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Two weekends ago I got to have a great ride with some great people. We met at Cadence and a gaggle of Deadgoats were there to enjoy the sunny weather. Tom, Tim, Pat, John along with Lisa, Alana and myself headed out to Bragg Creek.

The wind was strong out of the West, Wow was that rhetorical, but the temperature and skies were awesome. I spent a good amount of time riding with Tom. These group rides really allow you to get to know some other riders. We talked about family, riding weather, lots of stuff. The hills got attacked, the tempo pushed, but we still found time to chat it up. Good guys those goats.

We got to Bragg and had a quick coffee stop and socialized with the other roadies out for the day. Toma and Tim had to head back for other commitments but the rest of us decided to head to the end of Hwy 66 and back. With no cars past Elbow Falls it was like riding in the Tour. The scenery is awesome and stunning and we had more then enough time to look around as |Lisa had 3 flats due to some worn out tires. Note to all-training tires get pretty thin after a winter of indoor riding-change them up before you get stranded.

Sir Patrick Doyle was a gentlemen and offered tube after tube and just as it looked like Lisa may have to walk back Sir Patrick offered advice that only one of his extensive background could. Change the good front tire to the back as 60% of your weight is over the back wheel. This allowed Lisa to "ease" it back to Cinnamon Spoon for a treat. The boys carried on for a testosterone filled charge up and down the long hills.

Back to CS for a coffee and brownie before heading home.


The next day was the Prairie Roubaix hosted by Speed Theory. A 14km course with 3 km of gravel road thrown in to simulate the Spring Classics in Europe. All in all there were 9 Terrascapers there but only myself in the A race. The other riders had a great day as this was one of the first road races they had ever been in.

The A race started fast up the climb and I was positioned well all the way around until the gravel section. Then it just blew up. Riders got strung out and the pace was manic. I was alone starting lap 2 going up the hill when an old race acquaintance came up on me. i grabbed his wheel and by the top of the climb I had settled in and was able to take a turn pulling. We caught a few more stragglers and were soon an pack of 5.

This was one of the first races were i was riding with other people over 6 feet tall. i must say that it was nice to actually catch a draft behind the big men. I had to fight like mad on the down hills and pace properly on the ups. I was the only one on a cross bike with full cross tires. The good old 35cc, not quite so snappy. I hung tough and on the last gravel section before the finish an attack happened that I was able to cover and A BICI rider took me down to the paved part were he accelerated and I was 800m from the finish. I thought that would be it but I looked over my shoulder to see a Speed Theory rider coming on strong so had to bear down and go! I stood foe all of 30 meters and had to drop back into the seat. i got the cadence up and never looked back until after the finish. Man that hurts but good training.

I got the race fever and can't wait until the next one!!