Monday, June 15, 2015

Weekend of Various Things, including avoiding Certain Death on several Occasions.

The sometime plan was to go riding in Cumberland before I move to the other coast for a few years.  Yvonne and Kenta thought they should torture themselves with the Twelve Hours of Riding the Same Trail Over and Over in Cumberland, and as friends we thought we should intervene. So a bunch of friends  jumped on their plan, skipped the race and rode about 12 hours over two days, which is probably the same riding time (so they wouldn't miss out on time-in-saddle), and picked many trails. I wish I knew the word for a "bunch" of people on bikes. Because that was us. And two dogs, of course. 

Saturday had some farcical entertainment at the back of the pack as I had to walk the sketchy hills. Unfortunately I didn't only try to deal with a recently broken ankle fortified with adhesive tape (courtesy of Angie), but also a non-functioning rear brake. Luckily Angie saved me from Certain Death by taking my bike so I could slither the hills while holding on to sturdy salal and trees.... Unfortunately my bike was a freight train on wheels, which made Angie work very hard and still was  slowly sliding backwards down steep rubbly hills, and was quite scary to watch. 


Yvonne was kind enough to investigate some mud.


She took LOTS of pictures of us, but this is all I managed. However, it was a very neat log, even if you can't see how long it is. 




There are a LOT of amazing new trails in the Cumberland woods. We picked Potluck into Canyon and down along the Trent River as likely to be a good choice, and the shady woods with a trail looping through the woods and down the embankment to the river and back up didn't disappoint anyone. 

The riding day sort of ended with this.



 Although then it got more interesting when Pippa thought she needed to rescue Matilda and I (from Certain Death), as we were obviously lost in the woods. We weren't, since we took a shortcut as Matilda's feet were very painful. Pippa and Marc and Andrew thought they should loop a few more laps to get all they could out of the day.  

The best bike shop EVER......  Simon's Cycles in Comox.....  Simon saved me from Certain Death by fixing my brake for me. Did you hear me say BEST BIKE SHOP EVER!!!!!! I can't thank Simon enough, that was definitely above and beyond. Sunday would have been really very terrifying without a rear brake, and instead it was super fun. But I'm getting ahead of myself, because we're not at Sunday yet. Focus Nikki!!!

I am out of drawings... and since I have a lot of packing to do I am going to do the unthinkable and steal pictures. Muhahahahahaha.......  

Darcee and Chris are good friends of ours from Comox that I never saw enough when we lived there. They insisted they'd like nothing better than to have a giant mass of dirty bikers visit them for dinner, so we did. And it was amazing. It was lovely to see Darcee and Chris, and I will miss them until they come to visit me in Boston! 

Picture courtesy of Paul

Incidentally, if you see this in a store....BUY IT!  Schnell, schnell! 

I was so tired I think I was asleep before I hit the pillow. So were Pippa, Matilda and possibly a few others. 

Sunday was another day however, and after a cup of really strong coffee I was feeling up for more punishment. So was the rest of the gang, although sadly we'd lost a few locals after Saturday. For justifiable reasons, but the group was a bit smaller. 

Becca saved Matilda from Certain Death by taking her for the day. I sincerely hope Matilda wasn't whining and being an ass all day which she did last time Becca saved her.....  I felt extremely bad for our rush at the end of the day, because I didn't even get to say hello to Becca, much less intrude for a visit. I'm so sorry Becca! I really wanted to see you! Unfortunately the ferries wait for no man. Or woman, child, group of very dirty unshowered bikers.... Or should I say, they're often late, full, annoying and have bad food, but we still really need them since my swimming skills are not up to the task. 

Sunday.... 
Team BiG DoG- Pic by Yvonne
Hot Road - also Yvonne's pic

Suzanne and the BiG DoG, as spied upon by Yvonne

I probably should think of more interesting and awesome things to say, but Marc just put a plate of breakfast next to me and my stomach is trying to strangle me. 
The short version - lovely to see everyone, especially the Islanders that I haven't seen in a long time. It was an absolutely brilliant weekend. Thanks to everyone who saved us and made it what it was! 





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