"A challenging route all the way to the shores of Lake Simcoe. This ride is essential training – if you can do this one, we know you'll be able to get to Montreal. On these long rides, it's more important than ever to keep your cadence high, especially on hills, so always shift down to an easy gear to save your legs and reduce stress on your knees."
Is it possible for a ride to be uphill both ways? Today for me the answer seemed to be "yes". The good news is I did it and I'm starting to feel like I actually might make it to Montreal. The way out was lovely, quiet country roads not impossibly hilly but a number of slow and steady climbs. The weather was lovely but there was a bit of a headwind. For the past few training rides, the work has always been on the way out, getting home has been super easy. Not so today. I rode with Jessica today and we enjoyed reassuring each other that the homeward trip would be great. After all, we'd just be retracing our steps and weren't we generally heading up? Ha ha I guess we failed to notice those nice sections where we coasted down towards Lake Simcoe. So in the end, the route lived up to its description of being challenging.
In spite of being a challenging and long ride, todays training ride was lovely. The break spot was right next to the lake and there were lovely big trees to rest under. This ride I also got a taste of the wonders of the Road Safety Crew. I was riding up Leslie street and this mini-van passed with someone waving a pom-pom out the window. 'Who drives around with pom-poms in their car?' I wondered. Road Safety of course. They would park their mini-van at various spots along the route and cheer their guts out. It was great and so encouraging. Todd from Road Safety did a bbq at the break (incidentally, Todd and Lynn (of Wellness) have been real heroes at many of the training rides providing water and encouragement. I've come to love the sight of all bright yellow cars, as Todd's car is a very visible little yellow car).
Excitement for departure is building. I really need to work on sorting out what to pack this week. One exciting addition to my packing will be my team t-shirt. All riders are divided up into teams. I'm on the Gears of Joy, here's our logo .
Well this has been a long post and though I probably could prattle on a good deal longer, I've got important reading to do.
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