April Rides

[emily_in_nc]

Glad to hear you dog is on the mend, Emily. My husband and I would be lost without our two dogs.
...
Temps got into the 50s, the other day and I rode with shorts. Yipee! First time since last fall. Felt great, after a long winter of wearing heavy leggings. Of course, 50s would feel horribly cold wearing shorts after a summer of riding, but I'm still very winter acclimated, so it it was very comfy.

Thanks, nwg! Since we couldn't have kids, the dogs we have had over the course of our almost 33-year marriage have been like our children. We feel the same as you -- although after Paisley is gone, we are going to take a dog break to facilitate traveling. We've had 1-2 dogs for all but about 2 years of our time together, and they do take a lot of time and money, as you know. We love them dearly, tho.

I know exactly what you mean about the first warm days up north. The one winter we lived in Wisconsin (near Richland Center), the winter was so cold that the first time it hit 50, we were outside in shorts and t-shirts! What a change now that we are acclimated to a Florida climate. We won't even ride until the temps hit upper 50s, and even then, we are bundled up.

[north woods gal]

Love the dog carrier! Cute.

Dogs really are like kids. My hubby and I have both had children from previous marriages and because we are so isolated, up here, we don't get visits very often.

Speaking of dogs, Star, our Border Collie, is in doggie heaven with all this snow melting. It's allowed her to find an unending supply of sticks for me to throw while working on the trail this week. I have to stop my work, frequently, to throw all her new found sticks, but i don't mind a bit. She's my constant companion on trails, whether riding or working on the trails. Wish I could take her on my road riding, but just won't risk it, even with our very light traffic.

"Summer-ized" my two, winter-only fat bikes, yesterday (clean, inspect, lube as needed) and then put them in summer storage. Now turn my attention to my two other Norco fat bikes that I ride mostly in the summer. They'll get the same treatment, but will get ridden, immediately. All the other bikes are already tuned and ready to go. Come on, summer!

[Crankin]

We had a wonderful 21 mile ride with our group today. The weather was perfect. Only 3 people elected to come with DH and I, the "faster," group; with an average of 13.5, you can imagine what our other 2 leaders had to deal with. But, they were all happy, as we waited the extra half hour for the slower group to come back. There were about 12-13 in the slower group. Unfortunately, one woman should not have been on the ride, but the co-leader of that group(someone who's taken the training class, but hasn't fulfilled the leading requirements) stayed with her until the end. The ride is show and go, unlike the others, where I screen people, so unless we change the format, it's a risk. At least she'll have a good impression of AMC.
It was 70 when we finished. And I felt much better than when I pre-rode most of this ride 2 weeks ago.
Getting ready to meet friends in Boston, for an event at the Museum of Fine Arts and dinner. A good day!

[north woods gal]

Good day for this gal, too. All trail riding, today, on the fat bike and, best of all, all riding on dirt. No snow! First full ride of the season on nothing but dirt. Okay, some of it was mud and even some of the drier sections are still pretty soft. Made for some hard peddling, but I couldn't be happier. As I rode, smelling the thawing soil and my north woods surroundings of pine, fir and spruce, I was serenaded by a loon calling out on the lake. My wonderful north woods at their best.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you both had good rides, Crankin and NWG!

I ended up doing a few miles on my cruiser bike yesterday to downtown and back, and it reinforced my usual ban on riding here on Saturdays. Cars, bikes, people walking everywhere. The downtown farmer's market and other things going on seemingly every Saturday makes it just crazy. And there were a couple of yard sales along the way that brought extra traffic. Looking forward to our usual calm weekday ride tomorrow morning!