Pacific Northwest - Nice day for a ride! even took a pic!

After being all cold and cloudy this morning, this afternoon the sun came out! :) Actually made it a fairly nice day. Made 20 miles at an easy pace out past the county line and didnt even have any close encounters of the canine kind :thumb:
Cant wait for spring tho, still cold!

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo127/1bluetrek/002.jpg

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo127/1bluetrek/1003.jpg

Looks like the clouds hadn't hit Grant County as soon as they hit the sound today. After a morning in the garden I did a quick 27-mile loop around north Whatcom County this afternoon. Any day without wind is a great day!

1bluetrek, Where are you located? I don't see any snow in your pics.....lol! I took advantage of sunny skys and a temp around 40 in Spokane today and put in 50 mi. Was planning on 40 but the sun made me do it! Roads are dry but the snow berms are still melting and running into the road shoulders creating yucky black messy stuff.

Hey, I'm down around Moses Lake. Nothing but low traffic roads and an occasional farm dog lol.
and yes! all of our snow is gone!

No arm warmers even.?

Ah, thats explaines it. A short distance away but such a big difference in climate. I envy Yakima with all the sun they get. Was sunny here this morning but grey, chilly, and a bit windy now.

So any early season easy rides comming up next month? I've just back into roadbikes having last ridden in the early to mid 80's. I'm banged up now, just turned 49 last week, and am hoping my body can adapt to some distance riding.

Any advice on an easy 50 - 70 mile event in the near future?

Bmxovich - Where are you in Spokane? I used to live in the valley and would head south on Hwy 27 for some good rides. As for organized rides check the local clubs.

Hello scozim, I live just west of the General store, Corbin Park area. I've been riding the Upriver drive route east towards Rathdrum quite a bit. I work in Cheney so I'll be commuting there as soon as the weather perks up a bit. After riding in the slop for the past month I'm eager to hit an organized ride. I don't mind driving a while to get there either. So hows Hwy 27 for terrain? I've driven it but don't recall much about it. I just got my Garmin 705 fired up so I'll hit mapmyride for some routes in my area. Take care.....

You can leave from the Albertson's at 32nd and Hwy 27. Pretty decent hill about a mile from there. The terrain is typical Palouse type with rolling hills but nothing extreme. I used to ride down to Fairfield and back for a 35+ mile ride. You can also head west toward Spangle through a few of the small towns. Hwy 27 had a fair amount of traffic, but the side roads off there were usually pretty good. One favorite ride I had was to head toward Spangle from Waverly and then the back roads to Cheney through Turnbull and back.

Check out the maps and experiment - it's great training country.

Thanks, I think I'll do some riding there next weekend. Sounds like a nice route and I could use some variety right now. And yea Cheney has some nice back roads to cruise. :thumb:

+1 on the Cheney back roads. Anybody up for a ride? I'm game!

Bmxovich - If you are looking for an organized group ride check here http://www.northdivision.com/lilac.htm I don't know all the courses but for the longer rides there are some hills.

Also, you could ride north and there is a bunch of options starting from 'Y" area or go west out towards seven mile.

Perfect, just what I'm looking for. A close century with a bunch of options. The 66 miler sounds like a decent callenge for me. Thanks!:thumb: