The first Poky Pedaling Potluck Picnic for 2014 took place yesterday. On a cloudy day in the 70’s with a bit of sun peeking through, 18 Poky Pedalers set forth on an evening of Bike Fun.

Bikes, food, and trees – a great recipe for a Poky Pedaling Potluck Picnic

From Goerke Park, we wound our way west and then north on a 4-mile route to the Sculpture Park along the Green Circle Trail on the north side of Stevens Point. Our route was on calm streets, including a bike path on Second St N north of NorthPoint Dr.

The neighborhoods towards the northern part of our route were particularly nice to ride through as they have more of a rustic flavor. This was just another reminder that one doesn’t really need to leave the urban area to enjoy a semi-rural bicycle ride.

Amidst all the big trees of the Sculpture Park, one of the installations has a stage and a permanent bench seating area that accommodated our picnic perfectly. We unpacked our picnic contributions and enjoyed a splendid feast in the forest.

We had plenty of food and plenty of Poky Pedalers for good company

As always, I brought a heapin’ helpin’ of my Seven P’s and No Peas Salad (otherwise known as Poky Pedaling Potluck Picnic Palate Pleasin’ Potatoes). But I was outdone by all the marvelous food contributions Poky Pedalers provided. Of particular note were the freshly baked bread and the still-warm-from-the-oven berry bars. But all the other salads, desserts and other contributions were delicious as well. We all ate well beneath a vast canopy of trees.

With warmer temperatures and puddles from heavy rain the day before, I had concerns about whether bugs would bother us. I knew that to use this site for a Poky Pedaling Potluck Picnic, it had to be in May because mosquitoes would be intolerable in later months.

I had visited the site a couple of times in recent days and simply sat for 10 minutes to see if any skeeters would find me. Based on those mosquito-free visits, I had high hopes that we would not encounter any during our picnic. Alas, that was not the case. One person detected one mosquito yesterday. Fortunately, it takes more than one mosquito to spoil a Poky Pedaling Potluck Picnic.

We rode through the rest of the Sculpture Park on the way back to Goerke Park. Several Poky Pedalers had never been to the Sculpture Park before, and they marveled at all the creative installations as we bicycled through. After reaching SPASH, we headed east past Schmeeckle Reserve and then south to return to Goerke Park at around 7:15 PM. Our round trip for the evening was approximately 7 miles.

Yesterday’s Bike Fun might be over, but Poky Pedalers don’t have to wait long before their next opportunity for more. The Chocolate Ride will be taking place this Saturday. Check the PPSP blog later in the week for more information about that. You can also look at the Upcoming Poky Pedals page and the 2014 Bike Fun Calendar for more information.

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