Both Steve and I arrived at 10 am over-dressed. We made the mistake of trusting to the forecasts rather than looking at our own thermometers. By the time we hit Evans road we were wishing we'd not put on so much. The sun was out and the sky was getting bluer and broader.

This was another of those dual start days. Steve planned for a 10am start so we'd have time to eat lunch before round two. That way Mike Warnock wouldn't have to ride off alone into the rain while we ate lunch. Mike fooled us this week. He showed up for the first ride.

The big news is that we had the company of two new riders this week. I was extremely pleased that Doug Garnes had shown up again. He rode with us last Sunday and again on the night ride. He's young and strong but hasn't got much mileage behind him yet. He's the one who pushed Eric up Master's drive on the night ride. He's a slow learner though. He came back yesterday on his own and road Masters again and just for good measure went on up to the top of the hill.

We'll get him fit and then he'll be challenging Chris and Eric and we'll never see him again, alas.

Steve Paff(why do I think that should be spelled Pfaff?) rode by as I sat in my pickup waiting for the ride to start. I was a bit early. Yellow and green and a bright yellow helmet suggested this was a biker to be contended with and though he looked at me, he didn't slow down. "Just another fast kid," I thought. But a few minutes later, he was back and this time he stopped.

"You looking for a ride," I asked. Turns out he is a new club member. Steve just got his registration on Thursday and, being Steve, had sent out an invitation. Paff says he'd grown tired of his basement trainer and was very glad to be outdoors again. Steve works at Potlatch and has been riding regularly but last summer began an interest in organized racing. He's trying to improve his conditoning now for the summer racing season. He confesses to having been "hooked" by his racing experiences. Steve and I encouraged him to join us for "long slow distance" to lay a base. He didn't complain about our pace today, though I expect it was slower than he'd have liked.

Chris really should have been here to defend our club's speed contingent. Where was Eric when we needed him?

Doug, of course, slow learner that he is, tried to keep up with Steve even after Largent suggested we ride to the top of Peola. Pacing, Steve, Pacing.

We managed 24 miles and got back to Taco John's by shortly past noon. Ideal for a leisurely lunch.

Linda had threatened to show up for the second ride and she was good as her word bringing with her our world competitor: Helen.

By now the winds had picked up considerably but the sky was almost a blue slate. We stopped to reduce to one layer and enjoyed a tail wind all the way up Tammany on the Lewiston Loop. Largent and I found ourselves a bit ahead of Linda and Helen at MacIntosh and Steve suggested we do it twice just to keep from boredom. He was good as his word. I couldn't bring myself to descend any further than the ladies which wasn't far.

We enjoyed seeing Helen and Doug again. Welcome to Steve Paff. We hope you'll join us again. Maybe Chris will crawl out from his fog and snow bound Moscow habitat and give you a chase.