Natchez

Although I'd not ridden a single mile over the Tour de La weekend, I felt like it still took me a few days to get back into the swing of things the following week. It was almost as if I'd been racing all weekend. By Wednesday, through, I'd pretty much decided I'd take a quick road trip up to Natchez on Saturday to ride the Natchez Bicycle Classic, which is a well-supported fun ride largely on the Natchez Trace. I felt like I needed a little change of scenery, and besides I wanted to support the ride which I think is largely organized by Curtis Moroney who was always one of the key organizers of the Natchez Classic back when it was an actual stage race. I'd originally planned to drive up at 4 am on Saturday but then at the last minute I went ahead and reserved a hotel room at the Hampton - the same hotel where we stayed many times back when it was a race. I have always been rather amazed at the amount of sponsorship cycling events seem to be able to raise in Natchez.

Down to just five somewhere on the way back

Just the week before I'd finally gotten the faulty wheel speed sensor fixed on the car, and had filled the windshield washer fluid and changed the headlights, so for the first time in about a month the dashboard was entirely free of warning icons. After an uneventful 3-hour drive listening to 60s music on Sirius XM I arrived just in time to swing by Smoot's to sign in and pick up my packet that surprisingly included a t-shirt, socks, and various other freebies, along with a wrist band that I suppose was to show that you had actually registered. It was already pretty loud inside Smoot's but they had some free food available so I picked up a few burrito things and sat outside to eat.

The front group near the start of the Trace

Saturday morning I was of course up at my usual time of 5:25, which was way early considering that the start was about half a mile from the hotel and wasn't until 8:00. On the plus side, the hotel breakfast opened at 6 am, so I went down to the lobby for my usual hotel breakfast of coffee and raisin bran. All hotels seem to have coffee and raisin bran. Of course they had the other usual things like waffles and scrambled eggs and sausage and pastries, none of which I really needed prior to a 60-something mile ride. So despite my best efforts I was probably one of the first people to arrive at the start along Broadway Street up on the bluff above the river and in the shade of the new-to-me Grand Hotel. Parking in the big parking lot a block away I looked over at the old train station and remembered when Candy and I officiated the first Natchez Classic Stage Race back in the early 80s. The last stage that year was a criterium that went down the bluff and back up. It was brutal. We were doing results on my Osborne computer with a program I'd written in CPM Basic and were set up in the old train station because there was electricity there. There was no generator or finish cameras or timing chips or music or anything back then, so finish placings and times were all done entirely by eye and turning out final stage race results took a good hour after the last race finished, and then there were the inevitable errors that had to be corrected before the final awards could be done. 

Waiting for the start with Brandon

Since I'd arrived so early and the temperature was still fairly cool I went for a short ride up the river along Cemetery Road. That brought back lots of memories of warm-up rides for the criterium and time trial. By the time I got back people were starting to filter in for the ride and I had a quick chat with Curtis and some of the other folks who organize the event. I think turnout was probably in the neighborhood of 125 or so, although it really should be more like 300. This event doesn't keep track of finishers or finish times or anything so you never pin on a number or timing chip or anything.

Shortly before 8 am I lined up near the front with TJ, Brandon W, Frank Moak and a number of other riders I recognized. Behind us it was a sea of Primal Wear jerseys. Frank was riding a vintage Eddy Merckx that he'd recently built up with 1980s stuff - mostly Campi. I was hoping that the pace wouldn't get too crazy but on the other hand wanted to stay with the front group, whatever that turned out to be. 

Frank on his retro Eddy Merckx

There was a neutral start behind a police car until just before we turned onto the Trace, and I was happy to find that the speed didn't go ballistic at that point. Pretty soon the front part of the group formed up into a nice long paceline with the speed fluctuating between 22 and 30 depending on the terrain. The scenery was quite nice along the well-manicured Trace with the road lined with wildflowers. As usual for this kind of ride I was a little worried about being in a paceline with so many "unknown" riders, some of whom were on triathlon bikes. Near Emerald Mound we turned off onto 553 which isn't graded like the Trace but is just nice low rolling hills. I moved a little closer to the front along there, sensing that the pace might get a little more challenging, and wanting to get more into the rotation at the front. I suppose we starting to lose a few people along there. Eventually we came back to the Trace near where the finish sprint had been the first time I did the race. I was having flashbacks of the sprint up the hill just past the loop where Rich Raspet and I sprinted it out. I think that was the last year the race used part of the Trace. 

TJ took a few photos - this is the neutral segment between the river and the Trace.

Anyway, once we were back on the Trace we continued about seven miles to the turn-around at a little parking area. By then the number of people near the front of the group had started to dwindle so it was more like a six or seven person paceline. At one point after the turnaround there is a nice long climb that's close to two miles long but only maybe 3-4% mostly. Frank just motored that whole way at a steady pace and the next time I looked around we were down to just 5 or 6 riders. Not too much later it was just TJ, Frank, Brandon, and me, which is how it stayed. After exiting the trace we were back on unprotected city streets so the last few miles were just conversational. Coming into time I was again getting flashbacks of Natchez Classic road race finishes and all of the many road race and criterium sprints I'd done over the years on Main Street. You never forget that stuff!

Another TJ photo somewhere near the end of the Trace I think.

I showed a ride time of 2:41 for just under 63 miles. By then it was getting pretty warm but the ride had been so nice and steady that I wasn't feeling very tired at all. Coke was one of the event sponsors which meant there were tons of ice cold liquids of all types of Coke brands, which was great because I was definitely a little dehydrated. There was a beer truck too, of course, although that's usually about the last thing I want to drink after a summer ride. Across the street they had a nice lunch setup, so I sat around in the shade chatting and eating for a while before finally rolling down the street to put the bike in the car and head back home. I was probably home by 3 pm even with the inevitable and unexplainable traffic delay on the elevated interstate between Laplace and Kenner. So it was a really nice ride that I though was well worth the drive.

Sunday morning I went out for the regular Sunday Giro Ride. With the Seabrook bridge still closed for repairs we took Franklin to Chef, went over the bridge there, and then took Almonaster to Michoud back to Chef. The pace going out was pretty fast once we came down onto Almonsaster and didn't really let up all the way to Venetian Isles. After that, though, I think the heat was starting to get people and the ride back was considerably slower. It definitely felt like a classic summertime Giro where I arrive back home with empty water bottles and soaking wet clothes. Just like I like it.