Tuesday March 8
The night before a strong Pineapple Express passed through with strong winds and over an inch of rain. Tuesday dawned grey but dry and nine riders left Fol Epi at 9:30. Jack got ahead of his schedule so rode up the hill to meet seven of the group at Colwood Corners (Tom and Cy bringing up the rear) to make the total turnout a respectable 10. The Royal Roads coffee shop was unusually busy but still large enough to accommodate the group.

Conversation started with the dangers and difficulties of riding in a true peloton with many riders bunched closely together (sparked by a TV showing a cycling race) with the conclusion that for most of us this would lead to an instant disaster. Norm T brought up skiing given his successful trip to Whistler where he enjoyed plentiful snow and sunshine. This lead to memories of the old days of skiing at Whistler and Mt. Baker and missed opportunities (except for Jack) of real estate investments when the Village was the garbage dump and prices were < $10,000 (Rusty bought near Baker instead). The quality and speed of lifts in those days have thankfully been relegated to a nostalgic past!

After coffee, Cy headed down to the lagoon for sightseeing and John (who has signed up for the Whistler Gran Fondo) headed for places unknown for training. The remaining eight rode back along the Goose with Jack bearing off for home along the E&N trail.

The house that Jack built? Or Rusty?

We're behind you John - all the way!

Friday March 11
Dave A., and Tom A., met at Fol Epi and proceeded north along the Lochside Trail to Mann's Yard where they met Norm T., Jack B., Hans T., and Arnie S. Cloudy skies and a wind from the NE at 10 km/h but the group went at a good pace led by Jack and David.
We arrived at our destination, a new coffee stop recommended by Norm, Canoe Cove Joe's where we were greeted by a very friendly staff. The weather was reasonable so we sat outside on the deck overlooking the boat-yard with several very expensive items on view. Conversation was as eclectic as ever, ranging from the relocation of a ready-mix concrete facility, child soldiers and the exploitation of children as suicide bombers, the internecine fighting between Shiite and Suni Muslims and the destruction of Syria by Assad and Russian and US bombing. The topics turned to health care and Hans commented that his nonagenarian mother in Holland had complained the she was not getting the level of care that she expected and that she had to call her doctor to make a follow-up visit to her at home after a bout of flu. She thought that this should be done automatically without the necessity of a special request. I think Hans clued her in that if she were here she would have a long wait for a physician to come to her door.
The ride back was uneventful, but there is quite a hill from the coffee stop back up to the trail, but there was a light tail wind to push us along. Tom measured the trip from home to Fol Epi to Canoe Cove and back home to be ~72 Km.