Bike Ride

I rode in to work today. I needed to start getting time on the bike getting ready for the MS-150 in October. I ride from my house in the lower garden district into the 9th ward and then into work. The route takes me through the French Quarter and then along the Mississipi and into the navel base on Poland Street. The route is about 5 miles or so. I need to get a new battery for my odometer to make sure. Anyway it was a good ride I had to carrie all of my stuff in my backpack so I had an additional 15 pounds on my back. It was a good ride. I did not realize how sweaty I was until I got into the building and took off my backpack. I need to bring a bunch of stuff so that I don't have to carry everything in the mornings.

Anyway I got in to work and was looking at the newspaper and this is what I found

"Man murdered in Lower 9th Ward this morning
by Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
Wednesday June 25, 2008, 6:46 AM
A 48-year-old New Orleans man was found murdered in the Lower 9th Ward this morning, a spokesman for the New Orleans coroner's office said.
Victor Russell appears to have died from gunshot wounds, said John Gagliano, the coroner's chief investigator. Someone found Russell dead the 6300 block of North Rampart Street and alerted police, Gagliano said.
The New Orleans Police Department hasn't released details about the case.
Media reports also indicated that someone coming home from work found Russell dead inside his home.
Court records show Russell had a litany of drug convictions.
He pled guilty in 1989 to possession of crack cocaine and received a one-year hard labor prison sentence in 1990, according to court records.
Six years after receiving that prison sentence, Russell was sentenced to seven years of hard labor in prison after pleading guilty to a possession of crack charge.
In 2004, Russell pled guilty to a possession of cocaine charge, receiving a two-year prison sentence. A judge suspended it and placed him on active probation, court records show.
He was off probation by May 2007, court records show, but police arrested him once more in June 2007, booking him on a possession of crack charge in June 2007.
Russell was awaiting a trial date in that latest charge at the time of his death."

This is right by work it is about 3 blocks away. It is a good thing I am not riding into work between 1:00 - 4:00. I do leave my house at 5:45 a.m. I feel safe but it makes me realize that I need to be vigilant when I do ride. I have friends at work that know that I am riding and so they come by my desk and make sure that I make it okay. If not they come looking.

Life is good and I am loving what I am doing and hope to do well on the MS-150.

Jessie- HAPPY BIRTHDAY 35 IS A GREAT YEAR!