A Few Good Rides

Last week was a mixed bag. My usual Tuesday levee ride got pre-empted by an 8 am meeting downtown, so riding-wise that was a lost day. Wednesday morning the temperature was well into the 60s with a pretty good east or maybe southeast wind. I rode out to the lakefront as usual and cruised down Lakeshore Drive glancing over my shoulder in search of the telltale cluster of WeMoRi headlights. Soon after turning onto Marconi Rob and Jaden flew past me so fast that I didn't even consider trying to latch on to them. The group came up on me as we made the turn onto Toussant and I easily tucked myself into the draft. They weren't going all that fast, maybe 24 mph, so my physiology soon recovered from my abrupt increase in effort and I gradually moved up a little closer to the front. I could see a flashing tail light way, way in the distance that must have been Jaden and Rob. I guess Rob headed home after City Park Blvd. as he often does, and so Jaden came back to the group on Marconi as half of the group ran the red light at Harrison right in front of a police car that didn't have its lights (any of them) on. Being New Orleans everyone just took that in stride and continued on. I think Jaden peeled off a little later to head home. There was a surge after the Elysian Fields traffic circle, a re-grouping, and then as usual a full-gas mile at 29-32 mph from the bridge to the "finish" at Marconi. It was fun.

The forecast for Thursday had been calling for rain, and indeed it had rained a lot overnight, but by morning the rain had ended, leaving the roads just a bit damp. It was enough to keep everyone but me from showing up at the levee, where the road was nearly dry. Once again I did a shortened ride out to the Dip and back, and as usual it was at an inadvisably low intensity level. Then on Friday, with the temperature at almost 60°F, we had a pretty big group for the Friendly Friday ride that turned out to be considerably more fast than friendly, thanks in no small part to a brisk north wind.

By Saturday morning the temperature was in the low-mid 50s with a not inconsequential north wind, and I guess that, combined with the first of the big Mardi Gras day parades, or perhaps the phase of the moon, resulted in a remarkably small group of about a dozen for the Giro Ride. That turned out to be a pretty nice Giro with a few short fast segments and, at least for me, a bit more intensity than normal because of the smaller group and resulting increased time in the wind.

For Sunday I'd planned a 77-mile route on the northshore, and considering that the morning temperature up there was going to be in the 40s, still with some north wind, I wasn't real sure how many would be showing up. The area around the Abita Springs gazebo where we usually park was barricaded off because they had postponed their Saturday parade until Sunday, so we were parked along the Tammany Trace rather than along the school fence. Surprisingly there were about a dozen on hand for this ride, including Jorge, Keith D, John E, Apryl, Charles, Evan, Chuck, Brandon, Doug, and Reggie T. The sky was clear, so thanks to the abundant sunshine I found myself somewhat over-dressed pretty quickly, but otherwise it was a great ride. The pace was a bit faster than the prior weekend's century, but never got out of hand. One or two turned back early but otherwise everyone stayed together until we turned onto Old Military where the combination of the accumulated miles and a couple of little surges took a couple of riders off the back. A few of us waited at the end of Old Military for those since you really don't want to be riding down Highway 21 alone at that time of the day, even on the shoulder. I neglected to take any photos, unfortunately. I just had my phone, and taking photos with a phone while wearing gloves is really a little difficult and risky despite the Cat Tongue gripper stuff I have stuck to the back. 

Monday's Mellow Monday ride had, for reasons I can't imagine, only Charles, Dan, and I. We made that one into a true mellow Monday ride. The only intensity I had was when I had to chase them down after arriving about a minute late. Tuesday's levee ride had a pretty typical turnout and with a southeast breeze we were rolling pretty well all the way out to Ormond. The return trip was a bit slower, of course, and the wind direction had us switching sides a couple of times as the bends in the river changed, but other than feeling a little harder than usual it was a good ride. Rouge Roubaix is looming in the near distance now, although the chances of me impulsively signing up for it are kind of low. With the additional gravel sections and high entry fee the risk of broken bones kind of outweighs the benefits for me. There will be over 100 for the fondo-style start, so the first twenty miles or so will probably be chaos as the stronger riders try to shed the weaker and sketchier ones quickly, and those in-between with strong legs but perhaps questionable skills push themselves too hard trying to stay with the front group.