A chilly start for the first ride of spring

First ride of spring and it's 37 degrees. Not a perfect start, but at least the snow is miles away. We really couldn't complain. Bunnies scampered along the path and the usual walkers and dogs along the path, so it must be spring at last. The size of the group didn't surprise me, as all of the group had registered. All 12 showed up. Our group included the usual riders; Corrie, Gary and Donna Callahan, Bill Arnold, but sereral new riders joined us this morning: Kelly Haberman and her mom Mary Lou, Gary's friend Roger Staats and his wife Tracy, one of my co St. Joes employees Vicki Vogel and her friend Christy, and finally from Pomeroy, RogerDumbeck planning on enjoying the trail without 60mph traffic. So off we went at 10 am sharp, all bundled up and eager to finally get on the bike. We didn't even mind the usual ride up Asotin Creek.

That's what the first ride is about; friends we haven't seen for awhile plus new ones to encourage, as they first discover a new route and the joy of riding a bike again. We stopped at the Asotin Daly's Bakery for lunch and had a chance to get to know our new riders a bit. As usual I kept the mileage to an easy 25 miles. The Easy Does it philosophy was challenged quite a bit though. Not one of the new riders kept to the 10-12 mph, so as usual I brought up the rear but that was just fine for me. Spring is a time to smell the air and listen to sounds of birds proclaiming, it really is Spring, finally.