A cold 150 km

So my hipster hubby has been spending a bit of his online time looking for other Vancouverites that ride.  One group was planning a winter long ride somewhere between 150 to 200 km starting in East Van just before sunrise.  The decision maker for joining the ride was the weather.  If it was snowing when we woke up, then we could stay in bed (or maybe it was just me).  If it wasn’t snowing, then we bundled up and sucked it up to join the group.

Personally, I think November and December are for being lazy and gaining weight.  I picked these up a Trader Joe’s on our last trip to WA.  PB and jelly covered in chocolate with crushed potato chips.  300 calories in only 2 oz.

It was 10 or 11 people that rolled out of Vancouver and the suburbs.   My inexperience in group riding was evident as I hit more road junk than anyone else, including elbowing one of those bendy, plastic reflective things that stick up 3-4 feet.  Mad skills.

The first 70 kms were uneventful with temps between +1 to -3.  Timmy Ho’s in Mission was the first refuel stop and where the snow started falling.

As we went south towards Langley the snow kept coming.  Coming and then accumulating.

For the most part, the cyclists stayed upright, but not all the cars did.

I was scared with road conditions as I don’t have the snow cycling experience as Scott.  I think my top speed was 37 km/hr on a downhill and it was exhilarating.  Several of the guys, including Scott, were on fixies, and  they were very skilled.  Even with the icy roads, one of the guys kept bunny hopping to clear the snow from his fenders and take a series of short skids to scrub speed.  My heart stopped everytime he did though!

2 of the fixies.

Emily warming up with a bit of CO goodness.  Fixie Dave….did you know he was such a pusher when you got him addicted??

It was about 3pm with only an hour or so of daylight and another 40-60 kms (?) to go.  Scott and I were going to skip the next food stop and keep rolling and take advantage of the daylight.  Fortunately, the group settled for a quick coffee stop so we stayed with them.  I think Scott’s brain was impacted by doing this ride fixie.  He ordered a gingerbread latte.  Latte?  Scott?

The last bit of the ride was stressful for me.  Poor road conditions, darkness, snow, not always a bike lane.  Scott supported my desire to cut the ride short and get on the SkyTrain in Surry.  A couple of the other remaining riders joined us, while the other crazies kept it rolling all the way back to East Van.  Cat napping on the SkyTrain.

I am happy that Scott is so  much more social than me and we joined this ride.  This was the most fun and welcoming group of people that I’ve met since coming to Vancouver where cliques and competive bad attiudes dominate.