Not Riding Rouge Week

Sunday Giro rolls out along Lakeshore Drive

I have to admit, not registering for Rouge Roubaix this year, the first time it was run in Gran Fondo format (no officials, categories, etc.) was kind of hard since so many people I know were doing it. Despite my right brain's desire to go with the crowd, however, my more rational left brain knew better. With additional miles and additional gravel sectors bringing the "long" ride out to 127 miles I knew for certain that even under the best of circumstances I'd probably need narcotics to ride the last 45 miles. Given the rather steep entry fee, I'd likely also need narcotics to actually register. I could add to my list of excuses my lack of a suitable bike capable of using tires wider than 25mm. On the plus side, I had a nice week of riding without the attendant stress such an impending race - I mean fondo - would undoubtedly entail.

Wednesday morning just before being swept up by the WeMoRi group

So the day after Mardi Gras I went out to the 6 am WeMoRi that had a reasonable number of riders, jumping in as usual on Lakeshore Drive around Marconi. Just before being swept up by the group I took a quick photo over my shoulder of the not-quite sunrise. Other than one of the riders turning right in front of an oncoming car at Marconi and Toussaint (aka RE Lee) it was a fairly moderate WeMo, I thought - not surprising for the day after Mardi Gras, however.

Skeleton crew on the levee Thursday

Thursday morning's levee ride had a small contingent this week. Charles is in isolation after testing positive for COVID, Dan is out of town on business, and Rich is out of town on fun. For the full ride we ended up with just Pat, Howard, and me. Even at a slightly slower pace than usual, having just three riders means a lot more time at the front, so it was a pretty good workout. It's nice to have a lot of light in the sky for most of the ride right now, and I really just need the headlight for maybe 30 minutes. Of course, that will all change a week from now after the change to DST plunges us back into an hour of darkness in the morning.

As has now become routine, I went out Friday morning for the Friendly Friday ride, which is virtually identical to the Mellow Monday ride, out of City Park. They are not always so Friendly or Mellow in terms of speed, but this one was pretty civilized. It has been pretty busy at work lately and so I like getting home from these little 6 am rides early enough to relax a bit with a cup of coffee before heading off to work.

Friday morning along Filmore

Saturday was Rouge Roubaix day and I wondered what the Giro Ride turnout would look like. I needn't have worried, however, as it was surprisingly well attended. It also seemed surprisingly hard. That was probably attributable to the steady southerly crosswind. Just after the Goodyear Sign sprint on Chef Menteur we saw a group of riders off on the shoulder, one of whom was sitting down. That is never a good sign, and once I realized that they were just past the infamous "Subway" bump I knew exactly what had happened. There's this smooth buckle in the asphalt there that's been there for a couple of years now and has caused at least four crashes. It sticks out about 18 inches from the right edge of the road, and is remarkably easy to miss, especially if you are behind a few people. Jeff, aka "Subway" has crashed on it twice. Someone had gone out there and spray painted it, which lasted for a while, but with so much traffic that paint has been worn off for about a year now. Anyway, this time the victim was Kerry K and the outcome was a broken collarbone. The group stopped for a while but as I was bringing Kerry her ejected water bottle most of them took off. I jumped back on the road and started to chase down the interstate on-ramp, but even at 30 mph it was clear I wasn't making any progress. Up ahead I could see someone, probably Matt, on a TT bike at the front. Behind were a few other riders who, like me, had been caught by surprise, so I eased up and we regrouped for the rest of the ride. I had earlier been considering doing some extra miles, but by the time I got back to Lakeshore Drive I'd taken that right off the table.

Saturday night I finally broke down and re-cabled the Bianchi. I had to install a new chain anyway, which is relatively easy, but running new cables on a small bike with internal cable routing is always kind of a pain. There's practically no way to get the cable routing at the handlebars quite right on a small frame because there is really not enough cable anywhere to allow for the flexibility that is needed. As a result, cables always end up rubbing on each other, and the handlebar, and the computer mount. Anyway, I got it done eventually and only had to re-run one cable when I discovered I'd gone over instead of under one of the guides coming off of the left shifter.

Sunday was another Giro Ride with pretty much the same attendance as Saturday's. Although it was again windy, the wind direction was more from the east than south. Lured by the ample tailwind I decided to add an out and back to "The Wall" at the end of the Lake Trail after the Giro. As nice and relaxing as the ride out there was, the ride back was right into the wind. By then I'd burned off those four packets of sugar from my morning coffee and was starting to run a little low on calories, so it was a long slow slog back home where I logged a bit over 80 miles for the day. I was then arm-twisted into going for a long walk around Carrollton, and later for a walk over to Panola Street Café for a badly needed late lunch.

The weather forecast for this week is not looking too great. We got a few drops of rain this morning out by the lake, and looking out the window at the office I see a gray sky and wet streets. The chance of rain is kind of high all week, and then a cold front comes through ahead of the weekend. Fortunately, Saturday and Sunday currently look to be dry, although fairly cool. Friday and Saturday should be pretty windy as well. So it will be one of those weekends where I'll have to play it by ear and get in riding when I can.