At the GRITS winter planning session, Ed and Jeanne Downing volunteered to host the first spring ride in April, having no clue what the weather might be. The April ride ended up being the last winter ride, with changing gray and sunny skies and winds that were quite stiff. Yes, it is the day of Liege - Bastogne - Liege.

Even so, on a tough day, the highest number of teams so far in 2005 attended. Way to go GRITS!

32 mile circuit:
Ed and Jeanne Downing (hosts),
Roy and Anne Neulicht,
Bruce and Margaret Rosar,
Mike and Carol Vilardo (newcomers from PA),
Chazz Walker and Angie Heebner.

52 mile circuit:
Chet Buell and Cindy Van Der Wiele,
Smith Doss and Claude Monnier,
Gary Tiller and Maggie Gradison.

Intermediate 42ish circuit, started 52 and shortcut it:
Doug and Robin Bradley,
Andy Stewart and Emily Rosen,
Gregg and Debbie Warren.

Starting later from Ridgewood Shopping Center All Star and riding the opposite direction (met by the 52ers on the bridge): Jeff and Betsy Hutchinson.

Both routes started at the NCSU Solar Home and both finished on the Reedy Creek Greenway crossing the new bike/pedestrian bridge over the I-440 beltline from the NC Museum of Art to Meredith College.

The routes split at about 11 miles with the 32ers getting some relief from the headwind by turning Northward. The 52ers continued to brave the headwind Westward all the way to Jordan Lake while the intermediates lopped off part of that. All groups were rewarded with a tailwind for their Eastward returns to Raleigh and, needless to say, each group hung together allowing a little bit of paceline work. The intermediates overtook the 32ers at the NC Museum of Art greenway entrance.

Traffic was reasonable on the route back through Cary into Raleigh that early in the morning. All riders enjoyed passing through the NC Museum of Art grounds by the Ellipses and the thatch torsos. Seeing the kinetic sculpture spinning and twirling in the strong wind was really spectacular, so much so that the 52ers almost missed the fork in the greenway. Too many distractions! The bike/ped bridge crossing capped a great day of GRITS riding.