La Prima Vera

Today was the day of the first Spring Classic (Milan San Remo) and since it also coincided with our nicest day of the year yet here in Seattle, I decided to dust off the bike and have a spring classic of my own. Actually, my first choice had been to do a ski tour up to Camp Muir on Rainier and then ski down, but despite trying really hard to find a partner no one was interested (ridiculous!) so that wasn't going to be possible. My spring classic wasn't actually a race, since I haven't been riding my bike at all I didn't think it was worthwhile to pay for a race entry fee (and the early spring races are usually crash fests for the Cat. 4s). Instead I just went for a long ride, as mapped out on the left. It was an amazing day (sunny and 68), and I clocked 115km with some new friends (Kurt and Fred) from my cycling team. I won't describe the entire ride, rather I will just relate one funny incident: I had been chatting with Fred early in the ride, and he told me that he had just moved to Seattle a month ago, and this was his first ride of the year. Later in the ride Kurt was trucking up a hill with me glued to his back wheel and we somehow lost Fred who was not on top form. When we came to a turn I informed Kurt that Fred was MIA, and we had the following interchange:
Kurt: No problem, I'm sure he knows the area from other rides he has been on.
Me: Well, he said it was his first ride of the year.
Kurt: No big deal, he must know the area from rides he has done last season.
Me: Actually, he just moved here a month ago.
At this we both had a good laugh, and then after waiting a few more moments for Freddy to materialize we decided it was best to cut him loose on a big adventure, and after both yelling "Good luck, Freddy!" at the top of our lungs we continued on our way. Somehow Fred managed to reconnect with us a bit later on, he had been lost in Kirkland but then had seen us ride by on a parallel street. Good times!
I'm definitely looking forward to building up some cycling fitness now that the ski season is winding down (at least for me, since I can't seem to find any partners!) and the good weather and long days are here.