Twas the Night Before #Bikeschool

A story by @Luke_Wanderer

Twas the night before #BikeSchool
And all thru the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a mouse

The cables were strung past the headtube with care
In hopes that Prof @greg_loper soon would be there

The #BackRow was nestled all snug like some #Freds
While tweetstorms of #Tacos danced thru their #Threads

And @twittyboyd in her 'kerchief, and @egggman in his cap
Has just parked their sus, back from gnar #braap

When back on the track there arose such a snitter
They knew by the sound - the Fastest Hour on Twitter

Back on their bikes, clipped in in a flash
Feathered the brakes, avoided a crash

Sun shone on dust of the just-ridden track
Settling thick on his dry #Camelbak

Thru that dust cloud to their eyes did appear
A full carbon fattie and a fixie (one gear)

With sun-weathered pedallers so lively and quike
They knew in a flash, it must be @bikerly & @lovingthebike

More rapid than SRAM Eagles their enduro rigs came
And they whistled, and shouted, and called them by name

Now @JonahDiPasquale, now @icemanbb, now @barbchamberlain & @jennfax!
On @HyperboreanWolf, on @YYCbikewinefood, on @kui360 & @altaplanning!

O'er top of the step up, thru the rock garden
Just like the roadies, the fuck up we'll harden

As mud clots that off the #CX wheels fly
When they come to an obstacle & jump up sky high

So up off the double those rad pedallers flew
With frame bags of goodies and a burgeoning crew

And then in a twinkling was heard a small ping

A mad grunted "Damn! I've broken some thing."

Then someone said "It's only a spoke.

You've 31 more. Keep shredding the stoke!"

So dressed in some lycra and non-kit type garments
They mashed off on flats, heeding their Garmins

Bundles of gear on each Thompson post
#BikeCampers all, in search of a host

Their flasks, how they glinted. Their growlers, so very
Full of fine ale, waiting to share-y

Their laboring lungs, a forge needs such bellows
And the beards on some chins, yes sturdy these fellows

And smooth-faced others, no slackers these shes
Flowing sweet lines thru rocks, shrubs, & trees

All of fair face and nary a belly
Busy off shredding, not watching some telly

Happy and fit, right jolly and keen
Their travel mode modern, sustainable, green

From winks of their eyes and quick nods of their heads
@twittyboyd & @egggman knew there was nothing to dread

They stopped in a glade and went straight to their work
Setting up glamp, hot chicken jerk

And laying her finger aside of her nose
@twittyboyd snotted like some farmers blows

With that they all jumped on their steeds at full stride
And set off with cheers for a quick sick night ride

And I heard someone say ere they rode out of sight
Happy #Bikeschool to all, 9pm EST every Thursday night!

#bikeschool

(Stole/Stealing this quickly from this evenings postings as they are great!! - Need to crash will steal more in the am if he keeps going.)

On another note I am riding the Singlespeed again so may get some creative juices flowing sooner or later myself again... 

I'm out!

The Best P2A Ever!!

Paris to Ancaster has been a fun race that I have endeavored a few times. I have not raced this as a yearly tradition as schedules don't always work. Usually if there is an opportunity at the last minute I sign up. This year wasn't that much different in the sign up process at least. I waited until the last minute and then realized there was a 20K option. I wasn't aware it was self timed so asked a couple silly questions on twitter regarding a tandem category.

Either way we signed up. My son and I for the 20K ride. We arrived at the start line in time to fight with the tandem bike from the time we got there until almost seconds before the ride. Fortunately the left side tentioner held up through the whole ride. Was a stressful start.

From there the awesome happened, conversations with my Son about everything he liked about the race plus the hockey stats that he knows better than me. 

My absolute favorite was this moment on a long and gradual climb. "Dad you are really breathing hard, I am not breathing hard" me: "Good job buddy!" Little man: "Are we almost to the top?" Me - still exhausting the lungs "Not too much further" and this continued a few more times. I could not keep the smile off my face through this as I did my damndest to chat at full effort. Then the rest stop - Little man grabs 2 cookies and I gasp for water. We down our choices and I give him water as that is probably a good idea and on we go.

Downhill reveals rail trail and the hardest part is riding through the safety stalls on a tandem with my son on the back. Rail trail went by in no time, possibly more because of our chat than anything. and out of nowhere 2.2kms to go yells an on-looker. Felt like no time had passed at all. 

Now onto Martin road, Little man and I had chatted about what was coming and how big the hill was. We had made it up every hill to this point and even had hecklers saying the only way we made it up the hills was the motor on the back.

I do not disagree with this statement, he pushed hard the whole ride! And then we heard as from nowhere "EVAN!!" as Krista had made her way down the mtb trail along side Martin hill and was pushing us to make it up at least a little further. 

We fought through for a bit but eventually gave in.

I don't think the smile came off of either of our faces for quite some time after the ride/race/etc...

See you again next year P2A

Ride to Conquer Cancer 2017

 

 This past December my family suffered the loss of my mom, Anne Osborne.  In memory of our mom my brother Jeff and I will be participating the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer.  In two days we will be covering 225KM, riding from Toronto to Niagara Falls, all in an attempt to have an impact in the fight against this horrible disease.

I have set a fundraising goal of $2,500 and I need your help to get there.  All of the funds raised go directly to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the world’s top 5 cancer research centres and will move us closer to conquering cancer in our life time.

Please consider helping me accomplish my goal in raising funds in memory of my mom and to end this heartbreaking disease.

Thank you for your generosity and support in my ride to Conquer Cancer.

Sincerely,
Mike