Yesterday's ride with Guy was a first. I finished my first metric century. It was more than exhilarating...
Hitting the 100 kilometer (62 miles) mark was a high point not to mention the two daunting mountains; Seymour & Cypress. It all started innocently enough, I was happy that the weather wasn't too warm as we proceeded over the Second Narrows bridge and up the steep Mt. Seymour (1509m, 4950ft). Actually, I felt pretty confident maintaining my granny gear (42X24). Ever upwards we had a chat with a older fellow decked out in the Shack team kit & riding a Colnago. He mentioned to us that he was training for the upcoming Whistler GranFondo & asked us if we were doing it. Both of us have opted out and plan on entering next years race. We passed him and another rider came up to us fully decked in team kit with warmers. He talked about having too many beers the night before & he was out on a training ride. He darted away and it was mesmerizing seeing him disappear. In fact, I felt discouraged. But the weather held nicely cool & sunny with a grand view all the way up to the summit. I believe we killed our old time and did it under 60 minutes.
We had our customary expresso at the foot of Seymour & we stopped over at a bike store where Guy bought me a sports gel. Honestly, I never had one before and I was intrigue by it. I think it was strawberry/banana. Another expresso to make sure and we were off climbing towards Mt. Cypress. By now, I was feeling my ever tightening legs and decided to stop for the gel. I don't know how the pro's can do it. I didn't find it appetizing. This is when I mentioned a burger & fries would hit the spot.
Maybe the gel kicked in as I found my legs and started to climb the not so steep Mt. Cypress (1326m, 4350ft). But, then I cracked and 8kms up we stopped at the first viewpoint. The view was breathtaking and I was just happy to get off my bike and sit still. There must be only 3-4kms left to the summit but I couldn't go further. I came up with a great idea ...of a milkshake. So, we descended into North Vancouver and extremely pleased to find a Dairy Queen for that all important milkshake and good fuel source for the ride back home. Good thing it was getting hot and I was telling my legs to 'shut up'. We're already planning on an exclusive ride to the very top of Cypress, very soon.
I'm calling it a bit of luck. After I reached home and parked my bike the rear tyre flatted. I looked over at my cycling computer for the all important data: 101.50 kms in 4hr 47minutes then glanced over at my flat & smiled... Good timing!
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