First Ride Of 2008

New Years Day was sunny which around here in the winter means it was cold, real cold. Some of that Arctic air was blowing down which meant that the wind was blowing the wrong direction (of course the wrong direction on a bike is straight in your face). I had three people show up to ride with me but the brutal temps had them all making left turns when I was going right. An hour into the ride I was struggling along the drift covered Valley-Chapel road listening to the hum of the road signs as the shimmy back and forth in the wind. It took 3 hours to get to Rockford and I was rewarded with breakfast at the Harvest Moon. Things got better as I took back roads along Mica Peaks Western flank to the Saltese Flats.
I spent a lot of time thinking about potential routes connecting the many unpaved country roads in Palouse Country. 70 miles later I was pretty drained and called it a day. The best news from the ride was that my recent boo-boo from skiing did not bother me much. A good start to the year.