Last levee ride

Well it looks as if I have done my last levee ride as a New Orleanian. We have a contract on our house and have to vacate this Friday. Lots of crap going on with the move as we have had inspectors a plenty come through yesterday, appraisers today and more inspectors tomorrow. I am spending my days looking for housing in Austin. Looks like we have a place far from town. Not the New Orleans commute that I am so used to. Suburbia life is going to suck! We have a home being built, but due to all the rain TX construction has been delayed. I sure hope Austin will have safe roads for riding. Due to the population increase there I have found quite a few vehicular accidents involving cyclists. Could be a stressful commute down the road. I will definitely look forward to another day up on the levee, but until then got to find somewhere to ride.

Erin gone no rain

Well Erin passed us up without a drop and it is still damn hot. Got out to the levee, late as usual, and had someone pass me as I was warming up. I should say loosing up the legs as it was all ready in the mid 80's and I was sweating profusely. I jumped on his wheel and went for the ride. He was down on his tt bars so I sat in. After a few miles he let me take the pull and I asked if he was done or heading out further. He said he was going to the end, so I pulled until I met the group, just past the parish line and jumped in with them for the return. For the days of summer here it was unusually windy and we had a cross head wind on the return. It was a nice workout but sometimes a little of "what the @#$% are you doing".
At work now and starting to pack things up for the move to Texass. At least they are having a wet summer. I better not say too much or we will get crushed by Dean. Speaking of not saying too much, why is this snippet from Cheney just making headlines. What a hypocrite. 1/20/09 isn't close enough, get rid of 'em now!

Storm's a brewin'

We are looking at Tropical Disturbance 34 in the Gulf and Tropical Storm Dean out in the Atlantic. I wish 34 would turn due north and drop some rain on us. Man is it hot. The AC just won't shut off and it is 84 in the house. As for Dean, he can stay out in the Atlantic and head north for some of those hobnobbers up on the eastern seaboard.
Finished a short ride today in a full soaking of sweat. Seems to be a pretty repetitive experience these dog days of summer. Met up with Elyse at the zoo, she has been out of commission for the last month. So we rode out slowly to Florida chatting about photography and bike racing. I decided to turn with the group and head home, problem about having to go to work. I was pleasantly surprised to find the pace civilized. Good since I have no form right now. I found out from Randy that Tulane made the top 25 of US News for recovering schools. They actually headed the list. At least they made some list.

Sweatering

It has been so hot lately I feel as if I am wearing a wool sweater on my rides. Had a nice dinner at The Pelican Club downtown saturday night which lead to a late sunday morning ride. Kind of dehydrated due to the many cocktails consumed whilst eating a delicious meal. Richard sure knows how to cook but not to good about showing up for rides. This morning wasn't any different than the last 2 weeks of sweltering heat. 20 miles and completely soaked to the bone. If we don't get some rain soon I am going to have to water the roof for some relief. Anyone out there wishing to buy a house in NO? We are selling and heading to Austin with new job positions. Got to sell, but the market really sucks right now. Insurance, taxes, economy, crime,... just depressing. Somebody help!

Tinted windows suck

My fitness level is pathetic right now. I practically melted this morning on the levee. Tried to stay with a 4 man break that was just smoking and only lasted 5 minutes. Almost heaved my mango juice. Met up with Richard and we soft pedaled it in. As we were going through the Zoo parking lot a small SUV decided to back up right into us. Or course they had tinted windows so dark that you couldn't even see the driver. No eye contact is a bad thing. We yelled and they continued to back up as we swerved to miss. I have a feeling they were busy adjusting the radio and not paying attention to the surroundings. Hey your behind the wheel of a 3500lbs weapon. PAY ATTENTION!

Heat and Age...

just don't mix. I was as usual late for the levee ride this morning, but caught up to Joe on the way out. Joe is about 500 years old and he looked it today. We had a slight head wind going out and I had him sit on my wheel. He kept dropping off so I kept dialing it down. We made it to Florida St and saw Donald with two girls and I really thought we should have turned around there, much better scenery, but Joe wanted to meet the larger group. We finally saw them just past Williams and we turned before they arrived, but Joe didn't have the speed when they passed and he couldn't catch on the tail end. I kept looking back and decided to pace him home. Clayton was on the tail end of the group and if you are used to riding with him you always keep your distance. One he doesn't ride often and when he does he is always at his limit and only mm's from the one in front of him. Jerky moves in the paceline makes for a nervous ride. So anyway I kept Joe with me as I could hear the squeak of his chain. Everytime I lost that sound I would slow down so he could catch up, because it was damn hot. I am talking Africa hot!!! Once we passed the playground I had a look at ole Joe and he is leaning to the right barely on his seat. "You all right?" "Age is not on my side." was the response. So we soft pedalled it home. I left him at the park hoping he is still alive. I am sure he made it home, but I bet he is one tired old dude.