Yesterday’s ride with the FOG crew was the 1st in a number of weeks as I’ve been at the lake on most weekends, and did the Muddy Waters Grand Forno on one of the weekends that I was in town. The weather looked very nice early in the morning, with a little coolness in the air that comes at this time of year, hinting at the waning of summer.
By ride time at 9 a.m. however it was a little blustery with some very dark clouds on the western horizon. Sure enough, 20 minutes or so into the ride, we encountered light showers for a short time, and then it cleared off for a very pleasant morning.
The ride was quick with a +35km/h to Lockport, a no stop roll through, and the usual sprint to the Selkirk town line. After a brief stop in Selkirk it was on to the “Big Bridge” and again a brief slowdown and re-group after the bridge and then back on pace to rejoining Hwy 44. Here there is some discussion about going to Cooks Creek vs the usual Birds Hill Park via Hwy 206. No clear decision, so we move on. At the 206 junction 4 of the 22 rides opt for Cooks Creak and for some crazy reason I’m one of them. The distance is not that much further as it adds about 8-10km to the ride but with just 4 riders, you’re on the front a lot and have to work a lot harder. We quickly settle into a nice pace line taking short pulls at the front and keeping a 36-38km/h speed. Shortly before we re-join 206, I’m “cooked” and need to slow down. Thankfully, the guys wait for me and once back on 206 I’m feeling better and able to keep with the group.
Once in Birds Hill we learn that the main group is about 10 minutes ahead of us and come to the conclusion that we won’t be catching them. I think prior to this we’d thought we might be able to do the extra distance and a pace that would allow us to catch them, but it’s clear now that it’s not happening. We follow the usual route back to town and my ride is 106km with an average speed of just over 33km/hr. Another good ride is in the log book.