Time Off

A rare vacation happened last week. We loaded up the car on Sunday morning, clamped the bike to the roof, and headed for the beach. Well, actually we were headed for the Pensacola airport where we were to pick up Danielle and Shannon. Naturally, their flight was delayed, which led to a long wait at the airport for us. Pensacola's airport is a pretty simple one, so there wasn't really anything to do but sit and wait for an hour or so. From there I took the shorter, slower, but more scenic route along Highway 98 through Ft. Walton and Destin, and then down "30A" out past Grayton Beach to the Seaside development where we were renting a little two-bedroom. The weather forecast for the week was looking great, with surprisingly cool mornings.

My plan for riding, if there even was one, was basically just to get out early. 30A is a simple 2-lane road without a shoulder that nowadays is lined with condos and hotels and such except around the state parks. Fortunately, there is also a separate bike lane the entire way. Unfortunately, the bike lane is full of pedestrians and dog-walkers and such, and crosses about a thousand driveways, so it's not really a comfortable place to be going fast. I was starting my rides at around 6:30 or so, and for the first hour traffic was very light, so riding on the road was fine. By my second day there I had settled on a plan of riding east first, then back west past Seaside and out to little parking lot at highway 393. The first day I had gone west to the end of 30A and run in to school traffic, so this was a better option. 

The ride east to the end of 30A and then back to Seaside, early in the morning, was great. There was practically no traffic, the air was still a little cool, and the road was fine. The speed limit varies from 25 to 45, and drivers were pretty considerate, so it wasn't much of a problem. The shoulder is still hurting, by the way. I had hoped it would be all better by the time we took this trip, but no such luck. There's something going in there, because the broken bones are definitely healed by now. Anyway, once past Seaside, I would switch to the bike path for the rest of the way out. After turning around, though, there was a little bit of shoulder along the eastbound road, so I could ride a few miles on the road there, which was much better than the bike path which was, by then, starting to pick up pedestrians, beach cruisers, and dog-walkers. None of the riding I did could be properly termed "training," of course, but at least I got in some decent saddle time.

Seaside itself is nice enough, as those kinds of developments go. The pastel colored houses are crammed together pretty tightly, but there a nice shady walkways, a couple of pools, and of course a whole shopping area that includes a little grocery and a line of faux food trucks. Not surprisingly, everything is expensive. There were hundreds of beach cruisers, many electric, along with lots of electric vehicles that look like golf carts but seat about eight and are mostly road-legal. All of that clogs up that section of the bike path and roadway.

Of course I eventually went out to the beach. There was a pretty good south wind most of the time, so it was mostly yellow or red flags. I was surprised that there were no jet skis or boats in sight. What was in sight were hundreds of beach umbrellas. Various beach chair companies have monopolies on stretches of beach, so if you bring your own, you have to set up kind of in-between developments, which was actually pretty nice. I usually dread sitting on a beach in the sun, but there was always a nice breeze, so it wasn't too bad. I did manage to get sunburn on the tops of my feet, probably because they have not seen the sun in about then years.

Barrett and Frank - We should probably add an 80+ age group now, or maybe a vintage bike category.

We had the LAMBRA time trial championship scheduled for Sunday morning, so I stayed up until registration closed on Friday night to set up the start list and results workbook and send out the start times to everyone. I guess I got to bed around 12:30 am.

The drive back on Saturday was just the reverse of the drive out, so we dropped the girls off at the airport and got back home around mid-afternoon, well before they landed in Seattle, and an even longer time before their luggage arrived.

Sunday morning we were up early to load up the car with race equipment and head over to LaPlace to put on the time trial. This year I had decided to get a new megaphone and leave the big PA system and generator at home, relying only on my little Jackery battery to power the computer and printer. Setting up, I discovered that I had forgotten to bring my USB adapter. The printer cable has the older USB connector, but the new laptop just has USB-A. Fortunately, Ty was able to make a quick run over to the LaPlace WalMart to pick up an adapter.

We had 45 registered this year, which was less than half of the turnout we used to have, but was actually a few more than last year. Everything went smoothly, which is to say nobody went to the hospital and nobody was arrested. I guess we were back home by 11:00. There was a significant breeze mostly out of the south, but we still had a couple of  times in the 53 minute range. Not bad, but still pretty far from the 49:32 course record.

Monday was Memorial Day, so we did a holiday Giro Ride. There was a decent turnout for that, considering many people were either out of town or had other plans. It felt like a fairly hard ride for me, but of course that was because I haven't had much intensity for the past seven months. I was just glad I survived it. The temperatures around here are getting pretty high - it's that time of year when I start routinely putting some sort of electrolyte mix in my water bottles. This morning I went out to the WeMoRi, jumping in at my usual spot. I was happy to hang onto the group the whole way, considering. I arrived back home hungry and soaked with sweat. It must be summer.

Easing Back In

 

It'll be six weeks on Wednesday and, yeah, the shoulder still aches, especially when my right hand is on the bars. Last week I cautiously joined a few of my regular group rides anyway. I mean, at this point you just have to do as much as you can tolerate - and maybe just a bit more. On Monday I went out and met the Mellow Monday ride for the first time in over a month. There was a bit of an easterly wind blowing, so once the group made the loop at the armory and the speed picked up, I dropped off the back, eventually rejoining them on the way back from the lakefront. The legs felt fine. The shoulder, not so much. No surprise.

On Tuesday I opted for a solo levee ride, not wanting to get sucked into anything faster than I was ready for on the lakefront. Wednesday morning was rained out, not that I had any intention of doing the WeMoRi. I was kind of stuck at home because of the weather and a meeting uptown, which worked out well because around 4:45 pm the rain stopped and I was therefore able to sneak out on the 'cross bike for a few levee miles. Then on Thursday I decided to go out and meet the 6 am group. That went nicely except that Lakeshore Drive was still flooded just east of Elysian Fields where it's always flooded because of the clogged up storm drains. The group decided not to wade across the pond, and so that shortened the ride considerably for most. On the plus side, I was able to get in a few miles of faster riding that I really needed. I ended up riding solo out along the fairly wet Lake Trail just to log some miles and quite predictably flatted thanks to the wet bike path.

I'd have liked to try Friendly Friday, but unfortunately Friday was rained out, and by rained out I mean it rained pretty much nonstop all day and into the night. 

Hope springs eternal

So on Saturday I went out to Starbucks to meet the Giro. I was still pretty unsure about my fitness, and not yet willing to endure the steady ache of the shoulder, so the plan was to drop off the back when the pace picked up on Hayne. I took the Bullard shortcut to Chef, and almost, but not quite, met up with the group again. I saw them turning onto Chef just before I got there. A few miles later I found the whole group stopped on the sholder fixing a flat, so at least I was able to ride with them the rest of the way to Venetian Isles. Somewhere along the way, Kenny B appeared in the group. Christian L was there from Oxford as well. When the speed ramped up about a kilometer before the Goodyear Sign sprint, I backed off, and a minute later passed Kenny who had pulled over onto the shoulder. I didn't know it was he as I asked, "you ok?" Anyway, the rest of the way was a rather long solo ride for me. Lakeshore Drive was still flooded in the usual spot (we had bypassed it on the way out), but since I was alone and I hate riding on Leon C. Simon, I took Lakeshore Drive anyway. As I slowly ride though the flooded part, which was about a foot deep, I saw two of those big vacuum trucks that they use to clean out storm drains. Spoiler Alert!  It was still flooded on Sunday. Also, after my Sunday ride, I pulled both tires off and drained a significant amount of water out of the rims.

So on Sunday I finally threw caution to the wind and decided to see if I could stay with the Giro the whole way. Sundays are usually just a bit slower, at least in theory. There was some significant wind, which definitely helped me, since I spent the whole time near, or on, the back of the group. I did find that I was no less uncomfortable on the drops than I was on the brake hoods. Anyway, I was happy to have stayed with the group, unless you count that segment between the bridges where I just stayed on VJ's wheel as he unsucessfully tried to close a big gap. I eventually caught back up along Leon C Simon when the front group finally eased up.

The sholder still aches whenever I have to extend my arm in front of me, as in riding the bike or even brushing my teeth, but I guess it is very slowly improving in that regard. I can still feel the broken ribs when I lie in bed, which is no surprise at all, of course. On the plus side, I think I'm OK getting back to my regular morning ride routine as long as I don't do anything crazy and am willing to tolerate a bit of discomfort.

A Week on the Road

Sunday Giro heading out on LSD

Progress has been frustratingly slow, but at least I was able to spend a full week on the road, much of which was on the road bike. I am still being very cautious, and severly limiting my time with other riders. The right shoulder muscles around the top of the scapula become quite achy when my hand is on the brake lever for any length of time. Granted, it does seem to be improving, and the pain-free range of motion is very gradually expanding, so I probably shouldn't be complaining since it's still a few days shy of five weeks. The weather, in general, has been particulary nice for riding lately, and that has definitely been contributing to my general sense of frustration.

At any rate, I did manage a full week of riding. Weekdays, except for this morning, were all on the levee, and on Wednesday I finally dusted off the road bike. There wasn't really any noticeable difference riding that as compared to the 'cross bike, at least on the levee. One thing about all these slow rides on the levee is that I've been able to enjoy watching the wildlife along the slightly flooded batture.

I've seen eagles practically every day, and of course lots of herons and ducks, and a surprising number of kildeer. There have also been a few alligators. On Friday I happened upon a rather large alligator that was "bellowing." That's a low, deep, sound they make, presumable related to mating. There was another smaller alligator cruising along right behind, so I guess it works.

Saturday morning the roads were still wet from overnight rains, so didn't go out until mid-morning. I switched back to the cyclocross bike for that. One reason was the wet streets, but the main reason was to minimize the chance of flatting on the levee bike path. Of course, by the time I was a few miles down the path the road was already drying up. It's amazing how much slower it feels on the 'cross bike compared to the road bike. Anyway, the ride was otherwise fine.

On Sunday I rode out to Starbucks to meet the Giro group, with no plans to ride farther than the end of Lakeshore Drive. Until this shoulder stops hurting I won't feel comfortable in a group at any speed that might qualify as "fast."  Hitting unexpected bumps in the road can be a little painful, and I'm not particularly confident about my bike control and braking yet. There was a big group on hand, and the weather was practically perfect, so of course I hated to turn back at the Armory. A fair number ended going out to Fort Pike that day, and it was by all accounts a really good and fast ride.

I, instead, rode out to The Wall at the west end of the lake trail and then down to I-10. I felt pretty good going out with a slight tailwind. Coming back I took it easier since thing were getting more and more achy and I was sitting up periodically to give my shoulder a break. Still, it was a great day to be out on the road, even if most of it was solo.

This morning I rode out to the Mellow Monday ride, which had a typical turnout. It was relatively cooler, like around 64 ° or so, with a significant east wind. I tagged along near the back on the way out, knowing that it would get fast once the group made the loop at the Armory and picked up the tailwind, which of course is where I dropped off the back. I am still not ready to be going 30 mph in a group, so I just cruised back to the west and picked them up on the flip side. There's rain in the forecast around mid-week. At the moment it looks like Tuesday morning might be OK, but Wednesday morning is not looking promising at all, and things won't be much better until some time on Saturday. Of course, it's a summer forecast, so we could ultimately get anything from torrential rain and floods to periods with blue skies and sunshine. Situation normal.