April Rides

[emily_in_nc]

Well, after riding the majority of days in Feb/March in Southern Arizona, I've certainly fallen off the pace since getting back to KC. It's been off and on cold, windy, and rainy. We even had snow yesterday morning! I have managed to ride seven times this month, which I guess isn't so bad (20-40 miles each time), but certainly nothing like what I was doing the two previous months. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer but very windy, but I am riding no matter what, because the next day is going to be cold and rainy again.

It's just really hard to get motivated to bundle up to ride after so many nice rides (in shorts and short sleeves many days) in southern AZ. I got spoiled!

We did get to enjoy some beautiful spring-blooming trees on our Sunday ride over to Costco. That's DH in the photos, riding in front of me!

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[colorisnt]

Heck, even I was annoyed with having to bundle up on Monday to go out. It was a great experience to ride in the sleet and snow and defy all that is logic with a bike but after riding an entire day in a pair of shorts and a tank top, less than 48 hours earlier, I was peeved! Yesterday was okay - only a sweatshirt and knickers but still annoying!

[emily_in_nc]

Today was super windy, so I ended up bundling up and taking the MTB down to the Natural Grocer for some natural groceries. Most of the ride there was right into the wind (gusting into the 25+ mph range), but it sure was fun coming back! Even with my Tailrider trunk pack and backpack weighted down with food, climbing was effortless with that wind. But it was bad enough that that's all I did -- just a 10.3-mile ride. An hour after I got home, I saw a gust of 36.9 mph on wunderground, so I am glad I came in when I did!

[Crankin]

Did my first group ride in ages today. It was a small AMC group ride, on a route I designed. The leader was someone who is officially a co-leader, i.e., needs some experience under her belt and recommendations; one of the people on the bike committee was sweeping. I stayed behind her, and it was a good thing, as she had driven the route once and had not been on it on a bike. She was using a cue sheet and was not making the turns that well. DH helped sweep. But, it was a really nice day, the people were pleasant, and most of them had heard my presentation at the workshop a couple of weeks ago. We all went out to lunch after the ride. I could go to sleep now!

[azfiddle]

An unusually cloudy day today- with a chance of rain but it never really materialized. The regular Saturday ride with our women's cycling group took us east of Tucson. Three of the riders turned around early to just get 25 miles. 5 of us went east to Marsh Station Road. I love the scenery, going through desert, across a canyon with cottonwoods and willows, and very little traffic, but the road surface on this route is just miserably bumpy. Heading east generally goes up in elevation with some rollers, but it was not a problem. Coming home, there was a constant headwind in the high with gusts to the 20's. It was brutal riding into that for about 25 miles. I split off from the group and took an alternate way home for the last 18 or so miles. I happily consumed a couple of small flour tortillas with beans, cheese, avocado and salsa for lunch. Now off for a shower and maybe even a nap.

[Fredwina]

I did a club ride with the Memphis Hightailers today.
The Bunny run:

and a stop at the farmer's market: