Happy New Year's Day (Ride)

Four of us showed up for the NYDR, this year. From left to right: Mark (of Junqueyard fame), Brian, Yours Truly, Anthony (who was just passing the time of day with us) and Carl (of getinlost). I had never met Carl, in person, so it was really great to have him show up. I always like to increase my circle of friends.

The weather was little more temperate than last year, and all of us but Brian ended up peeling off clothes as we rode. The official high temp on New Year's Day, 2008, was 23 degrees and there were 8 to 10 inches of snow on the ground. On that ride, we stopped at every coffee shop we could find (more to warm up than due to any uncontrollable coffee-lust).

Today, we enjoyed temperatures in the mid-fifties, with lots of sun and a few clouds. There was a bit of a breeze, occasionally, but nothing excessive. We rode through Washington Park, picked up the Cherry Creek Trail and rode up to Confluence park. From there, we followed the South Platte Trail south to Mississippi Ave., then wended our way through the neighborhoods back to Kaladi Bros.

Along the way, we caught up with a fellow riding a nickle-plated highwheeler. We also met Dave Nice as we rode along. We ran into him and his NYD Ridemates at REI, last year. This year, he was riding alone. I would have flagged him down and invited him along, but I figured our casual little 15 mile ride wouldn't even warm him up.

After we got back to Kaladi, we sat a bit and had some hot chocolate, then dispersed to our separate days like dandelion seeds to the wind.

A nice, low-key bike ride on an unseasonably warm day is (I hope) a good omen for the coming year. It is certainly a nice way to kick it off.

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