Sunshine and the 40s

Just part of the Saturday Giro Ride group heading out along Lakeshore Drive

As often happens down here after a cold front comes through, and I mean all the way through, the weather last weekend was awesome, assuming you include riding in full tights and baselayers and gloves and long-sleeve jerseys in your definition of Awesome. It seems like most of the prior week, along with the weekend, started out at 45-47°F, the only variable being the wind speed. While those conditions might well be defined as "balmy" by Minnesotans, around here it's simply described as "cold," at least until it gets down below 45° in which case it's described as "freezing." If and when it actually gets down to actual freezing, as in 0°C, it's not described as anything because everyone is running around trying to protect their 100-year-old fully exposed galvanized plumbing and is otherwise incapable of speaking anyway since they don't actually have any clothing suitable for such Arctic conditions.

Matt's new Colnago is very pretty. We'll see how long
the white handlebar tape lasts, though.

Anyway, I pulled on the long tights and fuzzy baselayer and everything and headed out Saturday morning for the Giro Ride wondering how many riders would use the temperature as a convenient excuse to torture themselves on Zwift in the comfort of their own basements or garages or living rooms. As usual, I was one of the first to arrive at Starbucks, so I sat inside as a few of the other early regulars wandered in, sipping my coffee, and occasionally glancing out the door to make sure my bike was still there. When I finally stepped outside at 6:58 am I was rather surprised to see such a large crowd ready to ride. I would guess we had around 45 riders in the group as we rolled out along scenic Lakeshore Drive under a clear blue sky. I shivered a bit as I noticed a few riders with bare knees and minimal fuzzy clothing, but hey, to each his own. I'd much rather come home with pockets stuffed with clothes than be cold for the first half hour of a ride, but that's just me.

Caught by the Seabrook drawbridge just as we were sprinting to the top.

It being officially Winter, at least in my book, and me being me, which is to say that I'm now officially in winter training mode, which is also to say that I plan to enjoy the month of November by hanging out at the warmer, less windy end of the paceline, I found a nice comfy spot toward the back as the pace ramped up along Hayne Boulevard, where, surprisingly, the speed remained mostly moderate. That all changed after we made the right turn at the end of Hayne. Next thing I know, I'm pushing 32 and 33 mph just to stay in contact. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it might seem since I was generally so far from the front of the long string of riders that I'd have needed binoculars, or cataract surgery, to see who was actually up there inflicting the pain. It didn't last all that long, though, and the ride down Chef Highway, with it's brand new silky-smooth asphalt, was nice, even if there was a bit of an accordion effect going on nearer the back. Somehow, though, the relatively brief foray into the 30s must have caused a split somewhere because we were missing a few riders by the time we arrived at the Venetian Isles turnaround. The ride back was pretty standard - a surge toward the end of Chef, and then a pretty hard effort from bridge to bridge at the end of Hayne. Sunday's ride was remarkably similar. At any rate, it was so nice to be out in the sunshine in a nice sized group on a nice weekend in November.

Back at home, Entergy apparently came by on Friday and changed out our electric meter for one of the new "smart" electric meters that they say will do great things for me but in reality just makes it easier for them to read the meter without getting out of the truck. Hopefully they didn't screw up the readings when they swapped it out. On Saturday I finally went over to the local auto parts store to get some more carburetor cleaner, along with new wiper blades and windshield washer fluid for the Volvo. So on Sunday I finally put carb #2 back together and re-installed it on the old GT-6, also replacing the leaky heater hose and topping up the coolant. I think that next I'll pull the plugs and put a little Mystery Oil into each cylinder. Then I'll see if I can pull and clean out the gas tank, put a couple of gallons of gas in it, and check the fuel pump that may or may not be functional. Baby steps...

This morning it was still like 47°F and since I was planning a really easy recovery ride I should have dressed a little more warmly than I did. On my way back I ran into Kaitlyn who apparently didn't have anyone else show up for the TUCA Monday morning ride, so she turned around and we rode back together until I split off for a quick cup of coffee at Z'otz. By then the sun was starting to warm things up a bit. Tomorrow morning should be around 50°F and then the next few mornings will be in the 52-60°F range until the next cold front shows up on Saturday.

This afternoon I have a conference with a surgeon about my gall bladder which hasn't been causing me any real problems lately. This morning I started taking Atorvastatin, aka Lipitor, because my total cholesterol was borderline high on the one and only such lipid panel I've ever had. It seems a little sketchy to be taking something that interferes with such an important pathway that includes response to training, and has side effects that include muscle pain, and hemorrhagic stroke, among others, and continuing for a year before checking to see if it's actually working. Basically the only feedback I can expect from this are the negative side-effects, so I guess I'll see how that goes.