The Big Loop Ride - July 20th

[AJ Neale]

Hi Paula,

By Cowichan, do you mean Lake Cowichan ( the town ) or Cowichan Bay? I know there used to be a dead cell zone about halfway between Duncan and Lake Cowichan. As for kids parks, there is a nice park right at the river in Lake Cowichan at the new roundabout ..... not sure about a playground. There is also a museum/park about 500m west of the bridge where there is an old logging train and trees. It might be busy at both parks with people starting their tubing journey down the river. Hope that helps.

Andrew N.

[S Szabo]

Seems a daunting distance, but kinda got inspired by the Van Isle 1200 so I'll give it a shot.
Sandy ( Sidney Velo and wed/ fri group)

[Julie]

I would like to come, but I am a fair-weather (no rain, no fender) cyclist for distances never cycled.
Julie v

[rhughes]

I'm in. (As long as it's a go and the wx is reasonable).

Ritchie

[John D]

Ok, so we're officially a "Go" for tomorrow.

There's still a slight chance of showers around Renfrew, so a rain shell might be a good idea. The Alpha Street Starbucks (on Douglas across from Mayfair) opens at 5:30am. We will roll out at 6:00am. We'll take the Goose out to where it crosses the Old Island Highway and then turn right toward Sooke Road.

I'm also now officially closing registration. We currently have 25 registrants.

See you tomorrow,
John

[stevierooks]

HOT DOG!! Its a go! You folks are awesome...and a little crazy

I have arranged a photographer (my brother Dave) to be at Starbucks for a quick photo shoot. If the group can take a few minutes between coffee and departure, Dave can arrange us in a favorable light and get a few shots of our courageous adventurists at the onset of our Loopy endeavour. A nice group photo will be available to all riders after the ride.

I hope everyone will be willing to take direction and stand still for a few seconds so we can get a good one.

Cheers to a safe ride and a day filled with camaraderie.

Rooks

[John D]

I've alerted Starbuck's that there may be a pretty big crowd on hand when they open at 5:30 tomorrow.

J.

[Marcus]

If you are wondering what to bring tomorrow I can't tell you but I can tell you that the following food and drink items will be in the van so plan accordingly as I would like to see them consumed.

18 bagels with cream cheese and lox
2 large pots of vegetarian chili
24 clif bars
24 vega gels
24 bananas
24 oranges
2 large canteloupe
4 litres of coke
4 litres of lemonade
6 litres of cran-raspberry cocktail
2 cans of gatorade powder
2 packages of fig newtons
2 bags of Miss Vickies chips
10 gallons of water

Also, the following items which I hope are not consumed will be in the van.

spare wheel set
spare tubes
spare tires
spare 10 speed chain
chain whip
foot pump
assortment of tools

See you tomorrow

Marcus

[John D]

Vegetarian chili?! Isn't that an oxymoron - like de-caf coffee???

Seriously though, thanks for the support Marcus. We'll see you, Nancy, and the wiener dogs in the morning.

J.

[Kevin F]

It all sounds fantastic! Looking forward to it.

[mlawless]

So my inner cupcake is asserting itself and I may be forced to chicken out in Sooke and cycle back with Dave et al (assuming I even wake up in the morning)...

We will see!

Michael

[Marcus]

Vegetarian chili con carne would be an oxymoron.

[John D]

Vegetarian chili con carne would be an oxymoron.

Thank you Captain Pedantic.

J.

[barton bourassa]

Wasn't that a party!! Other than one very unfortunate incident with Ritchie crashing off the side of the road on a sharp corner downhill to Port Renfrew, things went really well! Thankfully Ritchie was ok but it turns out that his new carbon fibre handle bars broke!

A huge shout out to John D for organizing this great day! Big thanks to Marcus & Nancy for again taking care of us with lots of great food along the way. Much thanks and great appreciation to Al and Shannon on their motor cycles making sure we were all ok and had food and drink along the way when we needed it! Thank you so much!

Barton.

[Kevin F]

Well done everyone! Thanks to everyone who helped out and organized so we could beat the cap out of ourselves. Nearly 30kph average for the whole distance.

[Marcus]

For leftovers, we have 3 back packs, 3 satchels, 1 cooler and 1 first aid kit in our garage. I should be home tomorrow evening after 6 if you want to swing by and pick up your gear. Earle Place, behind the Fairfield Plaza. The van is in the driveway.

Cheers, Marcus

[Fozzy]

What a ride!! A fab day on the bike with a great club!!! Thanks to Marcus, Nancy, and the bikers for their time and support ( and the chilli).

[John D]

For leftovers, we have 3 back packs, 3 satchels...

Satchels? Who the hell brought satchels? Was there a "Spy Who Came In From The Cold" theme going on that I was unaware of?

Many thanks to Mark and Paul for taking the lead on organizing the 2nd Annual Triplshot BLR. Road support from Al, Shannon, Marcus, Nancy, Guinness and Izzy(?) was absolutely outstanding. Knowing that we were being so well looked after by you guys made the ride much less daunting.

Door to door I clocked 254km. Think I'll take the bus to work tomorrow.

J.

[stevierooks]

Thanks to all for a great adventure.

Special Kudos to Paula for an inspiring example of digging deep and keeping going. You've got Grit!

Thanks to the support crews. We were fortunate to have that kind of generosity donated to our endeavour.

And Peter. What can I say. Having a guy like you taking on the role you do helps make a group ride a 'Group Ride!'. Thanks for shepherding. Without you in that difficult role, we might just look like a strung out, disorganized group of annoying cyclists causing chaos at every turn. With you, a little less so

[S Szabo]

Can't thank the club enough for letting me in as a guest. I'd heard you guys were good but didn't know you were that good. Had to make more comebacks than Billy Martin managing the Yankees, but I managed to hang in til Interurban where I felt it best to sit up and enjoy the scenery for the last 6 km. anyway, thanks to the A group for pulling me around.

I've been in a few clubs over the years and this was the best organized ever.
Big thanks to the chuck/sag team and motorcyclist for the great job, which was a bit of an endurance event in its own right.

Big thanks also to Peter , who in addition to pulling me back in on occasion also picked up my wimpy handle bar mirror when it fell off. Hated to put it on my road bike but had to when I developed severe arthritis is my neck which greatly limits my lateral head movement. This may possibly also explain some of my more annoyingly erratic moves ,although I'm not completely ruling out that such behavior is hardwired into my DNA.
Anyway great job Peter.

Looking forward to seeing you all again on another ride.

Sandy (yellow and black Iowa kit)