BF and I took part in the long club ride this morning. It started in Ramsey, Indiana and wandered about the beautiful countryside. The day started off chilly and damp and I questioned my sanity. As the day progressed the sun poked through the gray clouds and temperatures began to climb into the 70's and I finally warmed up some. Unfortunately with the sun came the wind and I felt like I spent a lot of time fighting it. That said, it was a great day to be on the bike. The redbuds are starting to bloom so the rural roads we traveled were painted in purple. We also took in some other neat sights: turkey buzzards, red tail hawks, kittens, lots of dogs (my favorite being the three legged coon hound who bayed as we passed), wild turkey and lots of cows and horses. I also spied some beautiful wildflowers along the road. We took in some spring beauties, Virginia bluebells and anemones. Traffic was light which only added to the great day. We (BF and I) had initially said we would only ride the 66 mile course but as the day progressed we both decided to go for the 82 miles offered. The hills were minimal (a blessing as far as I'm concerned) and there was lots of flat roads (which I also see as a blessing). The pace was great and I seemed to settle in quickly to nice cadence. I tried to keep it somewhere around 95 today. My average speed for the 84 miles ended up at 15.6 mph which was the icing on the cake. A great day no matter how you looked at it - nice weather, great company, super roads/route, a wonderful pace, and a great wildlife show put on by mother nature.