April 28, 29, 30, 2023-Decent weather and some local event rides

 On friday the 28th. I set up a Meet & Eat for the PPRRN at the season opening of the Tasty Freeze Drive Inn! Sadly, it turned out to be VERY windy and quite chilly but the clouds did finally clear out so we took off for a ride downtown and back to the Drive Inn to meet any other members at 11:30 AM. To no surprise, nobody else showed up so we had our first spring grilled hot dog and unsweetened iced tea, while fighting the winds!! With the winds getting stronger, we headed back to the storage unit and then walked back home. 8 miles RT.

On Saturday 29th., we headed out to ride the "twice a year", Motorless Mornings ride thru the Garden of the Gods Park here in Colorado Springs. From 5 AM to 12 Noon, they stop all Auto Traffic!! It's open to cyclist, runners, hikers, skateboarders, etc. It was a beautiful day for a ride, upper 60 F temps and lot's of sunshine!! We road the Loop around the park this time, instead of going up to Balance and Steamboat Rock exit. Then we headed down to 30th. and Colorado Ave Starbuck's to eat our lunch and get some unsweetened iced tea!! 26 miles for the day. Motorless Mornings is only once a month in April and October!

Sunday, April 30th., The day broke sunny and bright and the early temps were good so we decided to take a chance and make this the first "Shorts and Short sleeves" ride of 2023!! It was still a bit breezy so we started out in windbreakers but packed them in the pannier's and the rest of the ride was great. We did a combo trail route of the Pikes Peak Greenway, Cottonwood Creek and the Tempelton Gap trails. Stopped at a Starbucks to eat our brown bag lunch then rode over to Nancy Lewis City Park and ate our afternoon snack. Headed for the Rock Island Trail and back to the storage unit. 20 miles for the day and man did it feel great not to have to "bundle up", hope the warming trend means Spring is finally here but in So. Colorado it's not Summer till Memorial Day Weekend, as it can still SNOW, etc.!! 

 With these trikes we have a side bar attachment, which let's us use a handlebar bag at our side so I decided to try to take some photos while we were riding on the Templeton Gap Trail!