Broken Traditions.

To set the tone, there were supposedly two groups riding today. Those who are going easy and those who are going very easy. Cue the old adage “The cheque is in the mail”

The large group (30 plus riders) headed south after the self appointed Directeur Sportif broke with tradition and actually described where the ride was going.

The departure at 9 am precisely did cause some concern as that too broke with the traditional later departure. No names will be mentioned.

An early attempt to split the group at the lights at Home Hardware was successful.

Another break with tradition actually saw the main group ride a sensible tempo all the way to Vaseaux Lake. The peleton reformed as the earlier dropped group arrived and all was forgiven.

Onward to Tuc El Nuit and Black Sage, where the first real pace picked up.

The A Team in an effort to try to catch Kevin boosted the pace from the leisurely 30 kph to 40 kph. However, unknown to them, Kevin had carefully concealed himself at Gallagher Lake to watch his brother-in-law apply the final coat of paint to his hotrod.

The remainder of the group decided that 40 kph may be alittle quick for the easy/very easy pace so the trip down Black Sage reverted to a sensible tempo.

At Black Sage and the highway, the group including the A Team reformed, as it was very obvious that the Weathernetwork did get the wind direction correct. Ergo, riding in a steady pace line in to the wind with a large group is way better than the alternatives.

At the 7-11 in Oliver, the major split in the group took place. This was a calculated split as some people wanted hills and others wanted no hills.

A rough count basically saw a 50/50 division so with no clear majority it was decided by the no hills members to form a coalition. The F Troop welcomed some of the usual A Team members and the ride back on Tuc El Nuit was the flavour of choice.

It was a real treat for the F Troop to count in its numbers some very big dogs.

There was a splinter group off the back on Tuc El Nuit that settled into their tempo and knew full well that the nice folks at the coffee shop had made plenty of scones so there was no need to worry.

What would a ride be without a mechanical issue or a flat tire or two?

Fortunately, Gary J. showed some excellent cross-biking skills when Honda Dave broke his chain and Gary was forced to ride into the tumbleweeds. Gary even had the necessary tools to fix the chain and after a brief stop we were back underway.

Des found himself in the unusual position of being at the front and being harassed by Ian to pick up the pace as they had dropped the group!!! But the wily veteran knew better and convinced Ian that they should loop back to see if everything was OK.

As the group surged up Skaha Estates hill, the Mike Cooper rule came into play and anyone who was dropped was left to find his or her own way back.

Team Ranchdawgs with out the aid of team radios had to use hand signals to indicate their plan to attack on the last hill before the sprint. A not to subtle gesture was spotted as the break was made and two non-team members joined the attack.

Rule number one was applied as the new guy was not told where the sprint finished and the Ranchdawgs messed up their lead out so the CPP guy won the sprint.

Back at the coffee shop, Terry Maguire who in characteristic fashion did mention that it was about time we got back joined us.

As riders made their way back to the coffee shop, Ian managed to pick up pizza from his team car.

Our ride did have some international flavour as we had two riders from Norway join us.

Next ride is tomorrow leaving Smith and Co. for a “Recovery Ride to Crescent Beach”.
Hope to see you there.