It's winter now, and you know what that means. Yes. Rapidly accumulating bike laundry. I filled the washer on Friday with lycra and by Sunday afternoon I was almost ready to do it all over again. Layers are great, but man, that stuff piles up. I don't know about you, but most of my favorite base layers and long-sleeve jerseys get worn at least twice between washes, even if they smell a bit, which they do.
So it was kind of a difficult riding week. I took Monday off, which was my first off day in about a month. Mother Nature subsequently punished me for the rest of the week. Tuesday's levee ride was OK, I guess, but somehow felt harder than it should have. Later that day I rode over to Tulane for another COVID test that was thankfully negative. I'm volunteering at the Arrival Center, aka the Hyatt, on Monday and Tuesday afternoons to help with the returning students who are all getting tested before being able to move into their dorm rooms. Meanwhile, Candy got her name on a list to get a COVID vaccine on Monday since she's 70 but has not heard back from them. No big surprise there, I guess. She also tested negative a couple of days ago.
The rest of the week kind of went downhill weather-wise. I rode out to the WeMoRi on Wednesday hoping to get in a little intensity, but hit one of the big holes on Marconi and pinch-flatted. It was kind of my own fault. I knew my tires were low, but was in a rush and didn't bother to pump them up. Luckily the rim didn't suffer any damage. Then Thursday morning arrived right after a cold front had moved through. The streets were still a bit wet, and when I arrived at the levee I was alone. I did a shorter than normal ride battling a 10 mph wind the whole way. Friday was another solo ride, this time with the temperature in the 40s and a 13 mph wind. Since I'd turned around kind of early I decided to ride to the Audubon Park end of the bike path on the way home, where of course I had a flat.
Saturday was the start of our Northshore Winter Ride Series. I had actually considered cancelling it because the forecast was calling for a starting temperature in the low 30s and I was afraid nobody would show up, but by Friday a few people seemed committed. We started with about a dozen riders for the planned 70 mile ride, and although the temperature was around 34° at least the sun was out and the wind was down to a more manageable 7 mph or so, but I was still pretty cold riding into that north wind for the first hour or so. Eventually we lost a few riders and the temperature warmed up, so it turned out to be a pretty nice ride. As we were coming back from Enon and riding across the long Bogue Chitto bridge we suddenly encountered a spilled load of recycling stuff (cans, plastic, etc.) strewn all across the road. With a truck approaching from behind, most of us just rode right through it, with the unsurprising result that Charles found a piece of broken beer bottle an flatted. Anyway, despite the cold and the wind, Saturday's ride was kind of the highlight of the week for me.
This morning it was still in the low 40s. I normally ride out the the start, which is the Starbucks on Harrison Avenue, for 6:30 to have a cup of coffee beforehand, but since COVID they don't have any seating inside the store. With a starting temperature of 40° and an overcast sky, plus a significant wind, I decided to skip my coffee and get there later so I wouldn't be sitting around outside freezing as long. The weather was dismal enough that there were only a handful of riders there. I guess we had about a dozen. I was maybe a bit under-dressed, my legs were a little sore, and basically I was miserable from the start. I hung onto the back of the little paceline for most of the ride and got back home tired, cold and exhausted.
It was one of those days.
The sewer line replacement on my street is progressing, which is to say that the entire block is basically a dirt road with a big hole in the middle right now, and I'm guessing it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
This weekend we took down the Christmas decorations and put up the Mardi Gras decorations. It won't be much of a Mardi Gras this year, of course. Parades have all been cancelled and I doubt we will see much impact from the vaccines by then. Tomorrow morning is looking like cold rain right now - 44°, raining, with a 13-15 mph wind. Morning temperatures ranging from 41 to 50 for the rest of the week, so basically it's just going to be cold by my standards.
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