First Ride of the Year

The Yeti saw the light of day, today. The first ride outside was great. Paula and I swapped our trainer slicks for some real tires, packed up the bikes, and headed to the park. Since the spring thaw tends to mush up the trails, I try to stay off them until mid April. So we opted to ride the bike loop a couple of times to get our bearings.

The park was packed with other riders, walkers, and runners – all trying to get some rays from the cloudless sky. The ride started off with me playing keep-up with Paula. She hit the loop hard and I saw why she calls her bike Speedy. Once I caught up, I did a bit of drafting for most of the first loop to let her burn off some of that extra energy – didn’t work. She was up and down the trail, like second nature.

We had some drinks at the cars, and headed out for a second loop. By this time, I was getting my biking legs back. I still wanted to go slow, but enjoyed the down hills and the bouts of wind – it felt good to push through the gales. Afterwards, we packed them up and home I went. A good 12 miler to start off the year.

The Yeti’s still on the roof of the Jeep and every time I walk by the window, I want to head back out. Tomorrow’s supposed to be nice.