Ah, spring has finally graced the Treasure Valley with its presence! After the month of April recorded the lowest average high temperatures in recent history (get it?...the LOWEST average daily high temperatures means that it never got as warm during the day as it should have), the month of May seems to understand that those of us on two wheels are itching to finalize the biker tan lines and enjoy pedaling without freezing for a change

So tradition holds that starting sometime in early spring (you can see how much attention I pay to these things since I don't know the exact start time), one of the local bike shops loosely sponsors a group ride called the Tuesday Niter [sic].  As you might guess from the descriptive moniker, this ride occurs on Tuesday evenings, always the same route, departing promptly at 7 p.m. The ride is male-dominated, fast-paced, and almost like a mini-race at the end. Since I usually like to be at home in the kitchen by 7 p.m., glass of wine in one hand and a cookbook in the other, I don't often participate in this ride.

Yesterday, though, I compensated by doing some hard riding on a Monday afternoon. I met up with a teammate, Jenn Halladay, whom I don't see nearly often enough (surely this has little to do with my full-time job, her five kidlets, and the fact that we live in opposite corners of Ada county). There's nothing quite as exciting as riding with a teammate who pushes you, makes you realize how super strong she is, and thus how super strong we can be when we compete against other teams in the region. Forget the region! We'll be tough competing against teams at a national level!

Thanks for the Monday Afternoon-er, Jenn. It's almost 5 p.m. on Tuesday now, and I'm thinking about opening that wine bottle early.