As Cold As Advertised

Cold and Clear Sunday Morning Ride

It was the coldest weekend so far this year down here on the delta. Even south of the relatively warm lake Pontchartrain waters we dipped down to 28 or so, and spent a lot of time around 32. Friday evening I sent out an email confirming that I'd be riding the Giro since I figured a lot of people were probably on the fence about it. All I got back was one response from a rider wondering if I was serious or not.

So Saturday morning I pulled some long tights over my knickers and headed north in the dark. I was well prepared for the temperature, having accumulated enough winter riding gear to stay fairly comfortable down to the mid-20s, which almost never happens around here anyway, and if it does it doesn't last long. The problem Saturday morning wasn't the 30 degree temperature.  It was the 22 mph north wind. Thanks to the complications involved in finding and layering on the clothing needed, I was running a little late, but when I arrived at Starbucks there weren't any other bikes there.  As I picked up my coffee the barista asked how many other riders I was expecting to show up.  I replied, "Maybe just me today."  I was almost right.  A few minutes before 7 am, Taco showed up. I could tell when he looked around that he was surprised I was the only one there. Having grown up in a place where your ancestors were Vikings and spent time working in Siberia, thirty American degrees barely qualifies as chilly. So we headed out to Lakeshore Drive where we could see the waves crashing over the seawall.  I would have taken some dramatic photos, however I needed both hands on the bars to keep from being blown off the bike, and even if I could have fished the camera from my pocket without crashing I'd have had a lot of trouble pushing the little buttons through the two layers of gloves that were keeping my hands toasty.  We had to turn onto Filmore and take Leon C. Simon to the bridge because the east end of Lakeshore Drive was pretty much under water from the water that had been coming over the seawall. Going over the bridges required a firm grip on the bars to keep the crosswind from taking my front wheel out from under me.  Anyway, once we got onto Hayne Blvd. I tucked myself into Taco's draft and pretty much stayed there the rest of the ride.  Since there were just the two of us we decided to take Bullard to the service road on the way out in order to avoid the stretch on the Interstate.  For similar safety reasons we turned around at Chef Highway. I ended up with 40 miles of mostly drafting and was pretty much done.  Taco continued on to the river levee and rode another 60.

Sunday morning the temperature was about the same, but the wind had calmed down to the high single-digits. I was again the first to arrive at Starbucks, but this time a few more riders showed up. Four of them.  That allowed for a nice steady Giro Ride that was faster than Saturday's.  Over the course of the ride the temperature went from 30 to almost 40, although there was a lot more ice on the edges of the road than I'd seen on Saturday.

Next week is looking to be much warmer with highs in the 70s through the weekend. I've had about enough of winter lately, so I'm looking forward to that.