SPANGDAHLEM, Germany — Since the age of 16, Melanie Gibson has zipped along the steep hills and sinuous curves of southwestern Germany from atop a motorcycle.

"When I started there weren’t many girls riding in my city, a suburb of Trier," she said.

This year, though, the first ride of the season will likely to be her last in Germany.

"It’s bittersweet," she said Friday, decked in black leather.

Gibson and her husband, Charles, a technical sergeant with the 52nd Maintenance Squadron, are leaving for Dayton, Ohio, soon.

Friday was likely the final time they will hop on their sport bikes and head out as part of the Eifel Riders Green Knights Chapter 27, a motorcycle club formed at the air base.

Charles Gibson will miss the gang.

"Over here it doesn’t matter what you ride as long as it has two wheels," he said, referring to the sometimes contentious relationship between cruiser and sport-bike cyclists.

"There is just a lot of camaraderie here."

A sun-soaked afternoon presented the perfect day for the Eifel Riders’ first motorcycle run of the season.

Prior to hitting the road, though, they covered some safety issues, and reminded riders to wear the proper equipment, such as leather gear and a helmet.

During the ride, the nearly 50 motorcyclists covered more than 100 miles, leaving tracks on everything from the autobahn to the winding, single-lane, farm roads.

"It’s mostly for the new riders," said Staff Sgt. Brian Signal, president of the Eifel Riders. "And to refresh riders who have had their bikes in the garage all winter."

The Gibsons led the pack, showing the riders some hidden switchbacks.

"We can show them roads that they have never been on," Melanie Gibson said. "Show them that there is more than just the autobahn."

But she also warned new riders that when traveling through the back country there can be some unexpected obstacles: loose gravel, slow moving tractors, cows crossing the street.

Capt. Andrew Slaughter and Senior Airman Kip Holmstead, both with the 702nd Munitions Support Squadron, traveled from Buechel Air Base, about an hour away, to take part in the ride.

In sectors of the biker world, their friendship might appear unseemly: Slaughter, 38, rides a Suzuki cruiser; Holmstead, 23, rides a sport bike.

"It’s an old person’s bike," Holmstead joked about Slaughter’s cycle. "It’s a bit more sedated."

Still, their passion for riding was the same, and they were thrilled to share the road with the other bikers.

So how does it feel like to hurtle down a curving road atop a motorcycle?

"I suppose you might get the same feeling if you were in a Porsche or Lamborghini," Slaughter said.

"It’s like being in control of a roller coaster."