the westbank riders had been riding over the river that way en route to the regular Giro Ride without incident, and I knew that the new roadway included a wide shoulder, so other than the fact that drivers tend to see how fast their little cars can go on it, it seemed like a viable option. The only problem was that the river levee bike path remains closed all of the way from uptown to the bridge, so a few of us decided to meet at a parking lot at the base of the bridge to do the short five-mile ride to the start of the Tour de Jefferson.

This is a difficult time of year, clothing-wise. When the morning temperature is in the 50s, as it was on Sunday, you are stuck somewhere in-between summer and winter clothing options. If you're comfortable at 7 am you will probably be hot by 9 am, and if you want to be comfortable at 9 am you're going to be cold at 7 am. I compromised a bit and wore knickers, a light base layer jersey, and arm-warmers. That worked out pretty nicely for me, but there were lots of riders at the 8:30 am start in regular summer kit, which by that time wasn't such a bad idea. As usual, we lined up at the front of the large group of riders, along with almost all of the regular Giro group. Also as usual, the pace was going full-bore by the time we were six or seven miles in. I was content to sit in toward the back, which was probably nearly as much work as being near the front because I found myself spending a lot of time out in the wind because I wasn't too comfortable with the riding skills of everyone in front of me, like those of the guy rocking back and forth over his over-geared bike with toe-clips and a piece of the front quick-release spring sticking out from his dropout.

Eventually the front group dwindled down to, basically, the usual Giro riders and my comfort level improved a bit, but being toward the back on relatively unfamiliar roads meant some unexpected braking and chasing due to turns and road surface irregularities. Anyway, it was a nice ride and there was beer and jambalaya at the end. Danielle, however, had some big problems with her neck and upper back, and also said that something seemed wrong with her position. I ended up raising her saddle by a good half centimeter, maybe more, re-leveling the saddle, and switching her back to the 90 mm 30-degree drop stem, and ordering a 70 mm 30-degree drop stem to try next. I suspect that the seatpost had slipped a bit on the new bike or had never been quite in the right place to start with. Unfortunately she didn't get to try it out this morning because one of the dogs pulled out some stitches he'd gotten and needed a quick trip to the vet for some superglue and staples.

Monday I went out solo out to the lakefront and lake trail bike path, just kind of cruising along at 17 mph and enjoying the relative solitude and early morning sun thanks to the switch to DST. This morning we ended up with a pretty big group for the long Tuesday ride and with a nice tailwind the pace stayed fast all the way out to the casino boat. I was expecting a hard ride into the quartering headwind on the way back, but for some reason nobody wanted to push it and it was mostly conversation pace.

Guess I should go vote.....