Encouragement and Coffee Cake

It's hard for Jerry and me to keep our spirits up, but we certainly are trying. Not being able to ride in this beautiful weather is taking its toll,but today we are going to the beach for a barbecue with friends. I've got a coffee cake cooling on a rack downstairs. Making it was a bit of a comedy of errors. It's a new recipe, and I had gone out specifically to get buttermilk for it. So I was sure all was a go.

But first I couldn't find oil. It did finally turn up in the garage, where a lot of my larger-container items live. But then, where was the baking powder? I always have baking powder. What baker doesn't have baking powder.
Fortunately, I am taking care of Satchmo, our neighbor's cat, so I had the keys to their house. I went over, fed Satch, and borrowed a teaspoon of baking powder. Baking emergency averted.

The cake smells wonderful. This is a test batch for the Jon Pon ride the first week in May. If it's a success here, I'll make it for breakfast for the ride.

Encouragement came in the form of an email from the owners of a company called Reverse Gear (www.reversegearinc.com). They sell everything to meet the needs of riders of "bent" bikes, as many call recumbents, and they ride a Greenspeed recumbent tandem. I emailed them to ask about their experience with riding their tandem trike all over the world. The email I received was friendly and reassuring. Sure, we won't be the fastest bike on Quadbuster, but we'll make it.

I feel as if we have some wonderful support out there. It feels great.