Catching up on e-mail; a future Readers' Ride

During my time away from the blogosphere, I fell waaaay behind not just on reading blogs but, even, e-mail. So, this being Lent and all, I want to send out a mea culpa to my regular e-mailer Mark who, unbeknownst to me, had written me on the 27th about his adventures on the new stretch of the Gypsum Creek path even as I was writing my own post about it. To read the e-mail and my post together, you'd think I was cribbing from his letter without acknowledging it: he even mentions the trickiness of negotiating the pedestrian bridge, just as I had done in my post. Had I read his e-mail in a timely fashion, I would have said something to that effect in my post.

Some time ago, my bloggy friend Moti, he of the excellent blogs Jewish Simplicity and Fed Reb, teased me that, being Jewish, he wouldn't know about that nagging sense of guilt arising from Original Sin. And, you know, lucky him. Still, while I'm not exactly wearing hair-shirts and hiding bloody scourges over here, some things need saying, you know? So: apologies all around for being a negligent correspondent and visitor to your various places. I promise to amend my blogospheric life.

Okay: enough atonement. I'm Lutheran, not Catholic.

While reading Mark's e-mail, I found myself thinking, Hey! Didn't Spring officially arrive two weeks ago?? Six inches of snow can blur memories of the daffodils and day lilies I had seen blooming only the week before. So, Spring. That means that a young (and, in my case, middle-aged) cyclist will turn to thoughts of . . . our first Readers' Rides of the year. Let's tentatively schedule them for the Saturday and Sunday after Easter (April 18 and 19). By then, we should be able to leave the sled dogs at home. Later, I'll post the particulars of times and places to meet, but it seems appropriate to me that our route be the Gypsum Creek path, including the new stretch. For new readers: last year we had these get-togethers approximately once a month during seasonable weather. The goals of the Readers' Rides are simple: 1) Visit and ride a bike path; 2) Meet and enjoy the company of like-minded folks--especially important in a town like Wichita, where the cycling community isn't exactly omnipresent (yet). Feel welcome to bring along spouses, family, Significant Others, and friends: this won't be a race but a relaxing rec-ride. Those who have done these in the past have told me they've enjoyed themselves, and I certainly can say the same.

As I said, I'll announce more particulars soon as I work them out. In the meantime, I hope you'll plan for those dates with the Readers' Ride in mind.