Mid-June update – Destination Cycling

Finally the nice weather is upon us!  And I’ve been able to enjoy the sunshine by riding more.  This includes some city riding to local destinations, and a nice weekend gravel grinder with my riding buddy Ron (founder of Contrabean – a local coffee roasting company).  Ron and I used to ride a lot together and we entered many mountain bike events (24- and 8- hour relays, and Crank the Shield).  Times have changed but we still enjoy getting out.

My cycling weekend started on Friday night, with a ride to the Berlin Bicycle Cafe in Belmont Village in Kitchener. They were hosting their first “Full Moon Ride”, where cyclists were invited to join them on a ride from the cafe to Columbia Lake at the University of Waterloo for a camp fire and snacks.  I rode the short 7 km from home to the cafe where I ran into a lot of my cycling friends: Raf, Shelly, Sandra, Scott, Jen, Mike, among 30-40 others.  The big group made its way to UW where a campfire was started.  The sunset over the lake was wonderful, but the rest of the sky was cloudy, so we couldn’t see the full moon rise.

The next day, Ron and I hit gravel roads north of KW for a 50 km ride.  Our pace was slow and easy (as are most of my rides these days).  It was a beautiful Saturday morning.  Hot and sunny.  And I was on my bike.  It doesn’t get much better!

On Sunday, I talked my partner J into joining me on a ride to Uptown Waterloo where the annual Grand Porch Party took place.  J doesn’t like cycling on busy roads, so we took as much trail as we could, including the Laurel and Spur Line trails.  We caught some great live music.

And on Monday, after work, I joined a couple of buddies in Belmont Village (again) for a bevvie at Arabella Park, which, I learned, isn’t actually a park. I’d never heard of this establishment, but it’s a fine location to sample some fantastic craft beers.  From there, I visited Ron and bought some Contrabean coffee, before riding home in the fading daylight.

I still have two more rides to complete my 50-in-50.  If you have any ideas, message me here or on any one of the many social media outlets.  I’m also thinking of having a contest where the winner would get a rare RideCycleSpin hat!  Stay tuned!