Let's see if we can return to normal

I rode on Wednesday when it was cool, very cool. I felt uncomfortable on the way home with the sun going down. Thursday was at least as cool and it scared me away. Friday was no better and I again passed.

It isn't that cold, obviously. It is still at least 15 degrees above the highest point at which I have suspended rides for the year. But the cold has come up so rapidly that it has discouraged me.

But today the Bianchi Babe demanded her weekly ride and I was forced out the door. We didn't expect anything historic but it just isn't every day that you can see the Titanic sinking.It just isn't every day that you can see the Titanic sinking into the yard of a church in Roseville.

We rode out to Vadnais, it was a beautiful ride on a beautiful, if cool, day.Thanks BB, I might not have done it without you.

The football news is bad, very bad. FC Nantes has recorded just one point in their opening four matches and sit 20th and last in the table. As with sports teams anywhere, you cannot fire all of the players, so you fire the coach. Michel Der Zakarian, coach for the past two season, the man who oversaw both the relegation to Ligue 2 and the triumphant return, was sacked after the Canaries took just one point from their opening three matches. Nantes have appointed Elie Baup as their new coach on a two-year contract.

Baup is a former manager at Saint Etienne whose reputation is as a builder of strong defenses. This is necessary as Nantes have conceded 9 goals in the four matches thus far. Baup started his coaching career at AS Saint Etienne in 1995 and has also coached at Bordeaux where he won the Coupe de la Ligue in 2002 and at Toulouse.

Baup has ten days to prepare for the Canaries next outing, a daunting trip to Paris Saint Germain on September 14.