V2V - Rollin' on da River

At the New Orleans end of the ride. 

The annual 110 mi. Varsity to Varsity ride was yesterday. This ride, now in its 8th year, started as an LSU Cycling ride and in recent years has included a number of Tulane Cycling riders. The route mostly follows the Mississippi River from Varsity Sports in Baton Rouge to Varsity Sports in New Orleans, which is flat and marginally scenic. For some it's the first century ride, so while the moderate pace and planned stops make it relatively easy for the more experienced riders, it can be a challenge for the uninitiated. Fortunately, it ends with pizza.

Following Steve up the river

Saturday evening, after riding the Giro and attending Judd's 50th birthday party at the Ama airport, and then dropping Danielle off at MSY for her flight back to Washington, I finally broke down and put the new tires on the Bianchi that have been sitting on my workbench for months. I stuck a second large water bottle on the bike, moved my daytime-visible tail light from my commuter to the Bianchi, filled a little flask with HammerGel, and hit the sack a little early. I was scheduled to drive three of the Tulane riders and their bikes up to Baton Rouge at 5:15 am for their 7:30 am start. As I did last year, I planned on driving back to New Orleans, hopping on the bike, and riding upriver until I met the group. I had recruited Steve Johnson to meet me along the way to keep me company and keep me from going too slowly. The weather was pretty nice with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s, but I knew the strong ENE wind was going to make it tough, and slow, for the return trip down the river.

I left Baton Rouge about half an hour before they started their ride, so I got home in plenty of time to grab a quick bite, change, and hit the road. I was probably a good twenty minutes ahead of schedule and once I got onto the levee bike path and picked up a pretty significant tail wind, I started wondering just how far I'd get this year before running into the group. I'd be cruising downwind while they'd be struggling upwind. Last year I ended up with a bit over 90 miles, so this year there was the distinct possibility that I'd end up with about the same number of miles as if I'd started with the group. I was most of the way to Ormond when I met Steve, who of course was surprised to run into me so early. He turned around and we rode side by side out to the Spillway. On the upriver side of the Spillway you have to ride about three miles on River Road before you can pick up a 7-mile section of bike path. Once off the bike path you're back on River Road with the traffic, which wasn't too bad. The whole time we'd been riding at 22-25 mph pretty easily, thanks to the tailwind. Once back on River Road we were basically in 2-man Time Trial mode, so the pace would ramp up into the upper 20s depending on the extent of the tailwind component as we followed the winding river. At one point we were going pretty fast with me at the front when I saw a small but deep pothole at the last minute. I called it out and pointed and Steve had a moment to try and hop it but whacked it pretty hard anyway. It was hard enough to break his clip-on saddle bag mount, but luckily he didn't go down or pinch-flat. Anyway, we were all the way to the little town of Hester, well upriver of Luling, when we came across the group stopped at one of their planned rest stops (the one with all of the beagles), so that worked out pretty well. I had 52 miles on the computer at that point, which was only a couple of miles less than those in the group, so we'd met them almost half-way.

Made it pretty far upriver this year

Now we were riding into the wind and the pace was at times literally half of what it had been when Steve and I had been on our way out. Pretty soon I stationed myself at the back where I could keep track of anyone who might be starting to struggle and also where I could take some photos. It always seems harder, or perhaps just less comfortable, to be going 15-20 mph than it does to be pushing a bit harder.

Pizza!

There was one more long rest stop at the "Norco Area" fire station, a mile or two upriver of the Spillway, before the final 30 miles or so into New Orleans. I think Jaden spent the entire time on the front towing the group along at a nice steady pace. Back at the tail end I could see that a couple of the riders were starting to struggle, but by then we were only ten or fifteen miles from the end and they were able to gut it out to finish with the group. I ended up with 112 miles, which was essentially the same as the riders who had left from Baton Rouge. This morning I could definitely feel the miles, so I went out for an easy 20 mile recovery ride on the levee and a stop at Zotz for coffee.