Fall and Fog

It's early December and finally the leaves are starting to fall from the deciduous trees, what few we have. This is not a particularly spectacular occurrence around here, since lots of the vegetation remains green all year. Fortunately, however, we do have a few species around that help brighten things up a bit. One is the Ginkgo biloba tree. These are all imports, of course, representing the sole remaining example of a 2 million year old genus that had been assumed to be extinct until it was discovered in a small area of China where apparently some monks had been cultivating it for hundreds of years. Anyway, every fall, for a very, very brief period, the leaves turn a super-bright yellow and the trees are absolutely spectacular until the first strong wind strips them bare. There's one on Tulane's campus that is reputed to be the oldest in the city, and now there are a few scattered around uptown in Audubon Park, along Fontainbleau, and elsewhere. I pass a couple of them on my way to work and so I stopped this morning to take a photo of the leaves falling from one of them. But I digress.

So this week's weather has been a little difficult. After last week's mileagefest, I went out on Monday for just a very brief spin around the park to keep the legs loose, figuring I might need a little recovery before the usual long Tuesday ride. Well Tuesday morning I stepped out the door into a thick fog. I immediately turned around and stuck some paper underneath my jersey and was glad I'd already pulled on the knee-warmers despite the temperature, which was in the upper 50s. I knew I'd be soaking wet by the time I got home. The fog never really got any better and the temperature never got any warmer, and by the time we were finished our lap of Lakeshore Drive I had already decided to cut the ride short and head home.  My feet were already cold and the rest of me was sure to follow.

I was prepared for more of the same on Wednesday, but there wasn't even a hint of fog for the WeMoRi. On my way out to the lakefront Jordan met up with me. I was a few minutes early so we turned onto Lakeshore Drive to meet the group. I looked at my watch and figured we were safe in crossing the Bayou St. John bridge. Normally I would turn around before that since once you're on the bridge you can't make a U-turn to get in with the oncoming group. Well, as it turned out the WeMoRi was going pretty fast that day and as we came down the bridge we saw them coming around the bend at the traffic circle, so we went the wrong way around the top of the circle and sprinted up the bridge to get in with the main group. The rest of the ride was fairly typical and not terribly fast.

This morning the fog was back in force and the temperature was in the low 60s. I left the knee-warmers at home but pulled on the arm-warmers because I knew I'd be soaking wet. There were only three of us at the meeting spot at Nashville and Fontainbleau. At least the warmer weather kept me from getting too cold. We ended up with a decent sized group along Lakeshore Drive, although the fog definitely kept the speed down a bit. I got home with water dripping from my helmet and shoes.

Fortunately there was just enough left-over turkey soup for breakfast!