When I was a kid, we moved almost every year as my father shuttled from university to university. When my parents spoke about it later my mother's only answer to how they managed was, "We must have been mad".
Yesterday I followed in my parents' footsteps and did the Pacific Populaire. 102.8 kms in about 3 and a half hours. My training plan from Cory at TCR called for Sunday's ride to be two hours long and the start of building my "Base" mileage with sub-threshold efforts on the hills. Well, I overdid it a bit. I started near the front of the pack and managed to stay with the lead pack for the first 10 kms. After that they started to pull away. (Still in sight, but just out of reach.) As you do on most long rides, I fell in with a group of similar speed riders and we rode together taking pulls in the wicked headwinds before we turned around and came back along River Road towards Vancouver. I rode with a couple on a tandem for about 10 kms. Drafting behind them I almost didn't need to pedal.
Like many mountain bikers I suck at riding in a pack. I just don't get enough experience doing it. On the cross country races around Vancouver you rarely need road riding skills. Apart from fire roads on the TransRockies and the Populaire, I rarely ride in large pack on roads. And living on Bowen Island, I do far too much of my riding by myself. I always get to pick the route, but don't build my skills by watching more skilled riders.
Today I had to get out on my bike to spin out my legs. I rode out to UBC and back, putting in 45 kms at a somewhat leisurely pace. As the weather improves I'm seeing more and more road riders out around UBC. Early in the season my tolerance for mud is pretty low. On Bowen Island many on the trails are easily damaged by riders in wet weather, and the mud does wreck havoc on your drive train. So I usually tend to stick to riding the fire roads until after Easter.
With the better weather I'll be doing more off road riding, and working on my technical skills.
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