Hot August Weekend

Spillway road still a little rough

The heat and humidity were back with a vengeance last week and we are kind of stuck for a while in our typical summer cycle where the morning starts off at 80-82°F and then the big cumulus clouds start building up by 10:00. By afternoon there are some dark clouds around and the occasional rumble of thunder, and it's just a roll of the dice whether you'll happen to be underneath a torrential downpour or miss the rain completely half a mile away. I'm looking out the window here on Poydras Street right now and there are a few raindrops streaking down the window as I watch the new Caesar's signage being installed on the Superdome. Somehow it seems like having the title sponsor going from Mercedes Benz to Caesar's is kind of a step down.

Anyway, with Candy's hip progressing nicely we drove Danielle over to the airport Saturday morning, which of course meant I missed the Saturday Giro. So I headed out around 10:30 for a solo ride out to the Spillway which is around 50 miles round-trip. Riding solo, of course, always seems so much harder than riding with a group, even though my speed is at least 5 mph slower. Between the rapidly increasing temperature and the drudgery of the solo ride on the levee, it felt more like 80 miles. Granted, the total effort level for what turned out to be around 55 miles alone was actually significantly higher than a typical Giro of sitting in the draft, even if there were no high-intensity bits. I saw Steve heading the other way, so I guess we were both in the same situation. 

Out at the spillway I rode down to the spillway road to see how the repairs were coming. Some sections were washed out the last time(s) the spillway was opened, so it's been a couple of years since it was open. I navigated a couple of sections where the old roadbed had been cut out and looked about ready to be re-paved, but looking up the road I could see some heavy equipment at work and a big pile of dirt, so I decided to turn around rather than get in the middle of that. The ride back was good enough, and I added a lap around Audubon Park in the shade of the oak trees as a cool-down. Despite my best efforts, though, I was pretty dehydrated by the time I rolled up to the house and I needed the better part of the day to feel semi-recovered. Sunday's Giro Ride was also a study in hydration. For both rides I wore the new NOBC kit. I'd gotten one of the nicer jerseys and one of the regular ones. The nicer one is indeed nice. It fits well and the fabric is super-thin and cool. It's also fairly see-though, but who cares about that when it's 95 degrees outside?

Last week and all through the weekend I was checking the results of the USAC Masters Nationals over in Arizona. Everything started at about 5,000 feet, so I didn't feel too terrible about not being there, not that I would have been able to go anyway with everything going on. It was nice to see some of the people I know winning championships, though. Peter Reed was 4th in his age 45-49 TT age group and Michael Olheiser won his 45-59 Time Trial, with a 40km time of 51:06!  In my own age group, now 65-69, it's amazing how many names I recognize. I've raced with a lot of those guys over the past 45 years or so. Debbie Milne won her 50-54 criterium as well. Meanwhile Tom Bain won his 65-69 road race and was pretty close in the Crit as well. It was great that USAC was even able to pull off the event, considering the COVID situation. 

Meanwhile out in the Atlantic hurricane season is approaching - from the east as usual. There's a storm right now that is likely to be a tropical depression soon. The current track has it turning northward before it would be a problem here, but that's still a pretty long-range forecast and changes with each model run. At least nobody seems to be expecting it to blow up into a big hurricane, though.