The Giro Ride

These very informal training rides leave every Saturday and Sunday at about 7:00 a.m. Currently (Spring 2006), the group meets at the parking lot near where Pontchartrain Blvd. meets the West End of Lakeshore Drive. (Get there via West End Blvd.) This 45-mile ride follows Lakeshore Drive (you can catch the group there if you're a bit late) east to Hayne Blvd., continues on Hayne to Paris Road, and heads south to Chef Menteur Hwy (Hwy 90), turning East to Venetian Isles and returning essentially the same way. In-season rides can be tough, with sprints at the end of Hayne, Chef Highway, the Service Road, and the top of the two bridges. Group size varies from about 10 in the dead of winter to about 50 in mid-summer. These rides were started many years ago by Glenn Gulotta as a traning ride for his West End team, and subsequently became one of the most consistent training rides in town. A great way to get in a hard training ride and still be home before 10:00. The group does a very slow warm-up on Lakeshore Drive on the way out, with the pace picking up to the high-20's and low 30's once it crosses the Industrial Canal bridge. Take a look at the Giro Ride Speed Chart to get an idea of what a fast mid-summer Giro Ride is like. This is a traditional training ride that is not organized or conducted by any particular club or bike shop.

Currently (Spring '08) the informal Tuesday Night Worlds training races are starting at 6:00 pm from the southside parking bay along Lakeshore Drive between the Bayou St. John bridge and the Elysian Fields traffic circle. Once the East side of Lakeshore Drive becomes available again they will probably revert to the full 6-mile loop, but currently the group is doing 6 laps of the short loop, starting and finishing heading East.

Northshore training races are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting at 5:30 p.m. from St. Benedict's church on Smith Rd. near the intersection with Stafford Road. These training races are about 28 miles with a few hot spots along the way.

NOTE: These training races are done only during the summer months while we're on daylight savings time.

The bike path atop the Mississippi River Levee, officially called the Mississippi River Trail, is a nice place to train and take in some scenery, particularly when it's not too crowded (early mornings). This silky-smooth asphalt path starts at Audubon Park near the Zoo and extends about 22 miles upriver through Kenner with no intersections and no traffic except for the occasional police car. It can get a bit windy up on the levee, particularly in the winter, but it still provides one of the only traffic-free places to train. There is a small but fairly regular group that trains on the bike path on weekday mornings. Currently (Mar. 2005) the group starts at 6:40 from the pumping station just upriver of the Orleans parish line, with other riders meeting the group at Jefferson Playground (near Central Ave.) On Tuesday and Thursday, riders are meeting at 6:15 in order to ride the full distance (about 44 mi.). Click the photo to see the photo album.

Lakeshore Drive has always been the city's most popular location for individual and group training. For many riders throughout the area, a typical weekday training ride involves a warm-up ride to Lakeshore Drive, 10 or 15 miles along the lakefront, and a cool-down ride back home. The complete 10-mile out-n-back course offers a good surface, relatively little traffic, few intersections and pleasant scenery. The Eastern end from the Seabrook bridge to Bayou St. John is a popular 6-mile loop that has also been used for the summer afternoon Tuesday/Thursday training races. Riders can be found training individually or in small groups on weekday mornings and evenings throughout the year. Feel free to join in with whoever you can catch! Current and planned road construction will probably continue to make some areas inaccessible, but this remains the best training area in the City.

Some local riders can be found training on St. Charles Ave. and Carrollton Ave. between S. Claiborne and Jackson Ave., along the streetcar line , although this route is not for the faint of heart, and is best before 7:00 a.m. on weekdays. It offers a reasonably good road surface and is sufficiently wide, but has lots of intersections and opening doors. The compete out-n-back distance is 10 miles. Despite the 10 mph speed limit, riders often resort to the Audubon Park loop when traffic uptown is bad. The long loop that crosses Magazine St. is about 3 miles, but you really can't go faster than about 15 in the front section except very early in the morning. This ride can be extended by turning onto the new bike path atop the Mississippi River Levee (see below).

The perimeter of City Park is a popular training route that offers relatively few intersections and a generally good road surface. Considering the ongoing road construction on Lakeshore Drive, this route is particularly popular right now. There are numerous variations of this loop, which can be extended to include a piece of Lakeshore Drive. One circuit follows Wisner, City Park Ave., Marconi, and Robt. E. Lee, and is popular in mid-winter with riders avoiding the piercing North wind coming off the Lake. The distance around is about 10 miles, but can be shortened by cutting through the park in a couple of places. There is a small early-morning (6 a.m.) group that does this loop regularly on weekdays.

The Linear Park is an old road, now converted into a bike path, that runs along the South shore of Lake Pontchartrain along the entire length of Jefferson Parish. Although it's a bit narrow, and sometimes too crowded, for serious training, it provides many miles of vehicle-free cycling. The road is between the levee and the lake, so you can't see it until you cross the levee. You can get on at Bucktown, and at most of the major North/South streets like Causeway. The path runs all the way to the West edge of Kenner, then crosses the levee and continues South almost to the Interstate. You'll have to detour around a couple of the Pumping Stations, but generally it's a nice route for a recovery ride, and excellent for kids.

Abita Springs has long been a popular starting point for "country rides" north of the Lake. Weekend rides generally start at the school in town, near the Abita Springs park, and head north toward Enon, Folsom, Franklinton, and Bogalusa. The NOBC organizes group training rides out of Abita Springs from February through April. Roads in the area are generally lightly traveled and offer some small rolling hills. Typical early spring training rides allow riders to get in 60-80 hard miles before noon. Get there via La.-59 north of I-12. There is a rails-to-trails route (the Tammany Trace) from Mandeville to Abita Springs that may be of interest to "significant others."

• The Short Loop: Go North out of Abita Springs on 435 and take the first left after the Quail Farm onto 1080. This is a fine road that continues North, crosses 21 and eventually meets Hwy. 40. Turn left on 40, then left again on Military Road (1082). Go South on 1082 to 21, then a short jog left and immediately right onto 59 and back into Abita Aprings. About 25 miles. Stop at the Abita Brew Pub in Abita Springs to recover.
• The Talisheek Loop: Follow 435 out of Abita Springs to Talisheek where it meets 41. North on 41 to 40 (there's a nice road to the left off of 40 that cuts the corner, but I forget the name). Follow 40 through Bush until it meets 1082. Turn South on 1082 and follow it back to Abita (same as the short loop). Around 35 miles.
• The Enon Loop: This is the standard winter training ride, and can be adjusted from 49 miles to 80 miles. Take 59 North from Abita to 1082. Follow 1082 North into the rolling countryside past Dorignac farms to 40. Turn left on 40, which is a fairly busy highway, and continue a few miles to Fairhaven Rd. Turn right on Fairhaven (enjoy the hills) then right again at the stop sign. Continue North until the road curves left and take Louisiana Tung Rd. to 437. Follow 437 (sprint for the parish sign) North over Watchtower hill, and enjoy the long coast down to the Bogue Chitto river and Enon (27 mi.). From Enon there are a number of options. One of the more popular ones is to continue North to Tullos Rd., turning left at the fire station there and eventually meeting 1072 which takes you into Franklinton. Turn left at bumpy Jenkins road (or go a few miles further to Franklinton. This takes you to La.16. Turn left on 16 and follow it back to Enon. One alternate route from Enon includes a ride farther North to Moore Rd, then to Plainview and back to Enon. Distance is about 50 miles from Abita Springs to Enon and back, or about 65 miles to Franklinton and back. The long loop thorough Bogalusa and Plainview is around 80 miles.

These legendary training rides will consume much of your day (it's about an hour and a half drive), but periodic group training rides to this Mississippi location (click for a map of the area) can serve as valuable tools for assessing your fitness for competitive road racing on courses with significant hills. The out-and-back ride south of Montecello, Mississippi incorporates some significant climbs, even though about half of the ride is essentially flat. What we're talking about here isn't exactly Everest, but it will show you what it's like to have to stand up in a 39x21 and wonder how much farther it is to the top (and whether you'll make it). If you are really looking for a serious workout, an alternate loop of around 33 miles provides much more climbing, and serves as a good test for the masochistic or sadistic rider (depending on fitness level ).

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