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This Saturday, June 7, a mere two weeks away from lift-off, found us once again at Yew and Cornwall, at the other Starbucks. Chris Blohmke, David and Zach Speert, and James Zlotnik all showed up resplendent in their new GearUp4CF kit, although only James had the courage to wear his new leggings. On our route through Stanley Park we had to skirt the World Triathlon Championships which were shivering their way through to a Sunday climax and managed to avoid the nude cyclists altogether who were goosebumping and climaxing their way for some purpose or another elsewhere in the city.
We met Hilda in Park Royal (at the Starbucks of course) and then set off on a Westerly route to Horseshoe Bay along the now familiar Marine Drive. The objective today was a big climb up Cypress, a wished for bear sighting on Chris’s part and a long run around UBC and into Steveston to capture that important Time In The Saddle. All went according to plan until Chris broke a spoke and had to detour to a West Van bike store while we slogged up the big hill. That completed we met Chris for lunch and then headed to UBC and parts beyond. The weather improved as the day went on and the now visible CF togs looked very bright indeed. Check James’s photo blog for more details. I had to break off at Cypress St and head back to town whilst the others went for distance and captured 167 km. My tally a more middling 125.
On Sunday Brian Carlson and Sandi Saunier and I drove to Chilliwack to rendezvous with John Joyce and his Shadow group. John had an extended route planned for the 4 of us while the Shadows did their own more leisurely route. John did not mention that his extra 20 km. also involved about an extra 700 metres of climbing as we rose higher and higher into the back roads on Promontory Ridge and Ryder Lake. I was expecting snow around the corner and whinged non-stop. We finally hit the flat lands again near Veddr Crossing and headed direction Yarrow. There we had a second detour up the hills. We came back by Tolmie Road, Dukes Pub, and a close encounter of a F150 kind, which made us reflect on the safety of Ipods on the road. We broke for lunch at the Rhombus hotel as always and once again John had to cajole us out of our relaxed lunch routine.
The afternoon leg was a breeze, flat with no wind, and we cycled West until we could go West no longer. (Popkum Road). We came back by Highway 9 until we hit the Agassiz Bridge at which point we exited onto River Road for the long ride home on the dyke. Very scenic with a flooded Fraser on one side and a Dutch landscape on the other. 125 km. again …. .hence a Double Header.
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