Tripleshot Cycling

I'm not allowed on the bike again (Doc's orders) until this hip/leg thing clears up So Rolf, if there is a semi, cross off road thing going on give me a call and I have a bike set up, and looking for a rider. 250 818 5819.

Hope you all have a couple of great rides this weekend.

Dave

Is there a plan for Monday? Meet at Starbucks in Fairfield? Long ride?

Based on how I feel after being abused and forced up horrible hills all morning (I am a mere shell of a man) there is a good chance i am out for tomorrow. For the cross ride though I think the plan was to meet at fairfield at 7 (as usual so there may also be a road ride - anyone?) then head out at 7:30. Roland & Katie will be at the Switch Bridge at 7:45 so look for them...

Ok, so I'm hearing Fairfield Bucks at 7 - but what's the plan for the ride?

Should I bring the road or the cross bike?

Never mind - should have read Pete's post. I'll bring the cross bike!

Dave Spiers wrote:I'm not allowed on the bike again (Doc's orders) until this hip/leg thing clears up So Rolf, if there is a semi, cross off road thing going on give me a call and I have a bike set up, and looking for a rider. 250 818 5819.

Hope you all have a couple of great rides this weekend.

Dave

That's no good, Probably best to heal up correctly though. Hope to see you out again soon.

We are going to meet you at switch bridge. Call my cell 217-3517 if you head a different direction first.

Plawless wrote:Based on how I feel after being abused and forced up horrible hills all morning (I am a mere shell of a man) there is a good chance i am out for tomorrow. For the cross ride though I think the plan was to meet at fairfield at 7 (as usual so there may also be a road ride - anyone?) then head out at 7:30. Roland & Katie will be at the Switch Bridge at 7:45 so look for them...

That's the plan. But the 1000m of climbing affected me too, so I'll be looking for a kinder gentler ride on the cross ride. I'll be the one with a picnic basket and turkey sandwiches to get me home!

The ride that shall be known as Pete's Purgatory was fun; thanks all for indulging the suggestion of mileage ending with big climbs. Chatter at coffee was a bit subdued tho eh?

What a wicked ride!! Katie heard me hooting and hollering like a cowboy at the back as we zoomed through the woods. I've still got a grin on my face! Hope you guys had fun at the dump. I'm hooked. So Sunday rides will always be offroad from now on, right?

Thank you:

(a) Lister for the idea and navigating with Rita;
(b) all for waiting for me while I peed at the switch bridge;
(c) all for waiting for me at least 12 times when Dave's tight new pedals gave me trouble;
(d) Ian for lending your pump after I overzealously deflated my tires;
(e) Rita for letting me push you over on my way to my first offroad bail and bloodying in two decades;
(f) all for waiting for me to finish my tuna wrap mid-ride;
(g) Galen for joining me almost all the way home; and
(h) last but most, Dave Spiers for loaning me a very sweet machine.

The only downside: I'm now very conflicted about what to save my pennies for. Do I get a skookum road bike, or something I can ride in the woods?

Off for a hot bath...

It was a great ride. It wasn't even spoiled by the hour we spent trying to repair Roland's flat on the regional trail at the dump. We should definitely try to identify a full off-road loop that we can do in a reasonable time for future Sunday adventures! Riding a cross bike on inappropriately bumpy trails is a LOT of FUN! Thanks to all, especially Rolf for providing continuing entertainment throughout the morning. I'm sure Dave put some brand new eggbeaters on his bike to let Rolf loosen them up for him a bit...

also hooked - that was very fun , and an beautiful morning (chilly too) Awesome double track, not to technical, but fast in spots, short steep climbs, no traffic... Sign me up for more of those! We could do the same loop about 30 minutes faster without the map/wrap/pee... stops. Also a quality coffee stop should be worked in.

Thanks everyone for a super fun ride! After a 1.5 hours-long nap, I'm even functional again Lister, Galen, Gavin and Rolf, you know that you missed the funniest part of the ride!

'The Flat', by RR and helpers, in 4 acts!

I completely agree with Galen, we'll need to locate a coffee shop on the way for the next one.

Agree - that really was a great ride! Glad we could combine all of our stellar navigational skills to put together a great loop - it should definitely become part of the Tripleshot 'good rides' list!

Just sorry I missed out on the final (and apparently hilarious) stretch - but I'm at least I'm still married and in one piece to tempt fate on another future weekend.

I think the exploring part was the most fun for me - there's nothing like not really being sure where you're going to pop out of the woods eh?!

Wicked cross ride for the books gang!

Rolf, get this: http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/10193621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false plus a second set of road wheels.

A great ride! Definitely a do-again.

Next time, however, I will ensure Roland and I each bring *multiple* spare tubes, several pumps and a collection of C02 inflator nozzles. Apparently one of each for each of us was woefully inadequate.

Additional bananas would have been nice too.

Well, two naps later and ready for bed at 9:30, I have just enough energy left to post what a blast that was. Thanks to all. After the beating Sunday, I was not up for it, but like the hair of the dog that bit you, it did the trick.

Katie et al, what route did you take home? I had another two hours after we parted in Hartland with my family and friends, and surprised myself and had a good time surfin' the endorphin wave from the ride up.

Thanks all, but special mention to Rita for bringing a real map, Gavin for getting us through Thetis and the best groin injury stories, Rolf ("Get away from that tree, it's mine!") for entertainment, Galen for showing that a cross bike CAN get air, Ian for the best Rolf and lost Garmin jokes, Katie and Roland for for the tech tips on eggbeaters (custom candies are apparently the way to go???) and the Cancellara story bringing Miller back his dropped Garmin. If only Cancellera had been on the ride Gavin dropped his phone...

Another memorable TS production: greater than the sum of the parts.

For those who didn't make this edition, the ride was through Thetis lake park to Hartland, when we split up because the headscratching took a litlle longer than anticipated. I think there will be more.

We took the trail from where you left us (and then found us again 45mins later) out of the dump to the "Interurban Rail Trail" beside West Saanich, then through Camosun to Layritz park. Ian and Rita split off at that point to take trails towards Mt Doug. Roland and I continued through Layritz park and across Wilkinson to a trail around Pananma Flats, through Hyacinth park, then along the Colquitz River Park trail to Tillicum Mall. Then we hopped onto Burnside and took the road 5 blocks home.

There were some very handy maps on the trail along the way, but it took a bit of piecing together as the trail was sometimes "trail" and other times bits of road.

Thx Katie. Glad the tube held out.

Ideas for next time:

The bit of trail we searched for is on the Highlands map that Katie sent the link for. I zoomed and printed the srceen shot, highlighted the trail and then lost it at home. Found it this am, and lo and behold the trail we took is marked. This suggests the highlands maps are pretty thorough; that wasn't an obviously maintained trail despite the wide bit at the start.

We might need a shorter loop or a different start point if we want to share this with others. And keep marriages together. Also, the long ride on the goose to Thetis could use an alternative. Gavin, do you think there are enough bits of trail you know to string together a route?

Had another thought. Anyone ridden in the bit of terrain south of Francis King, (east of Highlands road)? There might be a connector to the Francis King trails, then a trail to Hartland so we could shorten the loop and make it to Elk. Google satelite shows a new subdivision off Creed, but a signficant forested area between it and Highland.

Roland wrote:Rolf, get this: http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/10193621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false plus a second set of road wheels.

I agree. If I didn't have a museum of custom 80's road bikes in my basement, I'd go for a cross bike to replace them all. Alec Walton has a nice Ti cross frame that he uses for road.
http://www.evertibikes.com/ti-fighter.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false Ti is nice because it lasts forever, scratches polish out, etc. Last bike you'll ever buy.

There are big differences between cross bikes, more than road bikes. I've seen head angles from 70 to 73 degrees, which is a lot in handling terms, especially for road.

One thing I'd get in a new bike is couplings so I could travel by air easily. http://www.sandsmachine.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Norm has one and I used it in England. Has no effect on handling, small weight increase. Much easier and cheaper to travel with.

But a ti frame with couplings, case and cable splitters is going to be $3500 to $4000. Pete's friend Al Bergman is making a ti frame with couplings right now if you want to drop in on him in Cobble hill. http://www.bergbikes.com/html/home.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false