42 Years Birthday Ride

This year's birthday ride was in the rain. Not just any rain, mind you - this was what my grandpa would call a gully-washer.Forty-two miles of constant rain. Sometimes heavy enough to drop visibility to less than a quarter of a mile!

But fear not! I was prepared. I had my rain jacket and my backpack with the reflective rain cover. Both are hi-vis yellow with reflective patches. My rain jacket has fully-reflective sleeves that really light up in headlights. Unfortunately, it was hot enough to require me to open the pit zips and front on the rain jacket. While these jackets are great at keeping moisture out, they just don't work when they aren't sealed up tight.

I also discovered that my rain cover lost its elastic and is no longer waterproof. At one of my mid-ride stops, I found that water had penetrated just about everything. By the time I made it home, the elastic had given up and the rain fly was blowing in the wind behind me.

But those are just minor things. The big adventure was the construction on Alligator Bayou (Manchac drive). They are installing a new culvert to manage water in Alligator Bayou and Spanish Lake (see these links for more: http://www.leanweb.org/our-work/water/alligator-bayou-/-spanish-lake-update; http://lacoastpost.com/blog/?p=5428). I just happened along when they had a big hole in the levee and two small dams on either side. I was determined to finish my ride, so I hiked one of the dams. Unfortunately, the rain had soaked the area, so I had a bunch of mud to contend with on the approach and departure. Fortunately, the water was running off the dam, so there was little mud on top.

I headed west from there, toward the "split". I made the loop, then headed home, but not before stopping a couple of times for snacks - banana and bagel at stop one, dark chocolate at stop two. By the way, if you ever wondered why people in Louisiana are buried in above-ground crypts, take a look at this. If those were underground, they would be floating.

My second stop was at the flood control structure just before the construction site. It is just down the street from Alligator Bayou Tours (one of the victims of draining the Spanish Lake area). It is such a popular overlook, that they hung a trashbag from the railing to keep the trash from ending up in the bayou. There were a surprising number of beer bottles visible from the top. Go figure. Negotiating the dam was faster the second time since I didn't have to figure out the best way across.

I had to make a loop around the block to get the last mile in. It was somewhat of a mixed blessing. I picked up something in my front tire and had a flat in the last mile. Fortunately, I was close enough to make it home before the tire went completely flat. An interesting side note - when a tire punctures in the rain, the escaping air makes a nice mist to show the exact location of the puncture.

Melissa and the kids were just heading out for lunch as I pulled into the neighborhood. They turned around to welcome me home. After cleaning the bike, then taking a hot shower, I congratulated myself and took a nice nap. Welcome to year forty-three.