Followup #1

Lots of lonely solo rides in my immediate future.

A rainy Tuesday morning offered a welcome excuse to sleep late yesterday. Although I've been able to sit on a bike and pedal, trying to do so on wet streets would be a very bad idea. With a compromised ability to take evasive action, and apply the front brake without pain from the smashed and still swollen finger, I have my hands full just riding slowly on quiet city streets in daylight.

Not there yet, but progressing I guess.

Later in the day I had my first followup with Dr. Savoie. They took a couple x-rays and he said that I was doing very will with the x-brace. From at least one perspective the collarbone pieces look to be quite nicely aligned. It still hurts, sometimes quite a bit, sometimes not so much, but I guess it's progressing more or less normally

Last night, after having to get picked up from work because it was raining, we went over to Dat Dog on Magazine Street for a fundraiser for CALM. Despite the pint of Tin Roof Parade Ground Porter, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable by then, partly because I was sitting on what was basically a bench, and partly because my back and collarbone were getting pretty achy by then. Back at home I was setting up the Excel workbook for the LSU collegiate races I'll be officiating this weekend and looking over the list of "permanent" bib numbers I got from the conference director when I noticed that things didn't look right.  Double-checking the list against the USAC collegiate database was easy, but unfortunately revealed numerous riders who had already been allowed to race in the wrong categories, along with some who were racing in the higher categories without collegiate licenses at all. Three riders from Rice raced in the Cat. D criterium despite having Cat. C licenses, and subsequently placed first, second and third.  Apparently nobody was checking licenses, or just didn't care, last weekend. That kind of puts me in a bad situation for next weekend. Do I enforce the rules or look the other way? It's rather frustrating because this seems to happen every year.

Better than nothing, but hate losing so much hard-earned fitness.

Anyway, the weather this morning was really nice with the temperature around 58, a light breeze, and a clear sky.  I strapped the brace over my jersey and rolled out at 6:30 for another cautious ride on the levee.  Along the way I rode with John for a little while, pointing out two Bald Eagles near the nest at River Ridge. He turned back shortly afterward, but I continued on to Williams Blvd. before heading back. As has been happening when riding with the x-brace, my left hand kept going numb and my neck was hurting, but under the circumstances I couldn't complain too much since I was at least outside on the bike. When I got back home I looked at my Strava stats and, wow, you can really see the training cliff I've fallen off of!  I guess it'll be at least two or three weeks before my weekly mileage even approaches normal again, but there's no point in pushing the envelope and risking a fall or even just interfering with healing.  Kind of sucks having this happen during what is usually some of the best riding weather of the year, though.

Eleven Days

There were floats all over the place today - lots of parades from here until Fat Tuesday

After a rainy Friday that extended well into the night, Saturday morning was looking pretty nice. At home, staring out the window at the slowly drying streets and blue sky, I knew it would be a nice day for a long Giro Ride - one that I wouldn't be doing. It had been eleven days since I broke the collarbone, and I'd been thinking I might try going out for a very cautious ride on the Bianchi once the street was dry. The collarbone has been mostly a dull ache when I'm wearing the x-brace, with is essentially all the time. When I take it off to change shirts, though, it's immediately obvious that there's still a long way to go before it's back to whatever normal will be now.  The smashed ring finger that was purple and swollen is finally back down to where I can, with a little effort, get the ring off, so that's progress.

No big numbers on the Garmin for a while

It was a bit after 9:30 am when I rolled the bike out the door for the first time since the crash. With the x-brace cinched up tightly on top of the jersey, I picked my way carefully through the side streets, trying my best to avoid the wet leaves, cracks, and potholes. I was a little surprised that I could easily reach the brake levers and could put some weight on the left hand without much pain. The last time I broke a collarbone it was three weeks before that was feasible, and the time before, which was admittedly a more severe break, it was a good five weeks. Even so, I knew my ability to take evasive action was severely limited, so the two miles from home to the levee bike path were a little tense.  Once up on the path, though, I could relax a bit thanks to the smooth asphalt and lack of cars. It was a beautiful day for riding - blue sky and summer kit - so although I knew I wouldn't be doing anything that would qualify as training, at least I was outside and moving.

Rode with Pat, Steve, Kurt and Charlie for a little while

I nearly out at Williams Blvd. when Steve, Pat, Kurt and Charlie rode up from behind (I was probably going about 15 mph. They had started out around Ormond, so were on their way back. They eased up so I could join them for a while, but when we got out to the end of Jefferson Parish I figured I'd pushed my luck enough already and turned back, stopping for a minute to watch one of the Mardi Gras parade krewes getting their floats lined up to convoy over to the start of one of the afternoon parades. By the time I was halfway back my left hand was going numb. I guess the reason was that I wasn't moving it around on the handlebar, because that hurts a bit. Anyway, I made it home in one piece, so the ride was a success in my book. If I can tolerate an hour or hour and a half every day on the bike path for a while perhaps I won't get too fat and will be able to get back to more serious training without too much drama. Guess I'll just have to play it by ear for a while, but I'm hopeful I'll be back in action in two or three weeks if all goes well. I have a followup visit with the orthopedist next Tuesday.

Can't complain about the February weather in New Orleans lately.

Visit to HQ

A room full of officials. The symposium was surprisingly well attended. Most of these people are more serious
about officiating as a career than I am.

So it's been almost a week since my unfortunate encounter with a car, and about 24 hours since I got back from Colorado Springs. It was a good thing that this broken collarbone and associated bruises and such haven't been as painful as those from the last collarbone fracture, although my back and neck have been increasingly achy. It's funny how you initially focus on the most obvious injury, and then over the following few days you start to notice all of the other stuff that was initially overshadowed. Wearing the X-brace helps a lot, although it does of course restrict movement a bit and certainly gets uncomfortable, but if it lets the collarbone heal up without surgery and other complications I guess I'll just have to live with it for a few more weeks. At least I've been through this before and already know how to get into a T-shirt and do a bunch of other things without raising my left arm.  Meanwhile my shoulder, left arm, and left hip have turned a nice shade of purple and yellow as the bruises and pooled blood start to show up more.  I'll spare you the photos.

USAC HQ still hasn't changed the logo on the building
to the new version, which I like much more

I had been registered to attend the USA Cycling National Official's Symposium, held last weekend up in Colorado Springs, so I felt lucky that I wasn't so much in pain or under the influence of narcotics that I'd have to cancel. Even though I wasn't looking forward to all those hours sitting in an airplane passenger seat and knew the collarbone and everything would make that even worse, I got up at 4:15 Friday morning so Danielle could drive me to the airport anyway. Under the circumstances, I thought  it best to pack really light for this little two-day conference, so all I had with me was a nice little rolling backpack with a couple of shirts and changes of underwear and little else. It was a good call. The first leg of the trip was to Houston, where I switched planes to one of those neat little ones with one row of seats on one side and two on the other.  The flight attendants were of course going crazy dealing with all of the carry-on luggage that wouldn't fit and had to be gate-checked, but they let me through with my one bag.  That when I realized two things.  First, there wasn't enough room under my window seat to stow the backpack that had easily fit under the seat of the larger plane. Second, I couldn't lift it high enough with my broken collarbone to get it into the overhead bin. Luckily the girl behind me saw me try and immediately offered to help.

The Race Caravan Training Certification session was interesting. It's a totally different world
than the "one follow car" world we usually work in.

So I get off the plane in Colorado Springs and it's something like 70°F and sunny. I had to wait half an hour or so outside for the shuttle from the Marriott to arrive to pick three of us up, and by then I was pretty warm from the temperature and achy from the collarbone and five or six hours of sitting. This was my first Official's conference, although I'd been to maybe eight or ten of the Local Association conferences in prior years. I really didn't have anything to do the rest of the day or evening, which was fine since it allowed me to lie down, take some Aleve, and veg out watching TV.

USAC CEO, ??, UCI Technical Director,
USAC Technical Director

Saturday morning I was up at my usual time, which was unfortunate since my usual time was in Louisiana and not in Colorado. In other words, I was up at 4:30 am. Oh well. Lots of time to delicately slide off the brace and T-shirt, take a shower, and cinch down the brace again over a fresh T-shirt and button-down shirt. The meetings themselves were pretty good and covered a lot of the things I wanted to find out about, especially the new IT system they have been working on.  A lot of the people there were also Local Association representatives, so I knew many of them and of course most of the USAC staff who were on hand. Sitting for so long was more tedious than usual, so I spent a couple of sessions standing in the back of the room, but mostly I was taking notes to share with the other officials. Saturday evening they had a happy hour at USAC Headquarters, where the meetings were, prior to a buffet dinner.  Under the circumstances I thought it best to limit myself to just one glass of wine and a light dinner since I hadn't gotten any exercise in days and probably wouldn't for a few more to come.  I headed back to the hotel a little earlier than usual, took a 12-hour Aleve, and got in a little sleep. It's been a little uncomfortable to sleep, which is pretty typical for a collarbone break.  I tend to wake up, try to get comfortable, sleep for a little while, wake up again, and repeat.

Anyway, Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday except that it had snowed overnight and the temperature had dropped into the 30s and everything ended at noon. I headed back to the airport with John Patterson from Georgia and Josie Strange from Florida. We were all on the same flight to Houston. The return trip was fine and I was glad that the plane was big enough that I could get my bag under the seats each time, but even though I didn't have a long layover in Houston, I was a bit uncomfortable. The plane for the first flight from COS to Houston was super cold for some reason. I had to fish out my vest from my bag just to keep from freezing.  Then the short flight from Houston to New Orleans was unusually warm.  Go figure. Anyway, it was a pretty good trip under the circumstances and I'm glad I went. I probably would have spent the whole weekend sitting in a chair in front of the TV feeling sorry for myself at home anyway.

Races start next weekend with a collegiate race in Texas. Don't know if I'll be needed for that one yet, but I guess I could help with the driving. I had been looking forward to riding the road race myself because they were combining the Collegiate A men with the non-collegiate Cat. 1/2 men.

Break in Training

Riding back along the Kenner bike path in the crosswind.  Last group ride for a little while for me I guess.

Things had been going just fine on the training front lately. Not a single missed day since the first of the year, some good long training rides across the lake, and over 1,500 miles logged through the first week of February. The weather had been reasonably cooperative, the training rides were starting to get a little more intense, and I was feeling as strong as would be expected for weak and frail old guy. I was thinking about travelling with the Tulane team and racing in Texas in the combined Cat. A/Cat. 1/2 road race in less than two weeks. After a nice easy recovery ride on  the levee on Monday I headed out as usual Tuesday morning with Dave and Rich to meet the lakefront training ride. The sky was overcast and rain was expected later in the morning, but radar was, for the moment at least, clear. There was a significant, and increasing, south wind blowing, and it was summer-kit warm. Meeting up with the rest of the group on the lakefront, things ramped up pretty fast, and after making the loop at seabrook they got even faster. A number of people turned off after the lap of Lakeshore Drive, and once we hit the bike path heading out to Kenner I could tell that the crosswind was going to have a big influence on the ride.  Indeed, it was pretty much like ten people trying to sit at a table for four where the front four or five guys were getting a decent draft, but everyone else was strung out along the edge of the road mostly in the wind. It was a good enough morning ride, though, and afterward Rich and I headed back uptown via the usual route as the sky started to darken with the approaching thunderstorms.

We came over the Jeff. Davis overpass and down onto the bike lane alongside a long line of barely moving cars. As often happens in the morning, there were two lanes of cars backed up all the way from the stoplight at Washington Avenue to the overpass. basically at a standstill. I was cruising along in the bike lane at 18-19 mph a few bike lengths ahead of Rich when things all went south. Suddenly a car that I couldn't see pulled across the two lanes of stopped traffic through a little gap and then into the bike lane right in front of me.  I had a millisecond to slam on the brakes when the front of the car cleared the stopped car to my left and slid a bit sideways, slamming hard into the side-view mirror and passenger side door, and then, of course, onto the ground. I sat there stunned for a little while trying to figure out what had just happened. My left shoulder was hurt pretty bad from the impact and I immediately suspected I'd broken the collarbone (again). It's the same collarbone I broke back in 2008 when a dog ran out into the group on the Giro Ride. Since it was already somewhat deformed, though, I couldn't tell for sure if it was broken, separated, or just badly bruised.  My left hand, and especially the ring finger, must have been smashed between the bike and the car, and at the moment the tip of that finger is purple and swollen to about twice normal size (may need another visit to the doctor if it doesn't resolve soon because I had initially just blown it off as a bruise). I also hit the car and/or ground with my head, denting and slightly cracking the helmet on the left side. I had a pretty good gash on my left elbow and some raw skin on my left shoulder under the jersey, but otherwise at least I didn't lose a lot of skin. Fortunately, Rich was able to stop in time and was a big help since it took me a little while to stand up and get back to normal.  The driver of the car jumped out, asking if she should call an ambulance as Rich gathered up my bike and phone and stuff that had come out of my pockets, and the driver of the car behind the crash came over and gave me her card. Rich and I did a quick check and the bike looked OK with only a scrape on the top of the top tube and a missing handlebar plug.  It was fortunate that I'd slid sideways a bit before hitting the car. I imagine a straight-on hit would have broken the frame and launched me head-first into the window or over the roof. I was able to lift my left arm at least up to shoulder level, so after exchanging information with the driver I rode the mile or so back home.

The fracture is at the collarbone bend near the middle
of the image. The separation  is on the right.

When I got home I called the Tulane Sports Medicine Institute, which is right on campus and less than a mile from my house, to see if they could squeeze me in to get some x-rays and see Dr. Savoie. Luckily, Candy knows one of the people who works there, and by now Dr. Savoie probably knows me by name, so they scheduled me for a 12:45 appointment. I sent Danielle off to the Tulane Cycling Center to retrieve my X-brace that I keep in the team first-aid kit.  About that time we started getting emergency weather warnings from LSU, Tulane, and the city about tornadoes.  The local TV was already in full emergency mode trying to cover at least four tornadoes as some seriously bad weather moved into the area. The closest tornado touched down to the east, along and just north of Chef Menteur Highway a bit west of where the Giro Ride turns onto that road.  Whole neighborhoods were completely devastated along the path of that one

Meanwhile, we made a run for TISM, basically in-between tornadoes. After a bunch of shoulder and collarbone X-rays Dr. Savoie came in with a print-out of one of them to show me where the fracture was. He printed out the X-ray from the previous break so we could compare.  Besides the fracture, there was some separation around the AC joint, but the bottom line was that Plan A is to wear the X-brace and check back in a week or two. His instructions were basically, "Well, you know what to do since this ain't your first rodeo."  The shoulder and collarbone hasn't been quite as painful as my other two collarbone breaks, not that it's been all sunshine and unicorns, but at least I was able to get some sleep last night and haven't taken anything stronger than Naproxin. Hopefully it will heal up OK without having to resort to Plan B which would be surgery. I will be flying out to Colorado Springs on Friday for the two-day Officials Summit at USA Cycling, so I'd already been planning on having an easy week.  Looks like it may be a lot easier than I'd expected. One thing for sure is I will be travelling extremely lightly for this trip since lugging stuff across airports won't be any fun at all.

No Winter, No Problem

Riding back uptown through the park.  Not exactly winter weather.

I looked back on Strava the other day and realized I haven't missed a day of riding yet this year.  That's really pretty unusual, even down here in New Orleans where winter just stops by for a visit now and then. The current ten-day forecast doesn't show anything below 50℉ and is even predicting a high of 79℉ next Sunday. Unfortunately I won't be around here on Sunday, but I'll get to that later.

It was a pretty routine week for the group training rides. After the prior weekend's long miles, I had done an easy Monday recovery ride that probably averaged 14 mph, which seemed appropriate under the circumstances. It turned out to have been a good move, because my legs seemed to recover nicely and by Wednesday I wasn't feeling any residual effects. I do think that the three weekends in a row that have included northshore rides had a lot to do with that. On the other hand, in the back of my mind is all of the advice one reads about old guys needing more recovery. Problem is, recovery is boring, riding isn't.

The weather has remained pretty good for riding. It's been kind of chilly early in the mornings, but nothing really below the mid-40s and mostly warmer than that.  Saturday's Giro Ride was about the coldest it's been lately, starting out around 45℉ but ending up a good ten degrees warmer. Whenever I'm planning a long Sunday ride on the northshore I struggle with my effort level on the Saturday Giro. Letting myself drop to the back of the group seems sometimes a lot more work than staying closer to the front, even if it means taking a few pulls. Funny how that works. You just naturally think that if it's easier to be 5th wheel than 2nd wheel, it must be a whole lot easier to be 20th wheel, but it doesn't work like that.  At some point the amount of draft you get stops getting better but the number of gaps you need to close or the amount of attention you need to pay to squirrely riders ahead of you goes way up. Anyway, I tried to conserve when I could on Saturday, but of course there were a few spots where I just had to put my head down and go in order to keep from getting dropped.

The big group stopped a couple of times for
wardrobe adjustments as the temperature rose.

Sunday morning I was out the door a little early, allowing for some time to sit down at Starbucks on Causeway before heading across the lake for the 4th NOBC Winter Ride Series ride. I was feeling pretty chilly once I got over there and ended up over-dressing considerably.  I knew it was going to get warmer, and I knew we  had enough horsepower in the group to make for a fast ride, so I don't really know what I was thinking.  I guess I always err on the side of having a comfy start. Indeed, I was nice and cozy with my wind-resistant short-sleeve base layer and long-sleeve fleece-lined winter jersey and knee-warmers and long-finger gloves, at least for the first ten miles.  By the time we got to the turn onto Lee Road, about 22 miles into the ride, I was already stripping off stuff and stuffing it into my pockets.  I wasn't the only one, either.  It seemed like a lot of people had dressed for the start rather than the finish. Luckily, I don't suffer much when I'm hot.  Certainly not as much as I suffer when I'm cold, anyway.

The required shot coming over the watchtower hill
heading toward Enon

Once we got north of Enon and about half of the initial 25-30 rider group had turned back, the pace started to ramp up pretty well.  With Sam, Stanton, VJ, Matt, and others on hand, I knew it was going to get fast.  We had a couple of the Nth Degree Juniors on hand and both were committed to the full 82 mile ride.  I was pretty impressed that they both survived that, and especially that one of them stayed with the leaders even after things started to fall apart over the last ten miles or so.  For me, it was a pretty satisfying training ride. I felt pretty much like I thought I should be feeling, which is to say I didn't start to hurt until we were a good 60 miles in, and even then I was still able to hang on without too much trouble. As usual, there was a good long effort going up the watchtower hill coming out of Enon on the way back. I was sitting on Sam's wheel and just trying to stay there, and coming over the top was thinking I should thank him for riding such a nice even tempo on the climb.  Then I realized that there were just three of us with a big gap behind.  I took a couple of very brief pulls, but Sam was really doing all the work, and by the time we made the turn at La. Tung Road I think it was down to just the two of us. Meanwhile the rest of the group was coming back together and getting organized. We weren't exactly crushing it, but Sam was holding a pretty fast pace, especially considering that we'd been riding into a south wind for about an hour.  I was more focused on keeping my front wheel within six inches of his rear wheel. Every time I'd get out in the wind my quads were start to scream, so the last thing I wanted to do was come off his wheel and have to fight that headwind alone. I shouldn't have worried, though.  A few miles later the rest of the group came up on us, so it was gruppo compacto turning onto Stafford Road.  I guess a few people eased up after that because we were down to five or six toward the end of the ride.

This weekend I'm heading up to Colorado Springs for the USAC Officials Conference.  Wes will be there for the Local Associations' Summit earlier in the week.  This will be the first time I've attended a stand-alone official's conference, but it seemed like a good idea considering all of the changes going on lately. USAC should be going live with its new website and back-end database in a couple of months and I'm already seeing some strange stuff that's probably related to that. We should really put on an officials seminar in LAMBRA some time soon, but I don't know when would work. Collegiate races start up in a couple of weeks, so I may be going to a few of those.  There are eight in the SCCCC this year - a big improvement over the four they had last week. For me, it might just mean more driving and officiating and less riding, though. The first race is running the collegiate races together with some non-collegiate races, so perhaps I can go do that and get some good training in, or more likely get my ass kicked since my only option would be to ride in the combined Pro/1,2/Cat. A 82 mile road race. At least the course isn't super hilly, so perhaps I'll just hang on as long as I can and try to survive. Tulane will have at least one rider in that race, so there's a slim chance I might be of some assistance at some point.

Long Winter Rides

Tulane and LSU riders ready to head out for the Saturday training camp ride up in Natchez

Friday evening I rushed over to the main campus to help out with the Tulane's spring activities expo where the cycling team had a table. Rather than cramming everyone into a couple of the big meeting rooms at the student center, aka the LBC, this year they had it set up at the old Fogelman Arena / Devlin Fieldhouse, aka the basketball stadium. As bait, they were supplying free pizza, popcorn and drinks which seemed to be reasonably effective. The spring expo is always a lot smaller than the fall expo that is typically held outdoors.

President Fitts chats with TUCA
riders at the Expo

Anyway, I think they signed  up a few new interested riders and there's a meeting scheduled this week, so that's good. After the expo I went home and dropped off the stuff I'd brought to the expo, threw the bike and a bag into the car and picked up Mike for the drive up to Natchez State Park for the Tulane Cycling training camp weekend. I was planning on driving back on Saturday afternoon, however, since I was scheduled to lead the NOBC Winter Ride Series ride out of Abita Springs on Sunday. We arrived at the cabins a bit after 10 pm I guess.  The Tulane and LSU riders were all busy playing some kind of card game or something, and I was exhausted, so I slipped away pretty quickly, claimed a spot on the couch in the next cabin and went to sleep.  The next morning I found Charlotte camped out on the floor sleeping on three of the couch cushions.  I didn't know she was planning on coming, but if I had I would have asked one of the guys to leave her a bed!  Lack of planning all around, I guess.

Heading out - Natchez State Park

The morning temperature was in the upper 30s, when we left for the Saturday ride around 9 am or so, and so everyone was pretty bundled up in winter gear despite the crystal clear sky. We were probably only ten miles into the ride when it became obvious that most of us were overdressed, though, so there were multiple stops for wardrobe adjustments and to wait for a couple of riders who were having difficulty with the low rolling hills.  I was pretty obvious that they weren't going to survive the whole 60+ mile ride, so at some point they got directions for a shorter route back to the cabins.

Flat #1. Took 4 tubes to get everyone
through one mile of gravel.

Of course, there was a short section of gravel along Cemetery Road that was part of our route. The road was pretty well packed down in most places, so it wouldn't have been a problem ordinarily, but of course as soon as we hit it, it became a race -- one in which I wasn't about to participate. Naturally, we were about 500 meters into the ride when the first rider flatted.  I stopped with Jerry to help with the repair and noticed he was rushing to get it done quickly, so I told him to relax because I was pretty sure the would be another flat tire before the end.  Sure enough, we rounded the next curve and there were a few riders fixing a flat.  We continued on to the end of the gravel, which was only maybe half a mile more, where the rest of the group was waiting impatiently.  After a while we started wondering why the guy with the second flat hadn't arrived so I started to ride back when one of the guys showed up saying that they had blown out two or three tubes trying to fix a big slash in the tire and the rider was walking back and we'd have to call to get someone to pick him up.  I went back there and booted the tire with a piece of Tyvek race number that I keep in my bag for just such a thing, putting maybe 30 psi in the tire since the slash was so big.  At least it got him rolling again.  We stopped a little later to put a little more air in the tire, but anyway he made it into Natchez. We left him at the Steampunk Coffee shop in Natchez and called one of the guys who had turned back early to come and pick him up.

Regrouping at Church Hill

Meanwhile, I discovered that I'd broken another aluminum spoke nipple on my rear wheel, but it was clearing the frame and brake, so I continued on with the somewhat wobbly wheel hoping another spoke nipple wouldn't go. These were some old super-light climbing wheels that I've pressed into service as my training wheels since the crash last October that took out my Mavic wheels. That was the third aluminum spoke nipple to break, so I'm sure there will be others, but I've just been replacing them with brass nipples one at a time for now. Anyway, it was a good ride even though we probably set a record for the most stops in a single training ride.  I headed back home after a quick sandwich to get ready for Sunday's ride.

There was a big group for the start of the NOBC WRS #3 ride

Sunday morning it was pretty chilly up in Abita Springs and once again I overdressed a bit. We had 20+ riders at the start, shedding a few at the turn-off for the short ride, and then a whole bunch around Enon, so we ended up with only seven for the last 50 miles or so. That worked out pretty well, though. Lenny, Jim, Mile Lew, Stephen, VJ, John Dias (yes, he's back on the bike) and I had a pretty good workout on the hilly loop north of Enon.

Only 7 did the full 80+ mile ride - weather was perfect
but got really windy toward the end

By the time we were heading back over the Watchtower Hill, Lenny and Mike were starting to come off the back and most of us were really feeling the miles. Jim went to the front after Tung Road and started towing us all back toward Barker's Corner straight into an increasing headwind, at which point we lost Mike and Lenny for a while. I was pretty tired by the time we pulled into Abita Springs with 80+ miles on the computer, but at least I felt like I'd gotten my money's worth out of the weekend!

I went out Monday morning for a spin on the levee, and between the wind and my sore legs I spent most of the time going 15 mph.  I knew better than to put any pressure on the quads, since I hadn't had a day off the bike in over a month and definitely needed a little recovery time.  This morning the temperature was a little higher and things got pretty fast along Lakeshore Drive for a while, but a few people pulled off after that so the ride out to Kenner was somewhat easier.  My legs felt surprisingly good.  They were still a little sore, but much better than they had been last Tuesday.

The Miles in the Weather

Totally worthwhile to have waited out the rain on Sunday!

Well, the power at the office went out again, so after an hour I got on the bike and rode back home. After the power went out the phones and internet went out too, of course, so sitting in a dark office with just my cellphone would have been a little crazy.  Anyway, I got home and realized it had been a while since I updated the blog. For the last week or so the weather has really been interfering with the regular group rides. There's been a lot of fairly unpredictable rain, temperature swings, strong winds, and all that standard winter stuff, except it hasn't really been all that cold.

Saturday's Eagle

Last Saturday I went out to the Giro Ride knowing it would probably start raining in an hour or two.  The radar seemed to be giving us a reasonable chance of getting in a few miles, though, so I went anyway.  Well, I walked into Starbucks, got a cup of coffee, and walked out to find it already starting to rain.  I gulped down a couple of sips and took off, coffee in hand, as a front started blowing through.  It was all I could do to control the bike in the crosswind -- with one hand -- without spilling my wonderfully hot coffee.  I got home pretty wet, but it's only about four miles so I wasn't soaked or anything.  It rained for a while and then by 11 am the streets were almost dry again and the sun was out, so I went back out and did a nice solo 50 miles on the levee out to the Spillway and back.  Along the way I found the eagle's nest along the bike path in River Ridge, along with both eagles.  I also stopped at Williams Blvd. to talk with a French couple that had ridden down from Montana on super heavily loaded bikes.  They had stopped to eat lunch on the bench there.  I gave them some directions and let them know that there was more rain coming later in the evening. Pretty sure they made it to their destination in the garden district before then.  Saturday night it rained as expected, but the forecast for Sunday's long ride on the northshore was looking pretty good with the rain ending right around the 8:30 am start time.

No power at office!

So Sunday I headed across the lake to meet up with 20+ riders at Abita Springs only to find out that there was still a line of rain heading our way. Although a couple of people took off in the rain, and subsequently froze their butts off, the rest of us hung around under the big gazebo, or in the nearby coffee shop, to wait it out. By 9:30 the rain had left, along with almost all of the riders.  There was a pretty strong wind blowing, and it felt a lot colder than the thermometer would suggest, but Steve and I headed out on the 80 mile course with the streets already starting to dry out. We ended up cutting out four or five miles since there were just the two of us and the battle with the wind was getting more and more real.  We were both hurting a bit over the last ten miles or so, but I was happy to have gotten in almost 78 miles to nudge my week's total just barely aver the 300 mile mark.

I rode solo again on Monday, trying to take it easy, which was difficult because it was still pretty windy.  Then on Tuesday's group ride I found my legs were still hurting from Sunday. Unfortunately, the pace was pretty fast, so my plan to sit in at the back and take it easy didn't exactly work out. Wednesday's WeMoRi was fast in some places and not so fast in others, and although it's not very long, for me at least, I could still feel Sunday's ride in my tired old legs. Sucks getting old.

It was damned windy out on the lakefront this morning.

Last night a cold front came through and when I went out at 5:40 am I was greeted by what must have been a 15-20 mph northwest wind.  What I wasn't greeted by was anyone at the meeting spot, so I rode out to the lakefront alone.  As expected, there were only a few people out there. I think we had five for a while along Lakeshore Drive, but by the time we were on the bike path heading west into the wind blowing off the lake it was down to just Bjarne, Jeff and me.  We weren't killing it, though, so it was fine.  We turned around a little early to compensate for the slow speed and came back with a bit of a tailwind at a more conversational speed.  I think we'd all had about enough eschelon for the day.

I think I'll try and disassemble Danielle's scooter tonight.  It stopped on her last week and we had to walk it back home about a mile.  It'll start right up and then immediately die, so I'm suspecting a vacuum or fuel delivery problem.  The only trouble is that the engine is entirely encased in all manner of plastic, so it'll probably take me an hour just to have a look.  The Tulane organizations fair is tomorrow evening, and after that I'm heading straight up to Natchez for their training camp. I'm just doing the Saturday ride, though, and heading back Saturday afternoon so I can lead the NOBC Winter Training Ride Series #3.  The weather, of course, is looking a little sketchy.  Saturday morning in Natchez will be in the upper 30s. Sunday in Covington is looking a bit warmer and sunny, so hopefully that will work out.  Also hopefully my legs will still be functional enough to ride 80 miles too.

Winter Training Rides

Yeah, the fog was pretty thick on Saturday.

The unexpected recurrence of unseasonably warm weather we've been having down here lately has been kind of a mixed bag. While I would never go so far as to complain about sustained January temperatures in the upper 50s through the mid-70s, it hasn't been without some issues, the primary one being fog. On a morning with the temperature in the upper 50s, I might normally venture out wearing little more than summer kit for a long weekend training ride, but when you look out the window and see everything shrouded in a thick blanket of fog, your plans, or at least your wardrobe, require a bit of adjustment.  When it's as foggy as it was Saturday morning for the Giro Ride, you know you're going to be good and wet. It's like riding in a cloud. For me, that meant arm-warmers and wind-resistant base layer, and even knee-warmers. By the end I was regretting having left the shoe-covers at home.

Sunday's WRS group coming over the watchtower hill from the easy direction.

Despite the fog, we had a pretty large turnout for Saturday's Giro, and with such a cluster of blinking tail lights, combined with the typically low early morning traffic volume, I wasn't feeling too concerned. My only real worry was that place where we merge onto I-510, crossing two lanes of interstate traffic, on a curve, in the fog. If I'd thought of it sooner I'd have tried to convince everyone to take Bullard and the service road instead, but they were at the front and I wasn't and it was too late by the time I realized it would be kind of risky.  Incredibly, the front of the group didn't wait until it was all clear and basically pulled in front of a tractor-trailer rig. Luckily the driver wasn't going super fast and saw what was happening and slowed down -- a lot. It was kind of lucky that everyone made it across that time.  A number of riders turned back either at the end of Hayne or when we got to Chef Highway, but as it turned out, the ride down Chef was smooth and controlled and there was practically no traffic, so that was good.  I was very surprised that the fog never really lifted until I was on my way back to the house on Jeff. Davis.

So on Sunday we had our first NOBC Winter Ride Series ride on the northshore.  This is a revival of the old winter series we used to do, but rather than start in November, we're now starting in mid-January thanks to all of the cyclocross entanglements during November and December. I also decided, somewhat unilaterally, to push the start time back to 8:30 so that the sun will at least be above the trees. We're also starting from Abita Springs so that there's a fairly easy 20 miles or so at which point the short ride can split off.  After that, there will be a few designated Sprint Zones (like the WBL has) with the rest of the ride being a little less aggressive so that most riders are able to stay with the group.

Ben and Dustin spent a lot of time on the front riding
easy tempo which kept things together nicely.

Last Sunday we had a few of the Nth Degree Junior riders on hand, being shepherded by Stanton.  I think it worked out pretty well.  We did around 67 miles with a few fast sections and they all stayed together until the last then miles or so. By the end of the last Sprint Zone up the watchtower hill and continuing to Tung Road we'd lost a couple of riders, so when the front of the group continued on, I turned back to pick up one of the Juniors and Charlotte and Stanton who was keeping track of the last Junior. Afterward about ten of us had lunch at the Abita Brew Pub.  Basically, it was a really enjoyable ride and the Sprint Zone sections were fast enough and long enough that I felt like I got a pretty good workout.  I'm already looking forward to next week's ride.

Southern Winds

Yeah!  Warmer weather for a while.

With our weekend of freezing weather in the rear-view mirror, I woke up this morning to a relatively mild 55 degrees, rising to 61℉ a couple of hours later when I got back home.  It's 72 ℉ right now and looking like we won't see anything lower than 59 for the next ten days, which is also about when we'll see the winds swing around to the north. The next few days are going to feature warm temperatures and significant southeast winds. I'll take that over freezing and strong north winds any day of the week. We'll probably have a few days with pre-dawn temperatures over 60, which means I may even get to ride with bare knees. Granted, my personal knee-warmer threshold of 59 is kind of high compared to most, but I'd rather keep those old tendons nice and warm rather than risk any winter tendinitis. Plus, these old knees are probably running kind of low on lube anyway.

So this morning I rode out to the lakefront wearing knickers, base layer and long-sleeve jersey with a thin wind vest on top. It was very cozy, but once we got to Lakeshore Drive I knew the vest was going to have to go into the pocket pretty soon, which it did.

The group wasn't too energetic this morning, which was a bit of a surprise considering the warm weather.  I think a few people were missing.  After we got off of Lakeshore Drive and onto the bike path VJ, who was on his TT bike again, started spending long, long times at the front. He wasn't going super-fast or anything - mostly in the 25-26 mph range - but everyone seemed pretty content with that.

Regrouping after the turn-around in Kenner and riding straight into the rising sun.

As we turned around out at the casino boat in Kenner the sun was just starting to peek above the horizon. A little while later I noticed Mike W had somehow appeared in the paceline, weaving and bobbing as usual but otherwise just sitting in like the rest of us. That one cog on my cassette that was skipping on Sunday seems to have settled in, or more likely the chain has settled in, because I didn't notice any skipping at all this morning.

Yesterday evening we picked up The Daughter and her two dogs from the airport. Some time early that morning our own dog had somehow, with remarkable stealth, gotten a freshly baked lemon meringue pie off of the kitchen counter. It apparently landed upside-down on the kitchen floor and he helped himself to, thankfully, mostly just the crust.  That evening when I got home from work I discovered the remnants of a bag of potato chips on the floor in my office along with dog vomit all over the living room. I think that one of The Daughter's dogs has taught him that it's OK to get things off of counters and tables to eat.

As Cold As Advertised

Cold and Clear Sunday Morning Ride

It was the coldest weekend so far this year down here on the delta. Even south of the relatively warm lake Pontchartrain waters we dipped down to 28 or so, and spent a lot of time around 32. Friday evening I sent out an email confirming that I'd be riding the Giro since I figured a lot of people were probably on the fence about it. All I got back was one response from a rider wondering if I was serious or not.

So Saturday morning I pulled some long tights over my knickers and headed north in the dark. I was well prepared for the temperature, having accumulated enough winter riding gear to stay fairly comfortable down to the mid-20s, which almost never happens around here anyway, and if it does it doesn't last long. The problem Saturday morning wasn't the 30 degree temperature.  It was the 22 mph north wind. Thanks to the complications involved in finding and layering on the clothing needed, I was running a little late, but when I arrived at Starbucks there weren't any other bikes there.  As I picked up my coffee the barista asked how many other riders I was expecting to show up.  I replied, "Maybe just me today."  I was almost right.  A few minutes before 7 am, Taco showed up. I could tell when he looked around that he was surprised I was the only one there. Having grown up in a place where your ancestors were Vikings and spent time working in Siberia, thirty American degrees barely qualifies as chilly. So we headed out to Lakeshore Drive where we could see the waves crashing over the seawall.  I would have taken some dramatic photos, however I needed both hands on the bars to keep from being blown off the bike, and even if I could have fished the camera from my pocket without crashing I'd have had a lot of trouble pushing the little buttons through the two layers of gloves that were keeping my hands toasty.  We had to turn onto Filmore and take Leon C. Simon to the bridge because the east end of Lakeshore Drive was pretty much under water from the water that had been coming over the seawall. Going over the bridges required a firm grip on the bars to keep the crosswind from taking my front wheel out from under me.  Anyway, once we got onto Hayne Blvd. I tucked myself into Taco's draft and pretty much stayed there the rest of the ride.  Since there were just the two of us we decided to take Bullard to the service road on the way out in order to avoid the stretch on the Interstate.  For similar safety reasons we turned around at Chef Highway. I ended up with 40 miles of mostly drafting and was pretty much done.  Taco continued on to the river levee and rode another 60.

Sunday morning the temperature was about the same, but the wind had calmed down to the high single-digits. I was again the first to arrive at Starbucks, but this time a few more riders showed up. Four of them.  That allowed for a nice steady Giro Ride that was faster than Saturday's.  Over the course of the ride the temperature went from 30 to almost 40, although there was a lot more ice on the edges of the road than I'd seen on Saturday.

Next week is looking to be much warmer with highs in the 70s through the weekend. I've had about enough of winter lately, so I'm looking forward to that.

Weekend Winter Weather

Heading back along the Kenner lakefront bike path on Thursday it was windy but otherwise pretty nice.

Things started going downhill yesterday.  I had made it out to the WeMoRi on Wednesday, which was fine - temperature in the low 50s.  We had a nice brisk training ride without much of the fog we'd had the day before. Thursday morning's weather was similar, maybe even a degree or two warmer.  I'd gone out a little over-dressed like I often do this time of year. It was so freaking dark, though. I have never really gotten comfortable with these group training rides in the dark. To make matters worse, they have started working on some new sections of the seawall on the lakefront and have two new stretches of the right lane blocked off. So on Thursday we made the loop out at Seabrook and as usual the speed ramped up  heading back to the west on Lakeshore Drive. We crossed Harrison at around 25 mph, which wouldn't have been bad except that was where the right lane was closed.  So we go plowing through the only truly terrible section of asphalt, in the left lane, in the dark, in a paceline. Well, water bottles start flying off the bikes and I feel my front wheel make a solid hit in one of the many little potholes that, of course, I couldn't see and probably couldn't have avoided even if I could have seen it. Thirty seconds later I feel my front tire going flat. Most of the group waited while I fumbled through changing the tube with gloves on while trying to see through my fogged-up glasses, still pretty much in the dark.  Took about twice as long as usual, but we were back on the road soon enough. For most of the rest of the ride it seemed like VJ was sitting on the front on his TT bike like a mother duck with all of us ducklings lined up behind him.  I got back home just as it started to rain. Looking at the forecast, I wasn't too hopeful about Friday.

So I woke up on Friday and checked the radar first thing.  It looked like I had a couple of hours before the real rain, but  the streets were still wet and the temperature was already falling because of a cold front that was pushing through. Although the temperature was only 48, I knew it would be even lower by the time I got back.  Also, there was already a light mist falling that I could see in the beam of my headlight as I waited for the Garmin to pick up its satellites. I'd decided to ride the old rain bike and had stuck my rain jacket into my pocket since there was pretty likely I'd hit some rain. By the time I got to the levee, just a couple of miles from home, my arms were already getting wet, so I stopped and swapped my vest for my rain jacket. With a strong north wind blowing, and all the clothes I was wearing, and my glasses already fogging up from the mist or fog or whatever you want to call it, I didn't even bother to look at the speed very much. The old Pennine probably weighs at least ten pounds more than the Bianchi, so I just plugged away at what turned out to be 14-17 mph mainly just to log a few miles that were supposed to be easy but didn't always feel that way. Fortunately I was only planning on doing 20 miles or so, so even though there were a couple of little rain showers along the way and I'd forgotten to put on my shoe covers, I wasn't really too cold or wet by the time I got back home.

This is fun??

The weekend, however, is looking pretty bad. The low tonight is supposed to be 29, although I'm sure it won't actually get quite that low right in town.  The rain should be over by then, but the predicted 21 mph north wind is likely going to keep a lot of people from getting out on the bike for the Giro. I had been planning on starting the NOBC winter ride series on Sunday but we decided to postpone it one week because temperatures on the northshore Sunday morning will be 26 and I'm pretty sure nobody is going to want to ride in that.  I could probably handle it for a couple of hours with proper wardrobe choices, but I'm not likely to make the trip unless I have some firm commitments from a few others... in writing.  I'll just have to play this weekend by ear, I guess. At least it's not as miserable as it is up in Hartford for the cyclocross national championships.  For the life of me I can't figure out why anyone would thing that kind of racing is fun!

Wet Asphalt

Strange name.....

It's been raining off-and-on almost all day.  It started early in the morning, and when I heard it at 6 am I rolled over and went back to sleep for a few more minutes.  But soon enough curiosity got the better of me and I checked the hourly weather forecast and radar.  You know, if you ride bikes long enough you eventually become an amateur meteorologist.  You also get pretty good at identifying roadkill and birds, but that's another story.  So I stared at the radar and figured I would have about a two-hour window when it wouldn't be raining.  Of course, the asphalt would still be wet, but at least the water wouldn't be coming from both above and below.  On the plus side, the temperature was in the low 70s, so getting wet would not be the deal-breaker it would on a colder day.  I decided to head out, around 9:30, on the old Orbea rather than subject the Bianchi's bearings and chain to what I knew would be a wet and gritty couple of hours. Things were going pretty well on the way out.  There was a bit of wind to deal with, but the levee bike path was pretty good and although there were a few really wet places, for the most part it was fine. I figured I'd ride out to the "big dip" at St. Rose, which would give me a 2-hour round-trip of around 35 miles.  Well, I was just about a mile from my turn-around when, of course, the rear tire started going flat. I wasn't surprised.  Riding on wet roads increases the chances of flatting exponentially. So out at the Dip I stopped to change the tube. I easily found the shard of rock that had caused the puncture.  Then, when I tried to put the new tube in I discovered it was one of Danielle's 650C tubes.  Luckily, I had another spare tube. After a couple hundred strokes of my trusty Silca mini-pump (this was my back-up seat bag, not my regular one) I was back on the road.

Turning around, I picked up a little tailwind and was cruising along nicely when a pretty good little rain shower passed over me and got me good and wet. Pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a flat tire and wet feet.  I got back home in precisely two hours, so at least that worked out.  I was feeling pretty proud of myself just for getting in a ride on such a day when, an hour later, the sun came out and the streets dried up.  If I'd waited until like 1 pm I would have had a much more dry ride, but a few hours later we were back to non-stop rain.  Ben stopped by to pick up the key to the Tulane cycling facility because the card-swipe lock was malfunctioning again.  It seems to do that every six months or so when the battery dies and I have to put in a service request to get it fixed.

Well, tomorrow it's back to work.

Almost

On the last day of the last month of 2016 I pulled the bike down off its hook and rolled it out into the darkness. The forecast on weather.com was somewhat at odds with the reality above me, and I wondered if my last ride of the year would end up being a very short one.  The Garmin seemed to be stuck in "working" mode, probably updating its firmware, so I started Strava on my phone.  It wouldn't do to have the last ride of the year go unrecorded. It was about ten minutes before the Garmin started recording and about fifteen when a light rain started to fall.  I was most of the way to Starbucks already, and the rain was really light, so I pressed on, lured by the promise of that cup of hot Christmas Blend.  I'd dressed for temperatures in the 50s, despite the thermometer reading that was closer to 65.  I was expecting to get wet, the only questions being "when, how much, and for how long?"

At Starbucks there were just a couple of riders when I arrived, one of whom was one of the Nth Degree Juniors.  Ed and Stanton had arranged for a few of them to ride their first Giro Rides this morning.  I sat under the canvas awning listening to the raindrops and sipping my coffee as I checked the radar.  This little shower would be past us soon, so we'd at least be able to get in a few miles.  Rob had already bailed, but other riders started to arrive and by the time we were heading east on Lakeshore Drive there was a decent enough group.  Everyone in the group was award of the Juniors, which helped to keep the pace smooth and manageable.  Ed did a couple of pre-announced 5-minute intervals, and Jaden rode off the front a few times, but otherwise it was a very civilized Giro. We were almost back to the Casino bridge on the way back when it finally started to rain.  Fortunately it was a very light rain.

After the last of the group turned off on Harrison to finish their rides at Starbucks I continued alone on my way back home thinking, "Well, I almost made it back without getting wet."  Almost.  By then I was wet enough to be glad I'd over-dressed that morning but I never got wet enough to soak my socks all the way through, so the timing almost worked out perfectly.  Almost.

Almost 12,000

Back at home I uploaded the ride to Strava and checked my total 2016 mileage.  11,913 miles.  Almost 12k.  Almost. Still, a pretty decent year mileage-wise, comparable with recent years despite a missed week early in the year when I was sick and a number of missed weekends due to officiating or Tulane Cycling road trips.  Considering that I don't make any particular effort to accumulate a specific number of annual miles, it's kind of amazing how similar the past few years have been.  Tomorrow we're looking at a 50% chance of rain most of the day, so whether or not 2017 will start with a ride is going to be up in the air.

Winter Wet in Washington

The Chehalis Western Trail

The forecast wasn't looking very encouraging when I packed my bags, but not my bike, for Olympia last week. Our 7-day stay was offering no more hope than two partial days without rain, and since we were going to the Pacific northwest where the roads don't dry out until late Spring and moss grows on the north side of basically everything, I wasn't feeling very optimistic about being able to ride. There would, however, be a couple of bikes at the other end of the transcontinental flight, so I filled a bag with winter riding gear, shoes, pedals, and helmet, hoping for the best.

We arrived in Seattle after two remarkably on-time flights, rented a car, and made the drive down to Olympia under, of course, overcast skies with occasional light rain.  Overcast skies with occasional light rain pretty much defines winter in the upper-left corner of the contiguous US, once you add "with temperatures in the 30s and 40s." We were staying at a brand-new Hampton Inn about half a mile from The Daughter's house. The place was all shiny new and all of the staff acted like they'd just stepped out of hospitality training school.  Danielle and Shannon's new place was nice, even though it was packed with three visiting family members and three visiting family dogs in addition to Danielle's two dogs. If you'd like me to do the math for you, that's 7 people and 5 dogs.

A little park on the bike trail with a much-appreciated
bathroom.  Danielle's old Cannondale worked out fine.

The first chance to ride was the day before Christmas.  The streets were soaking wet, but it looked like the rain would hold off for a few hours.  I went to the garage to swap out Shannon's SPDs for my Keo pedals and hit a brick wall.  The drive-side pedal had pretty much welded itself to the crankarm.  I'd brought my pedal wrench, but couldn't get the thing to budge despite resorting to standing on the wrench, heating up the crankarm, etc., etc.  After half an hour I gave up and resorted to Plan B, which was to use Danielle's 650c Cannondale.  I think the frame size on that is 42.  Fortunately, there was enough seatpost, so I set it at my usual 65.1 cm, moved all of the steerer spacers from above to below the handlebar, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it would suffice.  Granted, the reach was way short, but since I'd be riding pretty slowly anyway I didn't figure it would matter much.

Just as the rain started and I headed home on Tuesday.

The temperature was 37F and the streets were wet, but it was still the best shot I'd have for a couple of days.  I downloaded a Strava Route from Danielle's account and uploaded to my Garmin 500, which was something I'd never tried before, but since the 56 mile loop would take me places I'd never been before, and I'd probably be cold and wet for the last half of it, I figured it was well worth experimenting.  As it turned out, it worked great, which is to say I never missed a turn despite starting out in the wrong direction and having to turn around after a mile or so.  I was wearing long tights on top of thermal knickers with shoe-covers, two layers underneath my winter riding jacket and a wind vest on top.  Long gloves with wind-resistant shell gloves over them completed the ensemble unless you count the liberal amount of chap-stick on my nose, lips and cheekbones.  As it turned out, I was plenty warm enough for the first part of the ride which was on the bike path.  Although it was covered with wet leaves and branches in a lot of places, it was otherwise pretty nice. After 12 miles on the Chehalis Western Trail bike path that I'd ridden a couple of year earlier I turned off onto a nice country road with a few little hills and some nice scenery, eventually riding through the town of Tenino.  From there I picked up "Old Highway 99" which I had hoped would be another nice, nearly abandoned, old country road.  Unfortunately it was relatively busy which kept me on the wide shoulder to the right of the rumble strip, which would have been OK except that it was covered with rocks and mud and stuff from all of the rain, and of course it was soaking wet.  By the time I got back into Olympia I looked like I'd just done a cyclocross race.  I took the bike into the back yard and hosed it, and my shoe-covers, down before peeling off the soaked clothes and throwing the whole muddy mess into the washer.

Christmas day was pretty much spend on the couch while three people worked the kitchen and a humongous turkey roasted in the oven.  On Monday we made a trip up to Seattle to take the Underground Seattle tour and visit the market and generally get out of the house.  It was pretty freaking cold and overcast the whole time, of course. The underground tour was interesting, as was the market, so worth the trip.

Underground in Seattle. Looked like my basement.

The next morning, on Tuesday, I stared at the weather map for a while and eventually decided to try and get in some miles before it started raining again.  The streets were still just as wet as they'd been three days earlier, and there was definitely more rain on the way, but by the time I headed out in the early afternoon the temperature was up to a relatively balmy 44 degrees.  Knowing I'd probably end up in the rain, I dressed almost as heavily as I had earlier in the week.  I made it about 17 miles before it started raining, so at that point I turned back to retrace my route back to the house. I arrived back pretty well soaked from head to foot, so the bike got another wash with the garden hose and the clothes got another trip through the washing machine. Anyway, considering the forecast when I'd left New Orleans, I was reasonably happy to have gotten in 94 miles during the visit.

Arctic Wolf at the Tacoma zoo

On Wednesday the weather was the best we'd seen with sunny skies and relatively moderate temperatures but we had a road trip that day to the zoo in Tacoma and by the time we got back from all of that it was too late for another ride.  Sunrise in Olympia was around 8 am and sunset around 4:30 pm, and riding in the dark on wet unfamiliar roads would have been a spectacularly bad idea during a holiday visit, so I put Danielle's seatpost and handlebars back where I'd found them and packed up the riding clothes.

Mount Ranier through the car window on the way to Tacoma.

The trip back home was not without its complications. We'd left ourselves plenty of spare time for the drive to Seattle since we'd have to return the car and there was a chance we'd get stuck in rush-hour traffic.  As it turned out, the traffic wasn't a problem at all.  We turned in the car and caught the shuttle to the airport where the Alaska Airlines check-in kiosk kind of crashed on us with a message reading "Oops!  Something went wrong.  Please see an agent."  As we were waiting in line for that Candy realized her phone was missing and we figured it must have fallen out in the rental car. We got the bags checked and then headed back to the shuttle and car rental station where, luckily, they had found the phone.  Finally returning to the airport we went through security where the scanner found a crumpled up cash register receipt in the bottom of one of my pockets which triggered a full body search.  I have no idea what the rationale for that might be.  Anyway, they failed to find any weapons of mass destruction on my person and we finally made our way to the gate, which we quickly discovered had been changed to another concourse.  It was a good thing we had given ourselves a whole extra hour!

Back on home turf Friday morning

On the long non-stop flight back home I re-read Erin's book "Postcards from the Sky" that I seem to read every time I'm on a long flight since it's one of the only books I have on my iPad.

Finally this morning I was back on my own bike with the temperature in the mid-40s, so I headed for the levee bike path and had a nice 50 miles, meeting up with Pat and Steve and Charlie and a couple of others along the way.