Warm Winter Weekend

How a group should look out on the road.

The weather in January down here in New Orleans can make some dramatic swings, and last weekend it swung itself way over to the warm side. I wasn't complaining, even though a sudden bout of warmer southern air always brings with it a bit of unwelcome fog and mist. As I started the drive across Lake Pontchartrain Saturday morning with the windshield wipers periodically sweeping across the wide greyscale view of sky and water, I wondered if I might be the only one to show up for the 3rd northshore ride of our Winter Ride Series. Would the relatively warm upper 50s temperature serve as sufficient offset to the damp streets and overcast sky?  I needn't have worried. By the time I was approaching the north shore of the lake the streets were dry and the mist all but gone. I knew a few people had already said they'd be going, so I felt confident we'd have at least six or seven. That turned out to be a rather dramatic underestimate. As I turned onto the gravel entrance road of the Lee Road recreation area, aka the Lee Road ballpark, I was shocked to see how many cars were already there. More than a couple of southshore riders had correctly guessed that the conditions north of the lake would be better than those south.

Tulane riders at the store stop in Pine

By the 8:30 am start there were at least 25 riders anxiously awaiting the roll-out for our planned 66-mile ride up to Pine and State Line. Looking around I commented to someone, "This ride could get out of hand." It kinda did. Out on the narrow shoulderless country roads even a double line of riders is a little risky, and although it may look to the riders themselves like a nice neat double paceline, to the cars and trucks behind, and me, it looks more like a herd of riders spread all across the right lane. Although traffic was reasonably light, those of us stationed near the back felt the need to make some rather stern recommendations to some of those farther up in the group when they'd start bunching up, riding in the oncoming traffic lane, and generally surging on the downhills and then crawling up the uphills. Actually, it was best when a few riders at the front would put the hammer down and string the group out into a very long single line. Anyway, much of the ride felt like a Cat. 5 race simulation, at least from the back where I spent most of my time, worried about keeping track of anyone who might come off the back far from home. On the plus side, we lost very few riders during the ride. There were a number of Tulane Cycling riders, all of whom rode quite well. For me, aside from the somewhat inconsistent pace, the ride felt great, and I felt like I got just enough intensity sprinkled into an otherwise upper Zone 2 ride. I'm sure it would have felt otherwise had I spent any significant time at the front. I think maybe we need to have a class on "how to not get killed riding on country roads" soon. You know that about every third car that passes the group is being driven by someone related to the Sheriff, who will most definitely get an earfull about those bikers clogging up the road. In this case, some of it would definitely be justified.

Sunday Giro actually stopped for a red light. Amazing!

So on Sunday I ventured out to the regular Sunday Giro Ride. It was warm enough for just shorts and jersey, but considering the rather thick fog I decided at the last minute to add knee-warmers and a base layer under my jersey. I did not regret that decision. This Giro, as often happens this time of year, was relatively sedate. A steady east wind kept the speed down on the way out, affording ample draft for everyone else, which kept pretty much everyone with the group. I was pleased to find that Saturday's ride in what we call hills around here didn't do any discernable damage, although I was feeling content to glide along near the back as I had the prior day. 

After making the turn from Lake Forest onto Bullard on the way back, Phil flatted. He was near the back of the group with me at the time, so most of the group continued merrily on its way while three of four of us stopped to help. You hate to leave someone alone to fix a flat since, sometimes, there are complications - a bad inflator, a bad tube, a stem too short for the rim, a slice needing a boot - you never know. Phil had an odd puncture near the stem, and on the side of the tube, suggesting maybe that the tube had been pinched by the bead when it was installed (he was on a practically brand new BMC bike). Anyway, we got it fixed and had a nice smooth ride back in.

Wind turbine blades ready to go, I assume

This morning the temperature was in the mid-60s and despite some fog along the river I went out in just shorts and jersey for the first time in a long time for an easy recovery spin, not that I really had anything from which to recover. The bike path was fairly quiet, and I stopped to take a couple of photos with my phone of some huge wind turbine blades on a barge and a bald eagle. Looks like the warm weather will continue for a few more days, but will be accompanied by rain. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are not looking good.