Taste like chicken

Spring is almost here, and with it come gnats. Lots and lots of fucking gnats (also known as ice cream bugs). My last two rides have been plagued with the tiny bastards. My nose, mouth, ears and eyes have been bombarded with them. If there is one creature on the whole of this earth that I cannot find one justifiable reason for existing, it's a gnat.

I finally guilted Niko into riding today. I've been harassing him a lot lately. He works a lot, so I don't really hold it against him, but I do like busting his balls about it. Hey, it worked.

I met him at Betzwood and we did the Audubon loop (easy) and back to Betzwood. It was only his second time out this year (the first being an icy/muddy death ride) and the first in two months, so he was feeling it. I'm hoping he gets more time and to ride in the coming weeks. I also realized that I had been missing a key component by not riding with other people: drafting. I forgot how wonderful it feels as well as how awesome it sounds. I can’t wait to ride with other people again.

I'm getting bored. Not completely bored, but I'm tired of riding the same routes. I'm going to start going on recon trips on my days off and finding good, quiet, lightly traveled, hilly rides in the area. I have a few spots in mind, and I'll hopefully get around to driving them next week, and if all is well, riding them the week after. I'm not looking for monster hills, but hills a mile or longer with a decent grade to help me get ready for monster hills. I eventually want to take trips to new places and ride my bike there. I think some new scenery would be nice. I'll let you know how it goes.