This post includes reports from both rides this past week: Tuesday 24th and Friday 27th - along with some cycling related items - be sure to read to the end.

On Tuesday eleven (11) riders met at Hatley Parking at 9:30. Norm L and Tom left early, followed shortly by a small group of riders (thinking the others would be following). This group saw Norm and Tom at the VanCity corner but there was no sign of the remaining riders. There was some discussion of returning to see what the problem was, but a few minutes later the remaining riders appeared – it seems Jim had a YouTube moment and put on a comedy of errors in the parking lot before all the riders could leave. The nine riders continued on to Rocky Point road uneventfully meeting up with Tom and Norm again (not a big difference in speed). The nine continued along the Goose while the two went off for coffee at My Chosen Cafe. A relaxed ride through the forest to the Matheson Lake parking was enjoyed so much that they continued on for another k or so to look for a vantage point on the lake.

The ride back up the incline was led off by John (complaining of the dust bringing up the rear) and soon there was a fast group following John disappearing into the distance and a slower group following Norm T bringing up the rear (still at a brisk pace!). All met at the My Chosen Cafe enjoying the somewhat damp outside tables just as Norm and Tom were leaving.

Coffee broke into two groups of 6 and 3 due to the considerable weight of the outdoor tables. The conversation at the 3 was of a sporty nature – in particular about “footie” as Hans' son was playing in a Canadian championship game on the weekend in Burnaby. Rusty was very knowledgeable of the distribution of “footie” interest in Australia while Jack had heard of the game but never seen it played. This led to discussion of the various types and degrees of injuries suffered while playing sport and the opinion of a physio who thought there should not be professional sport (although it provided the majority of her practice). Travel was brought up which led to some reminiscences of old road trips in the distant past. On the other hand Jim McN relayed a travel story from last weekend at Ladysmith Marina where a young lady whom Jim encountered as they were both ferrying supplies back to their respective boats by kayak. When Jim asked her if she wore a PFD she replied that she had a couple of built in PFD's. Jim claims that Chris can verifying this story. There has been some discussion about the possible need to adopt Secret Men's Business Rules as practised in Aboriginal Australian culture - so that some conversations over coffee stay at the coffee table and do not appear in the Blog.

The ride back was brisk but uneventful – riders dropping off at Hatley parking or on their way home as required.

The Friday ride started out from Mann's Construction Yard under cloudy skies. Present were John C, DavidA, Hans, Ian, Norm T and Tom. Midway to our intended destination with a nice tail-wind we encountered a brief shower and the skies continued to threaten. By general agreement we stopped in Sidney rather than proceeding into what looked like a stormyprospect to the north-west. Coffee was consumed under a sheltered outdoor patio at the Georgia Cafe. While there we had another brief shower which appeared to confirm the wisdom of our decision to shorten the ride. Conversation was generally concerned with alternate rides and arranging different starting points for riders who were interested in shorter routes. John described an encounter with another cyclist which resulted in a spill and a bit of road/bicycle rash. He pointed out that the ride from Ogden Point to Olive Olios could beamended to follow a route beginning at Fol Epi and then would proceed via Mount Doug. This would avoid the heavier traffic on Beach Road particularly when the cruise ship tourist buses are operating. Thisseems like a goodalternative and would provide us with something (relatively) new. If this route is scheduled on Tuesday May 31, (which would be fine with Tom) , or alternatively it could be the ride for Friday June 3rd. The ride home was under blue skies (very changeable weather !) and with a slight headwind. The loose gravel and sand by Lochside Park continuous to present hazardous cycling conditions. Otherwise no problems on the way back.

John Coyne is our resident participant and expert in cycling activities around the province. John would like you to check out the Victoria Bike Race website which is well worth looking at whether you want to be a participant or spectator - there are several races on the first weekend in June. Even if you don't race, you race vicariously by entering the grandchildren in the Tim Horton's Timbit Challenge!

In other cycling related news, there was an interesting article reporting on a study out of McMaster University on the merits of interval training on a stationery bicycle