First Hint

TUCA Saturday ride from Independence

A little cool front pushed through yesterday, leaving us with our first hint of Fall weather, which around here means the morning temperature was 70°F rather than 80°. Of course, with the cooler weather came a brisk north wind that apparently kept everyone who usually rides the Tuesday levee ride at home. Except me, of course. It wasn't as bad as you'd think for a 15 mph wind, since much of the levee ride route is east-west rather than north-south. Anyway, when I got home I opened a bunch of windows.

Last Saturday I drove up to Independence to do a ride with a few of the Tulane riders. On hand were Gavin, Julia, Javier, Sean, Oceane, and Arianna. The weather was pretty great, which is to say I could feel sweat actually evaporating rather than dripping from my face onto the top tube, nobody flatted, nobody crashed, and nobody had mechanical problems. The pace was pretty steady and fairly easy, except for a couple of brief faster section and short sprints. For some reason I was feeling pretty good and enjoyed the ride quite a bit. When I was driving up there that morning I noticed some very light misty rain on the windshield, and checking the weather radar I could see that there would probably be some rain for the Giro Ride, so I figured I'd made the right call. 

On Monday I found out that Erich had apparently ridden into a water-filled pothole at the end of the ride and face-planted into the road. He ended up with a lot of stitches but fortunately no concussion or broken bones. Faces usually heal up pretty nicely, but if not the scars always make for good conversation-starters!  

Sunday was Six Gap day, but not for me. I'd decided to skip it this year for multiple reasons, but mostly because I figured I'm already getting enough SARS CoV-2 exposure and didn't need to push my luck this year. I'd really like to not get this virus if at all possible. Also, it would be my 13th year doing it, so if I'm going to skip one year, I guess 13 is a good one! The Tulane riders weren't going this year either since Club Sports isn't allowing any official travel for them beyond 40 miles, so no minivans or hotel rooms or entry fees. Steve and Pat rode it, along with a whole bunch of local riders. I heard there was a little light rain but nothing dramatic. I always remember that year we rode it mostly in a cold rain (2010) the whole way. For my part, though, I rode the Giro Ride, which as Giro Rides go, wasn't a particularly hard one. No doubt that was because some riders were up in Dahlonega, and some others perhaps still licking their wounds from a Saturday group ride that had been organized over around Bay St. Louis. I'd been kind of on the fence about whether to do that ride or the Tulane ride, but ultimately decided to do the Tulane ride.

Where we are now

It looks like this cooler weather will stick around a while longer, so that will be nice. I need to go check out the Tour de La road course next weekend since the race will be on Saturday the 10th, which is coming up fast. I think that if the weather is good and we can scrape up enough volunteers, and there isn't some sudden surge in COVID cases, it should be a nice race. It will be only the second official USAC road race this year. 4D is doing some bandit "spirited ride" next weekend that will no doubt be essentially a race. I'll have to see if I can do that and still check out the TDL course while not being too late in posting the daily COVID-19 Flash Report that I've been providing for Tulane senior administration for the past few months. The state's department of health doesn't post anything on Saturdays, so I don't have any problems on those days, but I usually try to get the report out around noon on other days. It wouldn't be a disaster if it was a little late on Sunday, though.

The Weather Outside

Monday morning TS Beta - basically the same as Sunday morning

It was a miserable weekend. Tropical Storm Beta has been hanging around way over to the southwest with apparently little motivation to move on, and the result here has been three solid days of rain and high winds. I am almost to the point of getting on an indoor trainer. Almost. 

The Tulane coffee ride last Friday morning was the last time I rode on dry pavement. In fact, it was probably the last time the pavement was dry. By the time we were riding back toward campus I could already see the clouds building up. I had a COVID test scheduled for 10:15 or so, and I felt lucky to have gotten there and back before the rain started. (I got the negative result about five hours later.) I think that's COVID test #4 for me, so far. The COVID situation around here is not looking too bad, currently, but we all know that probably won't last. Tulane's surveillance numbers have been consistently low with a 7-day average positive rate of 0.8% for the asymptomatic testing program. The city's rate is also low, around 1.2%, compared to the statewide rate of about 3.4%, which is practically the lowest it's been. I'm just hoping it wall all stay under control until after the Tour de La road race October 10th.

Saturday in the rain and wind

Saturday's Giro Ride was a washout, but later in the day I aired up the tires on the rain bike and got in 26 miles on the levee, only half of which was in the rain, but all of which was with a 17 mph ENE wind. It was slightly better than miserable. Slightly. I got home, dried and lubed the chain, pulled the insoles out of my shoes and put everything in front of the fan to hopefully dry out. Sunday was basically a repeat of Saturday, but with a little less actual rain while I was riding, which I wasn't able to do until around 1 pm. I'd intended to go at least out to the parish line like I had the day before, but then a bee got into my helmet and stung me on the forehead. It was still in the helmet when I stopped and pulled it off. It did not die a merciful death. At that point I kind of pulled the plug and turned around into the headwind to plod back home, thoroughly demoralized. Kind of like Primož Roglic must have felt halfway through Saturday's Tour de France time trial when he realized his GC lead was rapidly slipping away.

Anyway, to sum up the weekend, it sucked. To sum up Monday so far, it sucks too. I woke up to rain and just couldn't bring myself to go out once again into what the Weather Channel showed was 100% humidity, rain, and a 20 mph east wind. Besides, the way my forehead is currently swollen from the bee sting, just putting on a helmet is not going to be very comfortable. 

Can't Trust That Day

Sunday Giro heading back on Chef Highway

Monday, Monday. I was happy to see a significant shift in the hurricane model track late last night that moved soon-to-be Hurricane Sally farther to the east. If that sticks, and there's absolutely no guarantee of that, it would keep us on the drier side of the storm, at least. 

GT-6 Barn Find

There will still be a big storm surge, especially if it basically stalls and just sits there near the coast, which is kind of what it's looking like lately. Tulane is closing down at noon today and then all day tomorrow. Depending on how things look, they may be back up on Wednesday, but again, no guarantees.

Anyway, since it wasn't raining I went out this morning for a short recovery ride on the levee, despite the wind. I was probably down to 12 mph at times in order to keep the ride in the recovery zone, but that was fine. At least it wasn't hot. Along the way I noticed an old barn that someone had just started to renovate. There was a big pile of debris where they'd been throwing stuff out of the upper window, but next to that was a '72 or '73 Triumph GT-6 that looked like it was probably the same purple color as mine. You could see where they'd rolled it from somewhere else to where it was. Naturally, I had to ride down the levee to check it out. If I had a big garage and loads of time on my hands, that would make for a fine restoration project, or at least parts car. 

Monday Morning Track Guidance

So it will be interesting to see what the next 24 hours bring. Rain? Wind? Rain and wind? Northeast wind with no rain? Who knows? Locally, some folks are gearing up for the Natchez Classic rides next weekend and then Six Gap at the end of the month. I've pretty much decided to skip 6-Gap this year, and likely Natchez as well, just to minimize my exposure a bit. I logged over 330 miles last week and about 1,200 over the past four weeks, so I'm not going to be stressing out about having an easy week this week.

The Wind at the Back

 

Tagging along with the TUCA Thursday ride

Another week, another Giro, another hurricane. It was a pretty solid week of riding that included a couple of rides with some of the Tulane riders, and I have to admit it was a little difficult to roll out of bed this morning. I rode out to Starbucks just a few minutes later than usual, but only after checking the weather radar. There's a small disturbance in the Gulf that is pumping a lot of moisture our way, which usually means that the hourly forecast is not to be trusted too much. It looked like we'd make it, but also looked like we'd be seeing a lot of rain later in the day. 

Coffee ride group on the lakefront

As it has for the past few weeks, the turnout for the Giro was pretty big, and as we started out into a steady east wind I knew it would be a tough ride in the wind at the front, and a much easier one in the wind at the back. The thing about a headwind on a group ride is that it does two things. It slows down the ride, of course, since the riders at the front are doing a lot more work, but it also increases the draft at the back which makes it a little easier than usual for riders to stay in contact. Even so, we had a pretty good double paceline going on Chef, if only for a few miles, so I did take some pulls. I often wonder if the other riders, or more specifically the rider directly behind me, would prefer if I just stayed at the back since I don't provide much of a draft. Anyway, it was a good Giro except for when the Junior rider got caught in one of the concrete seams at the bottom of the Seabrook bridge on the way out and crashed. We turned back to check on him and he was OK and had someone with him, so we continued.

On Thursday I went out for a rare afternoon ride to meet up with the Tulane Thursday ride. It was a nice conversational pace and a good excuse to get our of the house for a while. Working from home, alone, does get tiresome sometimes. I met up with the again for the Friday coffee ride. We've been stopping at CC's on Esplanade since Pagoda has been closed.

Meanwhile, I finally submitted the event permit for the 49th annual Tour de Louisiane. We're doing just the road race this year since there are just so many complications and uncertainties, and also because it will be so late in the season. We could either have a very low turnout (especially if the weather is bad) on October 10, or we could have a very large turnout because riders are just kind of desperate for an actual bike race. Who knows? Anyway, the next day it was suggested that the race also serve as the LAMBRA Road Championship, so I guess it will be that as well. Much will depend on the weather, I think, which could be anything from spectacularly wonderful fall weather to, well, a hurricane. 

Saturday afternoon forecast. Here we go again.

Speaking of hurricanes, there's another one making a beeline for New Orleans. They just upgraded it to a tropical storm named Sally, and it is forecast to become a hurricane by Tuesday. I'm guessing we'll be looking at Category 2 by the time it make landfall. Great. Just what we need. Anyway, it's just entering the Gulf now, so the forecast track will likely change a few times between now and Wednesday morning. The larger issue is the intensity, the forecast for which has already been upgraded.

3-Day Weekend and The Tour (ours, not theirs)

Giro Rides were well-attended this weekend

There was a time that I vaguely remember when Labor Day weekend was an opportunity for a little mini-vacation. Perhaps a quick trip to Destin or a nearby campground. It was different this year on so many levels. Since early February I've pretty much been either in the house or on the bike. No restaurants for sure, just my pre-Giro cup of coffee at Starbucks - ordered online. Back when I drove up to Monticello for the Red Bluff century, which ended rather abruptly for me, I had put $100 in cash in my wallet. Now, seven months later, there are still four 20s in there. So, given the prevailing circumstances and my continuing reluctance to experiment with the vitality of my aging immune system, the long Labor Day weekend served up few options, two or which started with "Giro."

Saturday morning I stepped out the door and looked up at Venus and Mars and Orion in the still-dark sky and noted the perceptible cooler and drier air. It wasn't what you'd call Fall weather by any means, but it was probably the most comfortable relative humidity level we've seen in months. Basically how I imagine it is along the California coast almost every day, at least when the canyons aren't on fire. So the Saturday Giro turned out to be pretty routine one, I guess, except that I felt a little better than usual for some reason. Perhaps it was just because I'd put the carbon race wheels on the bike, or perhaps I was in just a bit better shape. Who knows? At any rate, it was also a Giro where I didn't have to stop to help someone with a flat. Back at home I watched the end of the Tour de France stage on NBC Sports Gold. The Tour seems a little more interesting this year than usual since it doesn't feel like one particular team has a stranglehold on every stage. 

On Sunday I headed back to the Giro, this time noticing a nice little east wind. Again, I was feeling pretty good and put in a few little efforts here and there. On the way back, going up the Casino overpass, a gap opened up somewhere ahead, and although I might have just let it go like I had the day before, I instead decided to go for it, along with a couple others. Somewhere between the top of the overpass and the airport we hit 40+ mph and closed the gap to some, if not all, of the escapees before the sprint up the Seabrook bridge a kilometer later. It was fun, but as I made my way back home I was starting to feel the effects of the back-to-back Giro Rides and was already contemplating my options for Sunday. I knew there would be a holiday Giro, and I figured three Giro Rides in a row might be a bit much after a 300 mile week and 1,100 mile month without a single day off. Still, I was looking for something more interesting than a little 25 mile recovery ride on the levee.

I decided to ride out to the Spillway, and from there take the unpaved Guide Levee five miles north to the lake, where there was a little boat launch and lakeshore park I'd never visited. The ride out to the Spillway was quite nice, no doubt due to a light tailwind and the remnants of that drier air we'd had over the weekend. Turning north onto the levee I dropped down to about 10 mph since it's "paved" with pretty big crushed rocks. The quality of the surface varied quite a bit, but it was fairly ride-able, even with my 23 mm tires. After crossing Airline highway I'd been expecting to have to deal with cars going back and forth to the boat launch, and was surprised to see none at all. Out at the north end where the levee crosses the railroad tracks and dives underneath I-10 I realized why. 

The park and boat launch had apparently been temporarily closed for quite some time. There was this huge bridge-building machine that I'd seen putting in miles of new concrete railroad bridge there, and I guess that's why everything had been closed. Naturally, I snuck through a little opening in the barricade, walked down the loose rock levee "road" past the abandoned boat launch, and continued down the heavily over grown dirt road to the abandoned park. It was rather pleasant out there, and I sat on one of the benches to eat the granola bar I'd brought along for the 60-mile round trip. The ride back along the Guide Levee was a little faster since by then I knew what to expect, but when I turned onto the river levee heading east I knew it was going to be a long ride home. It was. The combination of leftover fatigue from the weekend, the rising temperature, and steady headwind made the going pretty slow, and of course by then my always problematic neck was killing me, but on the plus side it did take me someplace I'd never been before, and that's almost always a plus.

Overgrown but serene

So we decided to put on the Tour de Louisiane as just the Road Race this year. It was a difficult decision but after going back and forth with the other conspirators I had the feeling that trying to pull off the full stage race was just not going to be feasible, given the time of year, expected participation, dearth of sponsorship, and all of the other complications and entanglements caused by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. I've got most if it put together already and just have to finish  up some details on the event announcement/website, set up the BikeReg site, get the USAC event permit, and get someone to get the OK from the police and the church. Hopefully we won't run into any unexpected problems there. I'm thinking that if we get a total of 60-80 riders, about half of what I'd normally expect for the stage race in June, we'll be OK if we can scrape up a couple thousand in sponsorship. I cut out one race, so we'll have a Cat. 1/2/3 race, a Cat. 4/5 race, a Masters race, a Women's race, and a Junior's race, with Women and Juniors starting together. I also cut one lap from the 1/2/3 race so they will be doing the same distance as the 4/5s and Masters, with the Women doing one lap less and the Juniors two laps less. That makes the Women's race a lap longer than usual and the 1/2/3 race a lap shorter than usual. I think the Women will still be caught/lapped by the 1/2/3s on the 16 mile circuit, but since I'm not expecting any 60-rider fields, it hopefully won't be a problem, especially if everyone is warned about the likelihood ahead of time. The prizelist has been cut down a lot, but we'll still go 8 deep with the same prizes for all of the larger groups and 3-deep bonuses for the 3s, 5s, 55+, and 4/5 Women. Should be interesting since we have only a month to get our act together.