Wet Roads

Not too wet at all in some places - heading back along the lake in Metairie.

The first thing I did this morning was look out the window to see how shiny the streets looked.  There  had been a little of bit of rain just before I'd turned in for the night, and the forecast was kind of all over the place, which is to say they were using the word "scattered" a lot. The second thing I did was to check the radar, which looked fine. The decision to go out for a ride when the streets are wet can be difficult. For sure, your bike is going to be a mess when you're done. Possibly you'll slip on some bit of slick road or paint stripe or manhole cover and crash. Your chances of flatting go up exponentially when the streets are wet. So it was no big surprise when I arrived at the meeting spot at 5:45 am and nobody else was there.

Not looking too good for tomorrow morning's ride

The temperature was a balmy 70 degrees, maybe a couple of degrees higher, with a damp and humid south wind.  I rode out to the lakefront to find a few of the usual suspects, and down the road we picked up the already disconnected group that does a lap of the lakefront as we're (well, I'm) riding out there. I assume someone had flatted.  As we approached the loop at Seabrook, someone else flatted but told us to go ahead.  I think a couple of guys stayed to help anyway. The pace was easy today, which kept the wheel spray to a minimum, but as we neared Elysian Fields Matt dropped back, apparently with another flat. The rest continued on, but by the time we were on the bike path there were just five of us left. With the easy pace and partial tailwind we were taking long, steady pulls all the way out to the casino. Coming back, we had more of a headwind, and eventually lost two more people as one turned off to head home and another dropped off the back, possibly with yet another flat (we didn't notice he was gone until later).

I rode back home into a moderate headwind, and as I came up the driveway onto the sidewalk I felt my front rim hit the ground. I guess if you're going to flat, having it hold out until you're standing at your door back home is the best scenario.  I walked around to the front and sprayed the bike with the garden hose to remove most of the road grit, brought it inside, dried it off a bit, and lubed the chain. Despite the 40 miles on wet roads, I really wasn't too wet or cold, and considering the forecast for tomorrow, and the fact that I'll be off the bike all weekend to officiate cyclocross up in Jackson, I was glad I'd ridden.