Riding With The Dogs - Bowlingbybike

One of the power-house mountain-bike clubs/race teams in Ontario is the Duke’s Cycle LapDogs from Toronto. This group of steely, though admittedly pampered, men and women regularly dominate the podium at off-road races around the Province and beyond. They also have a road team and a variety of regular weekly training rides. Saturday’s ride is the Advanced Road Ride. A few days ago, my good friend Bevin sent a message to the Club’s founder and Duke’s general manager, Michael Cranwell, asking if I could join in the fun. OCA licensing/insurance issues aside–soon to be the subject of a posting–I was eager to join this spirited 100km ride.

Having not been on the bike too much over the past month or so and with limited road miles in my legs, I knew I’d suffer. That said, I felt a twinge of competitive pride egging me on, ensuring I rode hard all day.

Leaving Cherry Bomb coffee shop just after 8am, the eight of us took-off into the nor’westerly wind. Soon enough our group lost two riders, the pace being a bit hot this early in the season. For the next 70-80kms, the six of us rode well together, each doing his share at the front. I was feeling good though certainly feeling the lack of recent miles.

At about kilometre sixty, Bevin flatted but from there the riding was brisk; the wind was at our backs and the elevation declining. With about 20kms to go the pack split into two groups of three.[I was informed that dropping riders is totally acceptable on this ride, particularly in the latter stages] Yes, your intrepid blogger was part of that lead group along with Michael and another fellow I’d not previously met, Colin; a smooth, steady, experienced rider who made those late climbs look effortless. There were a couple of moments where I had to work pretty hard to stay on their wheels but otherwise, I felt great.

At some point we took a wrong turn adding about four kms to our ride. Despite these bonus miles, we still got back to the coffee shop with enough time to order a coffee before Bevin rolled up[his two fellow riders turned off for home]. We lied and told him we were on our third cup; he may have told the truth when he said he stopped at the bank.

It really was a wonderful ride with several firsts. This was my first ever ride with the the LapDogs, despite having worked at Duke’s for a few seasons over the past twelve years. It was the first time I’d really ever ridden with Michael, despite the honour of his friendship for over ten years! It was also the first time I’d enjoyed a road ride with my pal Bevin.

A big thank you to Bevin, Michael, Colin, all my fellow riders today and the entire LapDogs Club for making this such a great day on the bike. And now, lunch!

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