Ride with Heart

Sunday June 4, 2017  Ride for Heart charity bike ride

A few months before the ride my sister, Judy said she wanted to join us. Then Lili’s friend from her Amsterdam days said she would be in Toronto the week of the ride and could join in,

Our anticipation grew with the prospect of them joining us.

We needed a fourth bike. The most important thing was to fix “Sirrus”, the bike that Megan rode across Canada and recently used by Bronwen to deliver food during winter. “Sirrus” was a wreck. After new gears, drive chain, pedals, brakes and some TLC she was declared roadworthy.

This year it was the weather that cranked our chains. After constant checks of the forecast it was evident that rain was unavoidable.

To deal with this we decided that it was fake news. The day would dawn bright. After all Saturday’s forecast was sunny and warm – so why not Sunday?

An alternative plan suggested that we collect our bibs on Saturday morning then ride our 25kms in perfect warm weather along side the lake. On Sunday morning we could sleep a little longer, enjoy a good breakfast then ride to the event four kilometers away, get suitably wet on the way, collect our medals and enjoy the after party. But that would really be faking it.

Ute’s plans changed and she could not ride with us. Judy test rode “Sirrus” and after some adjustments to the saddle height was more than happy to take her out. Our team “The Mettle Pumpers” did not have much to do on Saturday except: collect bibs, visit the rhododendron garden and decide that we would rise with the light, have a light brekkie and get going.

Driving to the venue we passed more and more riders, each covered in some form of rain gear.

Then from the covered parking lot it was out into the rain, a kilometer from the start. By the time we passed under the bridge, the official start we were wet and after the gradual rise of the highway and onto the flat amongst the apartment buildings, billboards and towers it no longer mattered. We were riding, riding amongst so many others, young to old, slow to fast, each out for heart matters.

Maybe there weren’t as many bikes out compared to last year. It seemed that way and understandable.

The halfway break saw one or two riders wrapped in blankets under cover of the first aid tent and many gathered under the bridge over the DVP a little further along the track. It was cold. A gulp of water, some banana and a granola bar saw us on our way back – mostly downhill, to the finish.

A selfie with the Rogers Centre and CN Tower in the background meant we were three kilometers out. The walkers and runners were lined up waiting for word to start as we went by to the finish, finally.

All smiles

Another photo of us three, cold and wet with medals was taken by a smiling volunteer. 

All done

So it was through the rain to the finish, finally. The Mettle Pumpers were done and it had stopped raining. Time to get warm. My ride seemed shorter that last year. Still “pumped”.

#Cycling