Springtime

Sunday's Giro Ride starting back from Venetian Isles

Some warmer weather has crept over the south the last couple of days, just one of the clues that Spring is about here. The Azaleas are loaded with flower buds, the bike lights are barely getting used, and the river is rising as we approach the end of Standard Time this coming Sunday. Of course, that also means that next Sunday morning it will be dark again at 6:30 am. Win some, lose some. It was still a little chilly for last weekend's Giro Rides, at least by my standards, which means that some riders were perfectly comfortable in summer kit. By Wednesday morning, though, it was over 60° at dawn, and although I headed out for the WeMoRi wearing two jerseys and sunscreen arm-warmers, it was more for psychological than physiological reasons. The forecast isn't showing a low temperature below 60° for another week, after which we'll have lows in the mid to low 50s for another week. Nothing there I can really complain about.

Meanwhile, activity and traffic in general seems to have picked up considerably over the past couple of weeks. Texas and Mississippi threw COVID caution out their respective windows a few days ago, and indeed the state and city have both relaxed some restrictions. Although my numbers are relatively low compared to, say, January, they haven't been dropping significantly in a few days so I won't be too surprised if we see another hopefully small surge. Tulane has had two days this week with zero positive test results out of  over 3,000, so that's certainly a good sign. With all of the testing being done at the university, I look at it as if it's the canary in the mine. I've been seeing more and more cycling events being scheduled, so event directors are definitely feeling more confident. I still have to decide when to put on the Time Trial, hopefully in early May, while avoiding Mother's Day and a couple of events that aren't really big conflicts for TT riders. At any rate, everything is running about three months behind right now.

They're back!

Here on Neron Place, the road work stopped a couple of months ago, and we've just been waiting for the other shoe to fall, which it did this morning. As I write, they're punching holes in the asphalt along the street prior to what I assume will be replacement of the water line. A notice they slipped into the mailbox says they'll be finished in a week. Of course, that means more dirt and mud and noise and dust, and will no doubt leave us with an even worse dirt road pending whatever will constitute Phase 3. Might be time to start going back to the office on a regular basis.