Snow, Cowboys and Coca-Cola

Snow, Cowboys and Coca-Cola, the makings of an interesting ride... Yes, this Saturday's ride was good and had it's fair share of adventure in it to boot.

Bright and early I leave my house to meet Erik and Craig at Edworthy Park so we can commute together to the official meeting place at the Westhills Starbucks (Geez, I hate supporting Starbucks by starting our rides there). The last two Saturdays have had great rides starting here. There have been 20 to 30 people at the start and people with all different fitness levels. It's fun to start a ride like this even if the big group is short lived because I like the community feeling that occurs with numbers like that. Anyway, (I digress) I didn't expect to see as many people for this ride since the last ones had temperatures in the high teens and the current forecast was for 3-5 degrees and maybe a bit of snow. Still, I think there were about 10 to 12 guys there.

We start the ride promptly after Craig, Erik and myself get there since we arrived a tad bit late due to my inability to keep things organized. The weather is getting worse and my motivation to go fast is not there in part due to the cold temperature and in part because I am reading a great book on base-building. About 30 minutes into the ride Erik and I allow ourselves to slide off the back of the group as it races up one of the mini-hills on Lower Springbank Rd. I've noticed this scenario to be a trend on these rides. I'm guessing the initiator was Mike (Good on you, Mike, but not for me right now). Erik and I ride together and in a few minutes Craig drops back to ride with us.

At this point the weather is causing a lot of people to question how good of an idea it was to throw on the lycra this morning rather than pull out the skis. The snow is coming down fairly hard but not really accumulating. Our small group meets up with the greater group as they debate their options from the intersection of hwy. 22. The weather is coming from the north so I figure we just ride toward it and pop out the other side (hopefully). If not, at least we'll have a perfect tail-wind riding home from Cochrane. Not everyone agrees and the greater group divides into a plethora of sub-groups each going their own way.

Going North seems to pay off as the skies clear and the temperature climbs. Sweet! Ed, Tom, Craig, Erik and I get to the watering hole in Cochrane (the Coffee Traders) and notice about 10 bikes outside. As fate would have it, we ran into some of Calgary's finest riders. Everyone grabs a warm beverage of choice and enjoys the good company. Some of the discussion leads to extending the ride a bit further by heading west and eventually we settle on riding the Forestry Trunk Rd to where it turns to gravel north of Waiporous (One of my favourites... too bad it is an out n' back for a road bike and not a loop).

The group is now Dallas, Anthony, the Prof., Erik Craig and myself. I like riding with people who are on a similar agenda and know how to co-operate with each other to make the ride more efficient. I thought, overall, this was a great group. It made for a fun ride up through the foothills. Unfortunately, Erik had to let us go as we headed north. He was feeling the effects of a very difficult week at work (I don't know if I would have even made it to the start if I were in his shoes).

So, as we head north on the Forestry Trunk Rd. we run into a bunch of rancher/cowboys who are herding a huge group of semi-wild horses along the road. They take up the entire road and I think all of us are a bit confused as to what to do. Do we just ride through the herd or will that accidentally scare them into stampeding us, leaving us flat and lifeless to be scraped up by our loved ones after the fact. The cowboys (and girls) are giving us mixed signals. Some are saying slow down, others are saying stop and still others are saying get out of the way. Dallas, Craig and I stop pretty much immediately and Anthony proceeds slowly but eventually stops and the Prof tries to ride right through. This startles some of the horses and causes everyone involved a bunch of unneeded stress. I have never seen cowboys that mad before except for on old episodes of "Bonanza". Apparently, one of them clocked the Prof. right in the head. In all the commotion one of the horses makes a turn down one of the driveways to a ranch and the whole bunch starts galloping that way. This clears the way for us but makes a whole lot more work for the ranchers (I doubt your reading this, but sorry). We continue on as the ranchers yell at us to "go back to the City!" I'm not sure that all the ranchers handled the situation with grace but I still think it is our obligation to be as accommodating as possible. The last post is about cyclists being hated and after this I can understand why the next big diesel 4x4 lays on the horn and throws a Tim Horton's cup at us... I know no one from our group was trying to be hostile but I think it is our duty to represent our clubs and sponsors appropriately and our sport with excellence. I have to admit I was a bit embarrassed... No need to dwell on the issue.

Awesome ride the rest of the way with the temperatures just getting warmer and warmer (much higher than the weather man had predicted). As we spin into Cochrane again, the group decides to purchase some calories at the gas station to fuel the last 35 km. I decide I'm all right with nothing but, when everyone gets a caffeinated beverage with no less than 250 calories including Anthony's Rockstar Energy drink, I should have re-evaluated. I make it quite respectably to the city limits where our group splits to head to our respective dwellings but I do notice that my fuel system is running fumes. As I ride through Bowness with Anthony, I find it increasingly difficult to stay beside him and, for that matter, concentrating on keeping the bike rolling in a straight line began to be a difficult task. The dreaded bonk had got it's grasp on me. I tried to remain coherent as I explained to Anthony that I was going to buy a Coca-Cola from the Safeway. He understands my mumbling and we part ways. It took me about 5 minutes to get the proper coinage out of my jersey pockets because my dexterity seemed to leave me just as my balanced blood glucose level had. Finally, I consume the precious calories and regain the ability to ride my bike in a straight line.

What a great ride. These are the ones you remember for a while. Bad weather, good company, good weather, great scenery, random horse stampedes, bonk-induced tunnel vision--perfect!