I wander occasionally from my plan of weekly pre-ride postings when I think I have something to say. Feel free to disagree.
In the midst of three weeks of postings on traffic and safety, we’ll take time out for some updates and shameless commercial plugs.
Between rounds one and two of a scheduled 6 rounds of me vs April showers on Sunday, I stepped out to pick up some pastries from Batch Bakehouse. Since I was out I stopped for a shot of espresso at Cafe Domestique, to allow my wife some more time to sleep in before I made some asparagus, pea, scallion, and Ameribella cheese omelets. (Since I am shamelessly plugging friends, I made another cup of coffee with breakfast; beans from Just Coffee.)
The “showers” clearly won the first round. By round three I was making a comeback.
Domestique, for those of you who don’t follow bike racing, is a term for
those on a racing team who do the heavy lifting to help the team star(s). They ride back to the team car and pick up a bunch of water bottles, then ferry them forward to the other racers. They set the pace, exhausting them selves and (if all goes well) the other teams, so their star can win a stage.
Cafe Domestique is an homage to those unsung heroes. They also pull a pretty good espresso and have a changing display of cool bikes. Today they have some old Gary Fisher mountain bikes. Owner Dan Coppola tells me they have some pre-1970 Schwinn Paramounts coming in next. I plan to talk with my neighbor to see if he wants to display his 1970-era Holdsworth racing bikes.
After breakfast I went back for round three of sweeping, scraping, and shoveling those April showers from the steps and sidewalk. The crocus I photographed a couple of weeks ago is/are still the only thing(s) blooming, if you can call this blooming. By this time last year, the irises were in bloom.
I ramped up the training this week. Last Sunday I had a free spinning class with my co-workers at a “theatre” that shall remain nameless to protect the guilty.
On Wednesday I took the road bike out for the first time this season. While the computer swore that it would start raining between 7 and 8 PM, the stuff falling on me starting around 5 sure seemed like rain. It was mostly a light mist and arm warmers and tights were enough to keep me warm and dry-ish for ~25 miles. Post-ride pizza and Montepulciano completed the rewarming process.
Half-fast Cycling Club 