Visitor Cyclists

The Tuesday morning ride heads out on Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans

As the contact email for the NOBC and LAMBRA websites, among others, I get my share of emails and messages asking about riding in New Orleans.  Many of those come from visitors who are coming to town for conferences, holidays, or other occasions. I usually send them pretty detailed information about where to ride, when the groups rides are, and whatever other information I think they will need to survive cycling in New Orleans. If someone is asking specifically about group training rides I usually look them up on the USAC website to see if they have any race results and to see what license category they have. Recently I lent a bike to a rider from Indiana who was here to visit family. It turned out she had ridden the Little Indy 500, of Breaking Away fame, and her coach was Tom Saccone, who used to race around here. Small world. Right about the same time I was contacted by a medical student in town for a month to do a rotation in dermatology at Tulane. She's been riding my old Cervelo, broken shifters and all. Then, last week someone was trying to find a bike for a girl who was going to be in town to ride the Rapha Women's 100 ride, so she ended up with my Orbea. It's unusual for me to lend bikes to people, but that's because so few of them are short enough for a 50 cm frame.  Anyway, hopefully both bikes will find their way back to me soon.

This week has been pretty routine riding, made just a tad more difficult by the gradually increasing 5:30 am darkness and my closely linked difficulty getting out of bed in the dark. There were a few glorious weeks there when I didn't need to strap the headlight to the bike, but those days are gone now, and it'll just be getting darker and darker until the time change.

Yesterday we met up with a rider, Brian, from Dallas, who is in town for a conference.  He had contacted me earlier asking about group rides, so I sent him a bunch of information, including the Strava data for some recent rides to make sure he knew what he was getting himself into. Anyway, he turned out to be a perfectly stable and capable rider, plus the Tuesday ride wasn't particularly fast, so that worked out nicely all-around.

For some reason I was up earlier than usual this morning, so I decided to try and make it out to the lakefront in time to catch the start of the WeMoRi that leaves at 5:45. My timing worked out pretty well and I merged into the group around Canal Blvd. as it was just getting going. There was a pretty good tailwind from the west on the way out on Lakeshore Drive, but I was still surprised when I saw Woody go flying past the group just after we crossed Bayou St. John. A few riders went with him, so a little breakaway developed. I was equally surprised that the riders at the front of the group barely reacted to the rapidly growing gap. I mean, rule #1 in a tailwind is "don't let gaps open." After the Seabrook loop we turned into the headwind and another little group rode off the front as the rest of the group seemed to slow down even more. Clearly I should have made the effort to go with the second group, but I was fully expecting the other riders to pick up the pace, which didn't happpen. So anyway, the rest of the ride was nice and steady, if not particularly strenuous.

This weekend is a Team Time Trial and a Criterium down around Thibodaux. I have no idea if I'm riding the TTT since it depends on how many riders can be put together to make the necessary 4-rider teams.  Missing a time trial is really not a problem for me nowadays. Although there was a time when I could bolt on some aero bars and still be competitive, I think those days are gone. Almost everyone seems to have a dedicated TT bike while I'm still trying to figure out how I could afford a set of wheels that were built this century.

Protocol

Mid-summer mornings in New Orleans can be a lot of things, but windy is not usually one of them. For the past week or more we've been under this big high-pressure system that's made for some uncomfortably hot weather, punctuated only by a few short but dramatic thunderstorms. Riding out to meet the Giro Ride this morning I wasn't thinking about wind. Blocked by the rows of houses along Carrollton and Canal, the unusual west wind hardly even registered. Instead, I was wondering if Starbucks would be serving coffee. The city was under a "boil order" thanks to a power surge that had knocked out the pumps at the Water Board's main pumping station, lowering the pressure in the lines below the threshold at which they start to worry about contamination entering the system through all of the broken and cracked water lines under the city's streets. Fortunately, Starbucks was open for business, so all was right with the world at 6:30 am.

The group rolled out at 7 am as usual, but for some reason a few riders at the front were already pushing the pace as we headed northeast toward the lake. Turning onto Lakeshore Drive we got the full force of the west wind, and all of a sudden there was one group way off the front and gaps were opening up all over the place.  The pace crept up from the usual 18-20 mph conversational speed, and for a little while we were in all-out chase mode at 28 mph to get back up to the front group.

This was a clear violation of the Giro Ride Protocol which calls for an easy warm-up along Lakeshore Drive!

Of course, the reason for this transgression was a solid 20 mph west wind. Flying down Hayne Blvd., the group's average speed for the six-mile stretch was a bit over 30 mph. It wasn't much different along Chef Highway, either. I hit 36 mph at one point and someone told me he saw 38 for a moment. Under the circumstances, I never once considered making my way up to the front. I was pretty sure that twenty seconds on the front would have increased my chances of getting dropped significantly, anyway.  Of course, as often  happens on days like this one, the pace on the way back was easier, despite the headwind. By then, the temperature was already around 90 F and a lot of riders were starting to look a little wilted, myself included.

Rapides

At 4:15 am I headed up to Alexandria, LA for the Rapides Road Race on Saturday with fairly low expectations. Pre-registration numbers had been extremely low for this one-day, mid-July event.  The race distances were pretty low -- the Masters race, for which there were only two riders pre-registered, was only 43 miles, as was the Cat. 1/2 race for which, unsurprisingly, there were no pre-registrations at all. There was also no promise of prizes other than medals.  On the plus side, it was a nice course with a little terrain and I was feeling like I needed a little change of scenery.

So it turned out that no other masters showed up, so the two of us would be racing with the 6-rider Cat. 3/4 field. There were no Cat. 1/2 riders at all, which didn't surprise me much given the short race distance, long drive for most, expected small field size, and lack of cash prizes. 

Under the circumstances, I was fine with riding with the Cat. 3/4 race since I was already thinking of this as more of a training ride than a race. The Cat. 3/4 riders included four riders from Raising Canes Racing, one from Acadiana, and Jacob, a 15 year old rider from Lake Charles.

We started out at a moderate pace and within the first couple of miles Kevin Landry, the other masters rider, attacked.  There wasn't too much of an immediate response, other than the Canes riders confirming that it was a Masters rider and not a Cat. 3/4 rider. Even so, I think it did help keep the pace up.  After a little while we caught up to Kevin, and I was wondering if his teammate would counter-attack, but instead it settled down for a while until Kevin attacked again. Immediately, Ben told his teammates that he was a Master rider, so they didn't chase. He was slowly reeled back in, probably more because he wasn't really trying to stay away than because there was any sort of organized chase. The next time he attacked, the speed in the group didn't increase at all and after looking back a few times he eventually just rolled away down the road. Along the way we had lost at least one rider. There was a bit of a surge through the finish line at the start of the second lap but we spent quite a bit of time just riding a steady paceline on the flatter first half of the course. When we got to the hilly section, though, Jacob attacked a number of times, and by the time we were on the last lap it was down to just four in our group. I was pretty impressed with his confidence and aggressiveness and wondered why the Canes riders didn't try to counter-attack or just push the pace a bit harder.

The Cat. 3/4 podium

We were a bit more than halfway around the course on the last lap when he attacked again, and this time I was surprised when the gap wasn't closed right away. I had the impression that Ben was kind of waiting for his teammate. I was just riding wheels and taking moderate pulls, but otherwise trying not to interfere too much. I guess I was more curious about how it would play out than anything else.  I was a little surprised that the pace over the final five miles or so didn't get higher than it did. Ultimately Jacob stayed out there, finishing probably close to a minute ahead of us, and I just rolled in on Andrew's wheel.

After we finished I rolled down the road to the park shelter where everyone was parked and decided to go down to the boat launch to have a quick look at the lake. I made a bit U-turn and headed back up the hill, only to suddenly hear my front tire explode.  I hadn't even come to a stop when my rear tire did the same thing. I didn't remember rolling over anything, but somehow I had slashed both sidewalls. It was kind of weird. Anyway, by the time I got a copy of the results onto my flashdrive and we finished up the post-event report I was soaked with sweat. The car thermometer read between 99 and 101 all the way home.

Acadiana Action

Last weekend I headed over to Lafayette for the annual Vuelta d' Acadiana. This year they had dispensed with the Saturday morning time trial, and with the Masters criterium not scheduled until after 4 pm, I was spared the usual pre-dawn rush. Of course, habits are hard to break, and I was up at 5:45 am anyway, so I rode out to Starbucks to meet the 7 am Giro Ride, riding with them down the end of Lakeshore Drive before splitting off and heading back home. I left for Lafayette much earlier than necessary so that I could catch the other races that started at 2:00. There were scattered thunderstorms in the forecast, a couple of which I drove through along I-10 en route.  The women made it through their race with dark clouds moving in, and a bit later there was a half-hour delay as the sky opened up.  I sat in the car until the torrential downpour ended.  The streets were soaked, and after all that rain I knew it would be a while before they dried up.

The Masters criterium started with wet streets, pretty much on time. This is a criterium course that I like but on which I have never had very good success. I think that long fast drag from the last turn to the finish line is just not my cup of tea. We had a small field of only ten on the line, of which four were from the sponsoring Acadiana club. I had Rick from NOBC, and the rest were without teammates.  Looking at the wet streets, small field, and the one 4-man team, the handwriting was on the wall. I knew well what would happen, but had little confidence there was much I could do about it.  Sure enough, Randy from Acadiana attacked from the gun.  There was a U-turn about 150 meters past the start line, and by the time he got there he already had a big gap. Then, just to seal the deal, his teammate Kibbe threw himself to the ground at the front of the pack going around the turn. I made it past fairly cleanly as another Acadiana rider attacked but it took most of the first lap for everyone to come back together and I'm sure some of them were pretty wasted by the time they closed the gaps.

Meanwhile the gap was growing despite the high speeds as a couple of riders took the front to try and bring it back. The streets were still very wet and riders were still being tentative on the turns, so the gap was holding as we came through at the start of the second lap. A bit later Randy's teammate Kevin attacked and started to bridge without a whole lot of response from the pack, which I thought a little surprising since it was such a predictable move.  By the start of the third lap the duo was coming together. I did a little math as I contemplated the situation from the back. Ten riders total; only 8 now in the pack.  Two of those 8 were obviously not going to work and were going to block if possible, and one would probably rest up for the pack sprint, so only 6 riders who might work. Neither Rick nor I was really up to the task of helping much, so that really left only 4 - Tim Dorion, and Mark McMurry, Scott Gurganus, and Texas rider Scott Yates.

A couple of laps later it was obvious we were racing for third. There were a few half-hearted attacks, but things settled down for a while until the last few laps. With two laps to go there was a strong attack by Alex, setting things up for his teammate, and I pretty much blew up chasing it as we heard the bell. I had been in good position at that point, but of course as the final lap surge started I was completely gassed and dropped nearly to the back. Somehow I regained the draft halfway through that lap, but it was way too little too late and I finished a disappointing 8th out of 10. I felt pretty good on the turns and even in the sprint, but really didn't have the confidence to do much work on the front.

Sunday's road race was up near Arnaudville on an essentially flat course I've ridden a few times before. The Masters field was still small, but with the addition of VJ, Mike Lew, Brian Bourgeois, and a second Lake Charles rider there was a little bit more reliable horsepower in the field. Acadiana's strategy was essentially unchanged, however - keep attacking until something breaks free. From the gun Randy took off, establishing a big gap by the time we turned onto the loop for the first of three laps. I knew he wasn't intending to stay out there for fifty miles, but with such a small field he was still successful in making the other riders work. Once the chase started I was looking at 27 and 28 mph pretty consistently. It would stay that way for the rest of the lap, too.  So Randy was finally reeled back in around halfway through the lap, and then of course there was a counter-attack that put another two or three off the front. Mike made his way to the front and took some super-long pulls and about 30 minutes into the race, just after turn 4 we were about to catch the break.

Right after the turn an Acadiana rider attacks and Mark and Brian go after him.  Brian fades, Mark takes over, and they catch, but now everything is kind of chaotic with the original break getting caught and the solo Acadiana rider mixed in, and everything. Alex and Kevin attack right through the middle of the confusion, taking Lake Charles rider Michael with them. I never really saw any of this happen since riders were momentarily spread out all across the road, but then suddenly I realize there are three riders off the front and nothing is happening back in the pack.  Finally Scott comes to the front with an Acadiana rider on his wheel, and then Mike comes through and starts motoring at the front at 25-26 mph, but again it's too little too late, even with help from Rick and a couple others. By the time we started the next lap the break was down the road and the group's pace was sagging down to the low 20s.

The next lap and a half were pretty uneventful.  Finally we get past the last turn with I guess five miles to go. VJ plants himself on the front like a big diesel truck and everyone just falls in line behind him. With 2k to go he's still on the front, so I move up on the right side (there was a nice wide shoulder there) to about 4th wheel but I'm kind of trapped there with Mike and the paceline to the left. As we hit the 1k mark Randy attacks hard from the back and Brian, who was almost right next to me by then, jumps to go with him. I hesitate for a moment hoping Kibbe will go but he glances over and says, "Go for it, Randy." So I stand up and start a very long sprint, already having missed Brian's draft, but somehow make it to the line right behind him with Rick coming in next. I felt really good in the sprint, actually, but Randy had really surprised me by jumping so early. I was a little surprised that Brian didn't pass him before the line, but then I think Brian had been caught off-guard as well and never really got his draft. I don't know what happened to Mark McMurry. He and Mike Lew had been doing a ton of work the whole race. Mark sometimes has issues with cramping toward the end of hot road races, though. Lots of photos and complete video on the LAMBRA FB page.