Sunday Jan 8 Depart at 7 AM Fairfield Starbucks

[barton bourassa]

Weather permitting, Mikael and I are going to start out with the social Sunday group to Island View then head up the Peninsula and across for a bit of extra distance, 85 K or so. This is the proposed route: https://www.strava.com/routes/7343530. Come along if this interests you!

Barton.

[Rolf]

This sounds fun.

Not to be potentially anti-social, but is there any interest in starting out from Fairfield Bucks at 7:00 a.m. instead?

[myboys]

I'm in. It will be a shock to my system, but I'll drag my sorry self out.

See you dark and early!

Mary

[barton bourassa]

Sure, why not! 7:00 start for a longer ride from Fairfield Starbucks.

[norman marcy]

There is already a 073 ride .... why split the group o a cold and wintery sunday????

[Rolf]

Because from experience this past fall, these rides should be split right from the start. As the club has gotten faster over the past few years, the Sunday "social" ride is often quite uncomfortable for some.

And since this one's going longer it makes sense to start earlier. If we ride Island View, there's every chance the regular ride will catch up and there will be an opportunity to cross-pollinate.

[Rolf]

Postscript: the long-slow 7 a.m. folks did ride Island View and on our way back to the highway we met the regular 7:30 ride as it turned the corner by Michell's Farm. Granted, we also had a few mechanicals to slow us down. But there was an opportunity for riders to swap rides, depending on their time allotment and velocital predilections. Both rides were pretty thin (5-6 riders)—but that's just the time of year.

I did 90K (with only my 14 sprocket at the back thanks to a broken gear cable!) but was still home before 11. I intend to keep the Sunday 7 a.m. LSD thing going for the next few months. (Kind of like Barton's Saturday rides, only with actual food-breaks. )

Last year I found that putting in a steady ride once per week of 80-120km in gross weather made riding throughout the rest of the year much easier and more enjoyable.

[sailor]

Although, Rolf, Norman's point remains valid. We ended up with two small groups fighting the wind on a somewhat cold day for the sake of a 30 minute difference in departure time with no guarantee that they would meet up at some point. Personally, I would have preferred fighting the head wind up to Island View with 12 riders vice five or six, and then having a preplanned decision point at Island View as to whether to do the standard ride or carry on for some extra distance (but I know that I am being soft, not to mention out of shape after a too relaxed Christmas holiday period).

Tim

[Rolf]

Yes, there's good sense in that, Tim—particularly in weird conditions when the regular group is so small, like yesterday. I'm thinking of regular Sundays when the numbers come back up.

For these LSD rides, I also don't mind riding in tiny groups or even solo. It's good for you!

[Rolf]

Given conditions and the likely very low numbers we'll see again tomorrow (Sunday, Jan. 15), I'm headed for the regular 7:30 ride.

Given the forecast for fog and lows of -4, I suspect Lands End, Deep Cove, Ardmore, and even West Saanich and Wallace may all be suffering from early ice tomorrow. It may be a morning to keep it cautious and short(er).