Stealth Ninga Bikers do Night Gat Loop

It was only supposed to be Thai Food. That's it. But somehow Kari tricked me into a night gat loop before food even though my legs were shredded from the past few days' efforts.

Not only did she trick me into the ride, she also invited super speedy Marc and Warren. I wasn't sure if my legs would survive the loop, let alone keep up with fast boys.

Turns out I worried for nothing. The pace was mellow, the night was warm and the company was excellent. We all brought our lights but they were off 90% of the time.

Unnecessary plastic bags on my feet. Way too warm for that.

There were no cars on the closed parkway so we were able to spread out across the road. The only obstacles were the many roller skiers on the north loop and a couple of dog walkers. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves.

The ladies. Face-splitting vagabond grin in this shot.

The gentlemen. Marc's got a bit of crazy eyes going on here.

The group at Champlain Lookout.

I'm looking all Rico Suave in the picture above. It was a warm night and I overdressed so I was unzipped the whole time. Not bad for a late November road ride.

On the way down from Champlain a skunk ran in front of us. We were four abreast. He ran by Kari and Marc first then split Warren and I as Warren sprinted ahead. The little guy was confused and ran parallel to my wheel. I missed him by about three inches. I let out a blood curdling scream, so sure I was going to smoke him.

The best was going down Blacks and Pink. All four of us were in a full tuck, racing down the big ass descents without lights. Our ninga stealth mode cracked me up.

Some might say foolish, I say fun!

The ride where I finally learn to love my cross bike

So I have to admit up until now, I have felt somewhat indifferent to my cross bike. While I find cross fun, most of the time I secretly wish I was on a mountain bike. Today, at the Tall Trees Double Cross 'Race', on a mix of road and trails, that all changed.

The trails from Wakefield to O'Brien are perfect for a cross bike. The skinny tires make this fairly easy trail much more interesting. You have to pick your way down rocky descents but you can fly on the NCC highway portions.

As I suspected Peter made a excellent partner. He warned me of this big Scotch Festival in Fredericton he was attending in the days leading up to the race. That was fine with me however I'll admit this morning I was curious what his scotch to blood ratio might be.

Peter's spidey sense tingled whenever I fell off the back and he'd ease up to wait for me. Best partner ever.

We were 23 riders. My second biggest group ride ever with the Anti-Race a week earlier topping that. Bakery Stop at Pipolinka in Wakefield.

The Clean Machine

Peter borrowed Big Ring's extra clean, super sexy Fisticuff. That is one fine bicycle Mr. Barlow. I wonder if Peter will be able to get it to glisten to its pre-race shine levels. Stop buffing when you can see your reflection Peter!

The group is ready to 'race' after we hit the trails post Bakery.

Mike, Peter and Kent ready to tear up the trails on their skinny tires.

Our one and only flat.

Five minutes into the trail portion of the ride, Peter had a pointy rock incident. The pointy rock won that time but after a bit more air and avoidance tactics, there were no more flats for the Spidey twins! Peter was not the only one who battled hidden rocks though. Before we hit Lac Phillip, there were four flats. The trail was littered with Double Crosser carnage. Throughout the ride there were must have been at least ten flats.

At the Raw Sugar Cafe. Note Peter's wife Anita to his left. A special thanks to her for letting Peter come out to play today even though he was away all weekend.

When we went to the Raw Sugar cafe after the ride, I found myself with a difficult decision to make. Beer or coffee? I was hemming and hawing until I had the now obvious epiphany to have both (cue angels singing).

Thanks Tall Trees for an excellent day! This ride rounds out the best fall ever.

Double Cross

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So, I'm doing this on Sunday with my brother from another mother, Dr. Peter* <-click it, you know you wanna.



Grab your cross bike and a partner and come along too.

* just another veggie eatin', mountain bikin' type, born and raised in Truro. we're everywhere really.

Grumble

Today was a bad day. Why it was bad is beyond the scope of this blog so let's just leave it at that. Apologies, I know you usually get sunshine and puppy dogs when you come here.


I tried to fix it in my usual ways. Got out for a walk in the sunshine over lunch. Nope, still grumpy. A delicious chocolate chip cookie and soy chai latte...no dice. Took the long way home from work along the bike path on the Ottawa river into the sunset. Ugh. Still a cloud hung over my head.

The only thing left to do was go for a ride. That almost always works. Unfortunately no one could accept my last minute request. Paul had a thing, Kari was out of town, Lenny didn't reply...etc etc. Finally I went to the OMBA website and saw a ride Erik T posted. Hmmm...do I know Erik T? I'd heard the Johns talk about him a lot but couldn't remember if I'd met him.

Whatever, I didn't care. I told him I was in. He assured me we'd ridden together in the past. It's funny, biking is definitely the only thing that would ever get me out in the woods at night with a stranger.

Unfortunately I rode very poorly. I was slipping and sliding and bouncing off everything. Riding just like I was feeling. Despite the nice temperature, a sky full of stars, good company and even a fat porcupine leading us for a bit, the ride did not work. It just didn't take. I finished as sour as I started.

Sigh.

My only hope is a John Cusack movie marathon.
It will have to wait until tomorrow night.

DelStalk ~ Anti-Race

What was this DelStalk~Anti-race business?
Only the biggest and bestest group ride ever; then party like its 1999.



Words are failing me and I took like, no pictures so you will have to go here, here, here, here or here to get your DelStalk Anti-Race fix. That's probably enough to keep you busy.

You really shoulda been there.

Carpe diem

It was sunny and a holiday (respect to Veterans!). You guys know where I was.

I haven't done the Wakefield loop much this season. A few years ago a group of us did this loop every weekend in August. It was the bakery swim ride. Or the how to turn an three hour ride into an eight hour day ride.

Mandatory bakery stop mid-ride.

Eatin' in the sun! From CW: the other Tanya, Ray, the other Steve, Back in the day Steve and Lucy. Not the usual suspects. Fun times.

The other Steve set this shot up. I never met him before today and he was a constant source of amusement.

Lac Phillip. One of many lakes on the ride. All were still and beautiful today.

Back in the day Steve. We go way back to my rowdy, JDS, par-tay like yer still in university days. First time we've ridden together.

Lucy. Everybody's favourite new Canadian!

What a great day to be alive!

DNF.

Cross Race again. Today's special guest was Kari. Her first cross race ever! We did the warm up together and I showed her the ropes and gave her a few tips. It was a terrible warm up with respect to getting me warmed up but it sure was fun. We got accused of giggling too much. That doesn't sound like me and Kari, does it? okay, me and anyone really...

Today I'm featuring the ladies of cross in my pictures.

Mel, Kari and Yours Truly. All three of us were back and forth the whole race. That is, until the incident...

The incident. After about 40 minutes, a stick lodged itself into my derailleur. It created all kinds of havoc and there was no more shifting after that. I think my hanger is bent because when I pedal my drive chain says "ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk, crunch crunch crunch". So I had to DNF. Boo. Hiss.

Introducing Anna!

And Joanne! Both fast ladies in the second race.

An interesting thing happened as I was leaving. I'm passing by this guy who I swear I've never seen before in my life and he says in a low, taunting voice "Whoooop Asss". Hmmmm....I guess he was at the party last weekend but I wouldn't recognize him without his costume.

So I jammed a lot in one day today. After the race, I had a choice of three rides to go on. It was a beautiful day so everyone was out riding. I chose the latest one because of time.

Group ride, Kanata Lakes ten riders deep. It wasn't a great start, people were dropping like flies...literally. By twenty minutes in we had 4 crashes, one being hard enough to bust this guy's hand forcing him to abandon the ride. I got a good 2 hour ride in but had to bail on the group early because I was off to my next commitment of the day...

Ball hockey. This one is different, its ladies only. And I'm the goalie. I accidentally discovered last year that I love playing in the goal so every now and then this team asks me to spare for them. We crushed the other team 7-1. Eat it yellow team!

As long as the other team doesn't discover my weak blocker skills, its all good. Glove side? Forgetaboutit.