Bidens mark first lady's birthday with leisurely bike ride

The Bidens are celebrating the first lady's 70th birthday with a leisurely bike ride

Biden (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Joe Biden helped his wife celebrate her 70th birthday on Thursday with a leisurely bike ride.

The president and Jill Biden — with a few Secret Service agents in tow — cycled the paved Cape Henlopen State Park trail near their Delaware beach home.

Well-wishers hooted and greeted the first lady with cheers and birthday greetings as the couple arrived at the trailhead near Gordons Pond beach. A smaller group sang “Happy Birthday" to her as she and the president finished up their ride on the 5.2-mile (8.4-kilometer) trail.

Jill Biden smiled and shouted, “Thanks!” as she and the president pedaled on toward their nearby house.

The president joined his wife at their beach house Wednesday evening to mark what a spokesperson for the first lady, Michael LaRosa, said would be a “quiet” birthday at their beach home. No family or friends were expected to join them.

The trip was a rare midweek getaway from the White House by a president. It also was Biden’s first visit to the couple’s vacation home since he took office in January.

The president is expected back at the White House on Friday.

Jill Biden, a longtime community college English professor, recently finished virtually teaching a course at Northern Virginia Community College. She won’t be teaching over the summer.