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.