Introducing: Left Lane's Early Morning Madness Rides! ( LLEMMR)
Instead of me trying to explain the concept second hand, here is the Visionary, in his own words, describing in a way only he can describe, how to become a LLEMMR.
"As the time changes and we can no
longer ride after work (for those in the peloton who still have to work….my
goal in life that one day oil would come up when I flush the toilet…looks
like an improbability…probably do not own the mineral rights to my East Hill
Manor anyway!!) it is once again time for LEFT LANES MORNING MADNESS RIDES
to begin.
Realizing several years ago that
I had to maintain a schedule of riding 4 to 5 days a week to maintain any
semblance of form and to have a reasonable chance of keeping up with what has
become a faster, somewhat younger, hammering peloton, I started trying to ride
2 to 3 mornings a week starting with the time change in early November each
year.
Of course when riding in the
mornings during Fall/Winter the weather becomes the main factor in which days I
ride. Typical rule of thumb for me has been that the temperature must be
above 35 degrees, the wind must be below around 18mph, No Rain, and also
Morning Fog can sometimes cancel my plans to ride. I use the hourly weather
forecast on Weather Underground for conditions/radar the night before to
determine suitability of the next morning’s conditions. For these reasons
I hesitate to set specific days to ride but typically I will ride 3 days out of
Monday to Thursday with Friday a day off (unless it is impossible to ride the
other days of the week).
Last year I was joined
consistently by Johnny Bugno (Dukes) and Nestordamus (Nestor) for
these rides. Whereas I live in East Hill, I get on my bike around 5:25AM
at my house at 1424 E Gadsden
Street (Gadsden
is 1 block south of and runs parallel to Cervantes Street). I head up Scenic Highway to Summit (lights
aflashing) and we join up at Summit & Spanish Trail at 5:45AM.
The typical Course is up Spanish to Creighton, to 9th Ave, to Olive,
to Johnson, to Olive, to Davis, to U Mall, to Burgess to Sarah then the
infamous Mansierre Loop which takes us to Old Palafox wherein we turn at the
road by Pensacola Christian over the Railroad tracks then through the hood over
the viaduct and coming out on Davis Highway. At Blount Johnny heads to
work and Nestor and I head to East Hill where I arrive typically around 6:55 or
so to get ready for work and Nestor heads back to the Cordova area.
I typically end up with
around 24 miles and we average in the 16 to 17mph range as we alternate pulls
at the front. These morning rides are more of a team effort with no
Sprints/Antics (hammerheads need not apply) and a goal of getting in some
valuable miles at a consistent pace during the week.
If anyone is interested (please
only those who are really considering riding) in joining the MORNING MADNESS
crew, send me an E-mail at rlopiccolo@airdesignhvac.com
and I will add you to the list and I will send out an E-mail the afternoon
before we plan to ride. With riders disbursed all over, you can join our
ride anywhere along the route not just at my house or at Summit and Spanish Trail…just determine where
and when we are nearest to your home. Please note with the demands of
having to complete the ride and get to work, we do not stop and wait for anyone
to show up…so if you plan on riding be timely or know when we will pass your
point of joining the ride. Riders will need both front and tail lights
and should have proper cold weather gear once the temperatures drop
significantly."
So join the guys for one of these rides and become part of an unique group known as the LLEMMERs. (Not to be confused with the Lemmings, a close relative from the rodent family who lives mainly in the Arctic regions. Nope, these guys like the warm weather.) You always learn something new when you tune in to this channel.
See you out on the road,
Bob
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