I met Paul [local Calgary Bent Google Group member] for the first time this morning. We had planned on doing a ride out to Bragg Creek along Hwy 22x and then back to Calgary along Hwy 22 & Hwy 8. However, the weather forecast was 30-40% rain and it looked pretty grim when I got up this AM.Being optimists we decided to meet up anyways and perhaps ride 20kms to Pridis and then back if it looked crappy. Worst case if we showed up and it was raining we could at least go for breakfast and talk bikes. Sure I was being wimpy, but after my last ride on the Taifun in the rain I am a bit gun shy to repeat that experience until my fenders arrive.
We left the last C-Train station in the Shawnessy shopping centre around 10:10am. The whole ride out the sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain at any moment. We were having a blast riding and chatting away so when we reached Pridis we decided to keep going at least another 10kms. Well sure enough the weather stayed stable and we kept riding all the way to Bragg Creek.
I found a nice little cafe in Bragg Creek and it seems I end up there every time I pass through. I have to say one thing I love about cycling is that I get to eat an obscene amount of food and still lose weight.
The ride back to Calgary was fast and fun. The weather turned and the last part of the journey was blue skies and sunny...=-)
It was great meeting Paul and I enjoyed the company. I ride a lot on my own so having someone to chat with about bents and cover some Kms is awesome! He has a nice V-Rex that looks like a very fine touring bike. I'm appreciating RANS bikes more and more every time I get to see and/or ride one.
The best part is we scored a bonus 95Kms that we could have easily missed out on if we hadn't taken the chance and pedalled our bikes despite the poor forecast. The SAS motto is "Who dares wins!" Today that was our story....=-)
Paul has a Challenge Mistral [Travel] on order from Angletech. Soon we'll have our own Challenge bent posse roaming the highways of Alberta. Cool.
2 comments:
Hey Vik - I couldn't believe the height difference between your bent and Paul's when I saw the two of you at Glenmore Landing this afternoon. It looked like you'd always have to be ahead of Paul at all times or he'd accidentally run over you!
Chris
Nice bikes, looks like nice company..the perfect day!
JIm
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