Weather Worries

It is getting to be that time of year when the weather complicates everything, and most of the images on Strava go from pacelines and sunrises to animated landscapes with questionable Watts/kg numbers. After a fairly routine week of moderate weather that saw a surprisingly large turnout for Friendly Friday, the forecasters left little good news in their upcoming weekend prognostications. A cold front started crawling through Saturday morning with the rain perfectly timed for the start of the Giro Ride, which for all practical purposes did not happen. I waited until around 8:30 when the rain had mostly stopped and headed out to the levee on wet streets, riding the old Orbea for a change. It was overcast and windy and supposed to become even more windy, but I thought I could get in a ride out to the Spillway and back before the colder air moved in. So I dressed a little on the heavy side with knee and arm-warmers and thick base layer, sticking a PayDay bar and my chest protector in my pocket just in case. The wind was already mostly out of the north, so much of the 50+ miles would be crosswind. On the other hand, I was not feeling any need to push myself. November and December have always been more about volume than intensity, at least for me. I was just a couple of miles from the Spillway when the sky got a little darker and the wind a little stronger, and by the time I'd started back a heavy wet mist was starting to fall. I stopped for a moment and stuck the wind barrier inside my jersey, silently congratulating myself for having brought it along. Every now and then a bend in the river would grant me a brief reprieve from the steadily increasing crosswind and my speed would go from 17 to 22 mph even with the meager effort level I was willing to supply. I got home quite wet, despite never having been really rained upon, and quite chilled, despite the low-60s temperature. Still, I was happy to have gotten in some quiet miles on such a dreary day. I was about half-way back when I came up on a cycle tourist towing a trailer at about 8 mph. I stopped and chatted with him for a little while and found that he was on his way from somewhere in Arizona to Key West Florida, having already taken a few side-trips along the way. He soon turned off of the bike path to find the Jefferson Parish Library near Clearview Parkway. I didn't get to ask him why he would be going there.

So by Sunday morning the temperature was in the low 40s and there was a north wind blowing at around 12 mph with gusts well into the 20s, but not real chance of rain. I dug out the long tights and long-sleeve jersey and wool socks and headed to the Starbucks to see what kind of turnout, if any, there would be for the Giro. Although the temperature was entirely manageable, the gusty wind was another matter altogether. We had maybe a dozen riders on hand at the start, but it was tough going along Hayne where just two or three were willing to put their faces into the wind. We were struggling to maintain 17-18 mph, and the advertised north wind seemed actually to be much more out of the east. Near the end of Hayne the front of the group made an executive decision and we all made a U-turn. That immediately precipitated a return trip during which the speed stayed around 31 mph until we got to the overpass. After that we did a fairly easy lap around City Park where it wasn't quite so windy. I ended up riding all the way down Esplanade with Charles and Dan before returning for another lap around the park before heading home to a nice bowl of hot soup.

This morning the temperature was still in the low 40s and the wind was still strong. I got to City Park for the Mellow Monday ride about a minute and a half late. As I turned into the park from Wisner I could see the tail lights of the group just disappearing off toward the Children's museum. Fortunately they weren't going too fast yet and I caught up to them just after turning onto Marconi. Even so, the combined effects of wind, cold, and layered clothing really take a toll on one's speed. As it had been on Sunday, the speed heading east into the wind stayed pretty low, but I knew that as soon as we went around the Armory loop and started back to the west it would pick up dramatically, which of course it did, and the 16 mph quickly ramped up to 27-30 mph. It's looking like morning temperatures will stay in the mid-upper 40s all week with highs in the upper 50s. I'm thinking about the cyclocross races in Ridgeland this coming weekend and wondering if I am really up to making the trip since the morning temperatures Saturday and Sunday will be just below freezing and the highs barely out of the 40s. I'll have to think about that.