I'm half way up Critchfield. It is about 50 degrees but the wind out of the west is chill. The sun, once bright, now dims behind light clouds as it sinks to the west. It is 4:13 and we have a bit more than hour before sunset. I've just past 100 miles for the first time this year.

The Whitely Report: Debbie promised us snow in Kendrick "right down town." Forecasting the weather is no mean chore. Witness the 59 degrees KLEW promised on Friday night and the 47 degrees Accuweather promised this morning. But snow? Is Kendrick really that much higher than Lewiston? We didn't think so.

That is Chris and Doug and I didn't think so. Usual suspects were a bit thin with Roy beggin off, Dave without enough mileage and Jim pleading a cold. Doug had talked me out of an 8am start in preference for the 9am start. Warmer he said. Not really. 33 degrees showed on the reader board at the bottom of Southway at 8:53 this morning.

But there was good news too. That ceiling of fog and low clouds that had made Friday a miserable day was being peeled back to the southwest like the tin lid of a can of sardines. The clear sky Chris reported on the Palouse was coming to a valley near us. Alright!

A few scraps of snow lurked in a place or two along Web Ridge, but surely there'd be no snow in Kendrick?

Chris had arrived at ride time and sent us on saying he'd give chase. Maybe he gave us too much lead. He didn't show until we were going into the grocery at Lapwai. "Thanks for kicking my . . .," he said. Chris plans to repeat his CHAfe win in June. He's anxious, over-anxious to begin riding centuries. CHAfe is about 150 miles. But today wasn't going to be his day. You can't jump from 200 miles for the year to 300 in one ride. Sitting in the sun at the Casiino convenience store, Chris decided to settle for 70 miles. Doug had already bailed turning back at Julietta to get 60 miles and have time to spend with his son and take the family to dinner.

That left me with almost 70 miles. I would have to add 15 somewhere or settle for 85. The east winds were really west winds by the time we started back from Kendrick. I opted to continue fighting the head wind past Red Wolf on the principal that I'd have a tail win coming back. Chris said that always motivated him.

I wasn't quote moved. The math said I needed to go 8.5 miles past Red Wolf in order to ride directly back home at 100 miles. I did 4 miles and headed back along the greenbelt to Asotin, past the ball fields and then back on Clemans and Critchfield.

I never felt like going to short sleeves though I saw lots of cyclists doing so. Walkers, dogs, little kids on bikes. The bike path was no place for cyclists this afternoon.

Snow? Well, yes. Above Julietta we began to encounter fields of snow and patches in the shadows encroaching on the bike path. In Kendrick the sidewalks were clear, dry, bare, but we had to navigate a narrow ice trail to get from the trail to the street. So I guess the Whitely Report was at least as accurate as KLEW and Accuweather.

For the ride of it.