Too Long in the Rain

Mellow Monday

It seems we are stuck in a classic south Louisiana winter weather pattern lately. You  know, the one where cold fronts stall out more or less on top of us, it rains, gets warmer and foggier for three days, and then another front comes through and pushes it out. Then the temperature drops and it gets super windy for two or three days, and then another front stalls out on top of us. Rinse, repeat, rinse. Some years are better than others, and so far this hasn't been one of those better ones.

Last Monday it was a little chilly, like in the mid-upper 40s, but otherwise not bad, and unexpected coincidences resulted in a pretty good turnout for this time of year. We had a couple of Tulane riders, since the Spring semester had finally started, and Apryl was in town from Mississippi, and a few other riders showed up who are often questionable. Things went smoothly until we made the loop at the Armory and picked up a tailwind, at which point the speed ramped up to the upper 20s as riders started getting shelled off the back. Eventually everyone regrouped at Marconi, though, so it was fine. The weather forecast for the rest of the week was not looking very promising, however.

Tuesday was just nothing but flat tires.

Tuesday morning it was even warmer, but overnight rain had left the streets quite wet. Apryl and her friend Regan (who had an inoperable rear derailleur stuck in the 11), and a bunch of the regulars made for another nice-sized group. Looking at how wet the levee bike path was, I was just waiting for the first flat tire. I didn't have to wait very long, either. Bo flatted first, but told us to go ahead, then just a mile or two later Regan flatted. Then, just another mile or two later Regan flatted again. By then we'd already lost a good fifteen or twenty minutes, so we turned around at the Big Dip. We all made it back to the start without any more flats, but after arriving  home I found out that Regan had flatted again, and I think Charles had also had a puncture. By then, the three of them were fresh out of CO2, so Charles rode to his house to retrieve a tube and more CO2. Aside from those flats, there were reports of numerous other flats that morning from other local riders. Somehow, my own Michelin tires that had come off of my race wheels survived, although I did have to pluck out a sharp shard later that evening that would have eventually added my name to the list.

Wednesday on the rain bike

Wednesday morning the streets were again super-wet from overnight rain, and there were all sorts of dire warnings of impending storms and flooding clogging up my message app. Looking at the radar, though, it didn't look like it would rain for a while. There was a huge front off to the west with lots of heavy rain, but it seemed to be just streaming toward the northeast and barely moving from west to east. I decided to go out on the old rain bike, heavily over-dressed, to just tap out a few miles without worrying about flats. It was fairly warm, and with the bike's full fenders I at least stayed more or less dry. As it turned out, there was, unsurprisingly, no WeMoRi group out at the lakefront, which was probably a good thing because part of Lakeshore Drive was flooded anyway. On the down side, it was yet another day of minimal intensity, even though pushing the old Pennine with its fenders and heavy tires and Mr. Tuffys and antique Concor saddle into the east wind did seem to provide a bit of a workout even at 16 mph.

Finally lumbering through on Wednesday.

So that brings us to this morning, Thursday. It had again rained overnight, but the really bad weather was still temporarily stalled off to the west. It was practically 70°F, though, so the prospect of wheel spray didn't seem quite so bad, leading me to roll the dice on flats and ride the Bianchi out to the levee. The problem this morning wasn't the temperature or the wet streets, it was the fog. With the warm humid south wind blowing across the freezing cold Mississippi River, much of the bike path was shrouded in a dense fog. I headed out with just Charles, and it was clear we wouldn't be getting much of a workout because going more than about 15 mph was rather terrifying in the dark in the places where the fog was thickest. A couple of times I hit the brakes because I hadn't seen a curve in time, and when we approached the little bridge over some pipes we both hit the brakes because at first it looked like we were about to run right into a wall. As the sky got lighter, though, our confidence improved, but we turned around at the Big Dip since our average speed had probably been in the 14 mph range. As we headed back we picked up Rich who had planned on riding indoors until his Wahoo trainer blew up or something and he resorted to the levee. It was another nice enough ride, but another super low-intensity one. 

The upriver gate near the bathroom

The weather is really messing with my training lately. It looks like this pattern will continue, too. On the plus side, I am not seeing any low temperatures below 42° for the next ten days, and a lot of mornings with lows above 50°. To make matters worse, we are just waiting for the bike path to be shut down at the Jefferson/St. James parish line for levee work that is going to take at least a year. Perhaps we'll do two laps of the shortened route, or just go out to the lakefront. Getting around the closure via River Road seems like it will be kind of sketchy and I don't think we will be up for that except perhaps on weekends when traffic is lighter.

Low Temperature, High Wind Winter Week

Three-fifths of the Sunday Giro. Would have been a great day without the wind.

The winter vortex dipped down into the south this week with unsurprising results. Monday was MLK day, which provided the questionably nice opportunity for a third Giro Ride in a row. It was kind of a typical holiday Giro, which is to say it wasn't particularly fast, and at least it wasn't too cold. Of course to me, 50°F always feels plenty cold enough, and you can bet my knees will be covered if it's below 60°, but there are always others for whom 50° doesn't seem to require much more than summer kit. The hourly forecast for Monday was calling for a dramatic temperature drop later in the day, and a Tuesday morning temperature in the high 20s. I'd love to post a bunch of photos, but operating a phone camera while wearing two layers of gloves is just not worth it.

Late Monday night I dusted off the old wind trainer that I hadn't used in about two years. I mean, you have to draw the line somewhere, and a morning temperature in the 20s fits that criterion for me. Tuesday morning I managed 55 minutes on the trainer at a average speed, which doesn't really mean anything, of like 13 mph. It was something, I guess. It was cold enough on Tuesday that I decided to make it a WFH day, like pretty much everybody else. Wednesday morning wasn't much better, though. The temperature was again in the 20s, accompanied by a stiff north wind. I went out anyway, knowing full well that the WeMoRi was unlikely to happen. Charles had said he was going to ride but would meet whoever might be out there at the same place I usually do. We met up along Wisner, and got to the end of Marconi at the lake a few minutes later than the WeMoRi usually arrives there. Looking east, there was no sign of headlights, so we figured everyone else had bailed and decided to just do half a lap around the park and then go home before any of our sensitive extremities succumbed to frostbite. As we found out later, thanks to Strava, Little Joe and MJ had indeed set out on the WeMoRi route earlier that morning, but Joe had flatted at Elysian Fields, so they were significantly delayed. I don't even know how they managed to change a flat with frozen hands, but they did, and actually rode the full route without ever seeing us, or vice-versa.

Friendly Friday a week ago - before the freeze

By Thursday the cold had moved away a bit, leaving us one morning with the temperature in the 40s. Fortunately, a few people showed up for the levee ride that morning, so we had a good ride out to Ormond and back. Later that day we learned that the construction crew had put up fencing from River Road up to the levee top between the bathroom at LaRose and the Jefferson Parish line. 

This was in preparation for a levee raise project there that will tear up the bike path there for at least a year. We're hoping there might be a way to circumvent the closure, but I don't think we'll know until it happens. It looks like it might be another week or two before they close it off. Coming home from work I got caught in a rain shower and was pretty well soaked. Glad I had my Assos rain jacket on. Friendly Friday the next morning had a low turnout of five or six thanks to the winter wind, and although it wasn't freezing cold, yet, it felt harder than I would have liked.

So that brings us to Saturday. The temperature was hovering around 0°C when I went out into an absolutely brutal north wind. I was wearing three or four layers of high-tech winter gear, but I very nearly turned back within the first mile. I arrived at Starbucks a little later than usual, but still with enough time for a cup of coffee. By the time 7 am rolled around there were just three others there. It was also the day of a gravel ride/race up in Hattiesburg that drew away a few riders who I guess wanted to pay money to ride where it was even colder and the roads weren't paved. The ride was about as miserable as you'd expect, given the wind that was probably averaging 12 mph with gusts up to 25 or so. We ended up turning onto the service road along the interstate and looping back, which made for a short 37 mile ride. Although the temperature was pretty low and I was fairly cold by the time I got home, the real story was the wind rather than the temperature. 

It was still better than being on the trainer.

That's a winter morning sky for sure.

Unfortunately, the weather on Sunday was a carbon copy of that on Saturday. So was the turnout! The temperature was again right at freezing, and the wind was again right at ridiculous. We ended up with five people, so we did the same shortened route as Saturday, but ended up adding a lap or so around the park before heading home. At the moment it looks like we'll have at least a week or more without any more freezing temperatures, so at least there's that. Hopefully I'll feel better on the rides once it warms up a little. I never did set up a northshore winter ride schedule this year. With this year's early Mardi Gras, and the unusually cold temperature, I guess I'll just play it by ear this time.

Meanwhile, there are a few races showing up on the calendar for March and April. Entry fees, however, are getting kind of ridiculous. Rouge-Roubaix is $150 for a fondo-style event with no or minimal course control or other support or prizes. I was looking at La Primavera over in Texas and those entry fees are like $50 and $60 for each day of the 3-day event. There's another gravel race in Mississippi in a couple of weeks. Those are $75. I'd like to do a gravel race, but most definitely not in the freezing cold and/or mud. The Auburn collegiate race weekend is February 24-25, so I may be going there if we have a couple of Tulane riders who want to do it. The Mobile races are scheduled for March 2 and 3, and the entry fees and prizes are both good, so that's a possibility. If I do Auburn, Mobile, and Rouge, that would be three race weekends in a row, which hasn't really happened for me in a few years. We'll see. The way things are going, I'm not likely to be in shape for any of those, but then again, I never am this time of year.

Fine Anno Giri d'Orleans

Monday's Holiday Giro heads out along Marconi

Made it through another orbit of the Sun, and as is usual for this time of year my fitness has already been in a steady decline for over a month. Back in the day that was status quo for everybody because few had the mental fortitude to endure long workouts on wind trainers or rollers or cold, windy country roads. We rationalized that we needed the recovery, as if we were Pros who had been racing every week since February and actually needed it. We didn't, of course, but at least we were kind of all on the same page from November through at least the end of February. Then, however, came major improvements in winter cycling clothing with vests that were actually wind-resistant, and shoe covers that blocked the wind but didn't leave your feet in a pool of sweat, and technical fabrics that were soft an fuzzy on the inside but smooth and aero on the outside. I remember doing winter rides in cotton summer shorts and jerseys underneath snazzy jogging suits that did nothing to block the wind, and knit caps pulled down over our ears. You'd use safety pins at the bottom of your right leg to keep the baggy jogging pants from getting caught in the chain, and all you had for riding in the dark were reflectors and anemic arm-band lights that ran little flashlight bulbs on two C batteries that lasted about a week. Now, though, there's hardly any valid excuse for not riding outside on most winter days around here where typical pre-dawn temperatures are usually in the 40s to low 50s. Still, the allure of interactive indoor training "systems" like Zwift and Rouvy are certainly tempting and make it easier to do actual structured workouts, if that's your preferred form of masochism. It's not mine, though, and even though it is hard to get out the door into the dark on a cold windy winter morning, I still prefer the company of humans over avatars, and wind resistance over computer generated hills. Guess I'm crazy like that. Or stubborn. Maybe both.

Anyway, things have sort of gotten back to relative normal following Christmas. Earlier, I had thought I'd be able to log a lot of enjoyable mileage between Christmas and New Year's Day, the weather and that lingering head cold made that pretty much impossible and definitely inadvisable. Nevertheless, I ended 2024 with a record 14,179 miles, thanks mainly to the hot arid summer that didn't provide as many rain days as usual, I guess. Since I started logging rides to Strava back around February or March of 2012, I've ridden an average of 10,530 miles per year, including three or four significant orthopedically induced sabbaticals. All of which serves as compelling empirical evidence that riding more miles does not make you faster, although perhaps it has its psychological health benefits.

New Year's Day fell on a Monday this year, the net result of which was that I rode three Giro Rides in a row, each substantially different from the others. 

It was a rather cold start for Saturday's Giro, but there was a big group on hand and the wind was relatively light for this time of year. As we came down the overpass onto Hayne the riders at the front dropped the hammer, resulting is a lot of gaps and chasing and droppage. The sudden jump in intensity, and available draft, put me into the red almost immediately, and in consideration of my still scratchy throat and distaste for pneumonia I backed off, hoping that things might come back together, which of course they didn't. I ended up off the back with a couple others, so we took the Bullard shortcut, arriving at Chef well before the group, into which I merged fairly easily once it streamed past. There was a lot of action up at the front with riders launching attack after attack, but by then I was warmed up so it wasn't too much of a problem sitting at the back in the draft. The return trip was also pretty fast. Afterward, I rode down to Faubourg Marigny with Dan and Charles and Apryl for coffee before making my way back home.

Sunday's Giro, the last ride of the year, was mostly just nice smooth tempo. I think perhaps some, including me, were still a little unrecovered from Saturday's thrashing. 

11 years of Strava

After a night listening to a whole lot of fireworks (and around 3 am gunshots), I dragged myself out of bed for yet another Holiday Giro on Monday to get the year started off right. With the annual odometer reset to zero, and the starting temperature at least out of the 40s, it was a pretty typical holiday Giro - not particularly fast. There was lots of sun, and I was fairly over-dressed by the time we were halfway back, but the pace was relatively collegial and I'd already stuffed the wind vest in my pocket. 

On the way back I stopped with Will, Charles and Dan at French Truck on the Lafitte Greenway for coffee, which was quite nice. I had ordered a Redshift suspension stem for my cyclocross bike and it arrived later that day, so I went ahead and installed it so I could take a short ride. I'd gotten it in case I wanted to do any extended gravel riding, knowing that the 'cross bike wouldn't be too forgiving on my neck and shoulders and back without it. I have some 40mm gravel tires that I just can't seem to bring myself to install on the narrow aluminum 'cross bike's non-tubeless rims. They are tight as hell, so fixing a flat out in the middle of nowhere with cold hands would be problematic at best. I figured that the extra cushioning from the stem might allow me to stick with my regular 33 mm 'cross tires, since I have no intention of pushing my luck speed-wise on dirt roads anyway. The stem made quite a difference when riding on the brake hoods, especially since I had probably 45 psi in the tires, and if there was down side to it, I couldn't detect it. There's not nearly as much cushioning when on the drops, but the only time I'm on the drops on the 'cross bike is when I'm on nice smooth asphalt anyway. The stem is, of course, a little heavy, especially since I got the regular one and not the even more expensive lighter one, but saving weight and going fast on unpaved roads is definitely not a priority for me, so I'm pretty happy with it. I just need to give it a try on some long stretches of dirt/gravel, which are unfortunately in rather short supply around here. Maybe a trip out to the mountain bike trail at the spillway and some unpaved levee riding out there is in the cards. We'll see.

By Tuesday morning the weather had gone from warm and sunny to cold and windy. It was so cold and windy that I fully expected to be riding the levee alone and had decided to do a shorter ride even before I got there. Then, I was surprised to find Boyd waiting at the top. I was not surprised that my legs felt pretty dead. The two of us battled the 10 mph northeast wind out to the upriver end of Jefferson before turning back. By then I was really glad to have Boyd on hand because he was taking long pulls at the front into the headwind on his Pinarello Nitro. If I'd been up there alone I'd definitely have been going three mph slower, and probably would have turned back even sooner, but I was happy to have gotten in a ride because the forecast for Wednesday was offering no hope at all. Indeed, it was raining Wednesday morning, and in fact much of the day, so I took the day off. Besides, it was the first day back at work since Christmas and things were really busy at the office.

This morning's levee ride was pretty nice, even though the increasing northeast wind made the return trip feel a lot harder than it looked.