I can think of no better way to usher in the long-awaited vernal equinox than by posting about the following causes for celebration: the recent re-openings of Red Hook’s Fairway and the Red Hook Lobster Pound in Brooklyn several weeks back and my first training ride of the season on Saturday, March 9.

Post-hurricane Red Hook recovery update. Here’s today’s New York Times article about the ongoing Red Hook recovery. Now that the weather is improving and local Red Hook business are opening their newly renovated doors again, please come visit! I can personally vouch for the delicious lobster rolls at the Red Hook Lobster Pound. If a trip out to Brooklyn is too far-flung for you, check the Red Hook Lobster Pound Twitter feed to see if and when the NY Lobster truck will be restarting its Midtown rounds.

To everyone who offered support of any kind to Red Hook and other neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Sandy during the past five difficult months, thank you again! Little by little, signs of renewal are appearing.

The new bakery at the reopened Fairway in Red Hook. Image courtesy of February 28 Zagat blog post.

A fresh lobster roll from Red Hook Lobster Pound. Image courtesy of March 4 Zagat blog post.

Bike Training 2013. My March 9 training ride took place the day after the Freaky Friday snowstorm that hit us on March 8. My Braking AIDS ride compadrés had scheduled the event as a way to welcome newbie riders and to open the season with a gentle if chilly ride. No one was expecting the snow we got, and on Friday afternoon, a flurry of emails went back and forth.

Me: “Are we still riding tomorrow? It’s really coming down.”

Rider coach Blake Strasser: “Yes! It’s supposed to go up to 50 tomorrow, so it will all be melted by morning.”

The photo below was taken when I left my apartment the following morning to ride to the group meeting point at the Columbus Circle end of Central Park.

My Braking AIDS water bottle, outside my apartment, before my first training ride of the season, Saturday, March 9, 7:45am.

Blake’s forecast was…somewhat optimistic, but she wasn’t wrong either. The snow stuck it out for several hours and the air was crisp, but the roads were clear and the sun was out. So I pumped up The Blue Streak’s tires, had a smoothie and some coffee, filled a water bottle, layered up, and hit the road, careful to avoid ice patches along the West Side bike path. I arrived at 59th and 8th Avenue under the golden USS Maine National Monument at 8:15am and was surprised and thrilled to see so many Braking AIDS riders had come out. A special shout-out of gratitude goes out to Kristofer Velasquez and Joseph Rivera for leading and caboosing the group ride that morning. The new riders who showed up get extra props; Friday’s snowstorm made plenty of veterans decide to roll over and sleep in Saturday morning. Most folks did a loop and a half around the park. I wanted to push myself and did two full loops. We then made our way down to the Chelsea offices of Global Impact, which produces and runs the Braking AIDS ride every year. Eric Epstein and Blake Strasser, two of the Global Impact staff quartet (the fourth being Sasha, Eric’s Vizsla, who also serves as the office manager), greeted us with coffee, hot chocolate, and three kinds of breakfast pastry. Sasha greeted us with kisses and snuggles and body rubs. Who can argue with that? We ate, we drank, we rested, and most of us stayed for the ride preview before heading home.

Training Ride #1: 28 miles total. It felt great to be on The Blue Streak again. Not bad for a snowy day in March.

Braking AIDS 2013, which will again benefit Housing Works, takes place this coming September and will be my sixth AIDS ride, my fifth with the Braking AIDS organization and community. Let the training and fundraising begin! Happy spring, everyone.

Riders from the first Braking AIDS Second Saturday training ride of the season, warming up with coffee and hot chocolate, post-ride, Saturday, March 9. That’s me in the back row, center, holding up my cup of hot mocha.