I went for another bike ride yesterday, but this time I went with Grant. He goes every Sunday morning over to Gatineau because the roads are closed off to cars. I had already bailed on him the weekend before so there was no way I wasn’t going to make it this time.
I met Grant at his place around 0800 Sunday morning. The plan was to leave relatively early so we weren’t riding during the hottest part of the day. The route was to Champlain Lookout and back, a distance of around 51 km. Originally Grant had planned a 72 km ride for himself but when he heard I was coming along, he changed it. What a guy!
We zipped across the bridge and soon enough were inside the park. It didn’t take long before we encountered some hills. Grant had warned me about the Pink Lake hill, but I was probably a quarter of the way up it before I noticed were were climbing it. Being the nice guy that he is, Grant hung back with me while I climbed at a snail’s pace. I told him not to worry about it, that he could just wait for me at the top of the hill and then he was off. I was surprised at how quickly he disappeared from sight!
All alone – climbing this beasts of a hill (in my mind anyways) – I was tempted more than once to get off the bike and walk. I didn’t do that though…I kept pushing myself. Not long after Grant had left me, I noticed a guy coming down the hill, and when he got close to me I noticed it was Grant, back from the top to join me for the rest of my climb. He said he was surprised at how far I had gotten in the time he was gone. I felt better after that statement.
After Pink Lake, the hills didn’t seem as bad. The hills are never ending in Gatineau though. You’d just finish climbing one and get a short downhill when the next one would come along. There was this one hill, not as steep as Pink Lake, but WAY longer…near the top I relented and dropped down into ‘granny gear’. Why haden’t I thought of that on the Pink Lake hill?! Anyways, at the top of that hill, Grant informed me that that was as far as Trev had made it on his first ride into Gatineau. That news was enough to spur me on to finish our climb to Champlain Lookout.
We had a short rest at the lookout and then headed back the way we came. It was on the return trip that I was in my glory! I love going downhill! Going down that crazy long hill we had climbed, I reached a top speed of just over 66 kph! What a rush. Next time I’m pushing harder…I gotta break 70!
As Grant promised, the trip back was much easier than the trip there. In the end, we travelled around 51 kms and it took us 2 hours and 12 minutes.
I REALLY enjoyed myself and I’d like to say thanks again to Grant for letting me tag along and for lending me his old road bike. I can’t imagine trying to do that ride on my mountain bike. Thanks as well to Bonnie, since Grant’s old road bike is now Bonnie’s new road bike. :)
I’m feeling pretty good today. I’m sore in strange places. My back is sore, but not my lower back, the muscles kind of right below my armpits. I suspect this is because of the rather aggressive position I had to take on the bike because it was a little small for me. Other than that…well lets just say the seats on those bikes leave a little to be desired.
Anyways, I’m really looking forward to next Sunday. Grant said I could tag along again…