Cantley-Ottawa Loop

I was dreading getting dressed Saturday morning for the ride. It was flipping cold out. Flipping cold. And there was a 22km/hr (with gusts up to 33 km/hr) headwind out of the Northwest.  Perfect - I was heading Northwest.  The original plan was to meet at P5 and do a two hour skate ski and then do a 65-70 km road loop.

Pffffft.  I ain't skiing anymore this season.  I do wish I was there to see Curvy Butt attempt this though - if you're drinking milk (or any other beverage), swallow first, cause it'll come out your nose:

Baaaahahaahahahahaaaa . . . . I laughed my ass off watching that.  Baaa hahahaaahaaaa.

If I recall correctly I ended up putting on base layers on the skis, packing up the iron and waxing bench and putting it all away after my first road ride of the season.  The trainer got packed up last week.  Nothing left to do now but ride my bike outside.  So my plan was to ride from home, up into the park and meet the chumps who skied in the morning.  It's only about a 20 km ride from my place to the meeting spot in Chelsea.

When I was leaving the house on Saturday at lunch time it was minus thirteen.  Stuck some foot warmers in my shoes as the last few times I've been out my feet have been cold even with thick overbooties on.  They worked for a bit but ended up beginning to cause my little piggies to go numb because they were cutting off the circulation as my shoes became too tight.

The Vegan Vagabond's cockpit.  Check out the size of that walkie-talkie (GPS) . . . I was surprised that she didn't veer off the road and into the ditch with the lopsided weight on the bars.

11% grade climbing to Mt. Cascade.  It's March - I'm overweight, I'm lacking power, I'm slow, I'm the last one up.

I met VV, Scott and Curvy Butt and we headed.  The first wee bit was pretty okay with a tail wind as we headed towards the Alonzo Wright bridge, over it and into Cantley.  As soon as we began the gradual climb my legs wanted nothing to do with it.  The past week I've done nothing.  Nuth-ing.  Meh.  And when the get-away-sticks did finally come around and start pedaling, they pulled, tugged and threatened to go into full on cramp-mode for a few kms.  The beginning of the riding season is so much fun.

Mandatory warm-up/food stop at Pipolinka in Wakefield.  Curvy Butt - coffee and chili.  I rode in front of him the rest of the way home.

VV, a vegan and Scott, a gluten free guy . . .  freaks of nature.  We made them sit alone as we ate animal by products and wheat.  Pfffft, so what that they are both skinnier, fitter and faster than us . . . diet-schmiet is what I say.
Pass me another hot dog.

Scott's download from Chelsea-Cantley-Cascade-Wakefield-Chelsea.  Chelsea is a 20 km one-way ride from my place in Ottawa.   Similar ride here.  My total for the day was about 110 kms.

Wifey bought be a fig-bacon-pecan-cinnamon bun from Chez Edgar.  I didn't waste much time giving it a good home.