Monday, March 11, 2013

The Wakefield Cracker

Camera Roll-23

The seal has been broken. On Sunday, a gaggle of Tall Tree Cycles team members, Imad, and Marcel, launched the first official Wakefield + group ride of the season. The 'Alcove Loop' was the plan, a paved ride to Wakefield via Mine, Scott, 105, and River Road, then beyond Wakefield on the 105 for a bit before kicking West at Alcove, and bridging over to the 366 to return to Wakefield. Road bikes with fenders were the order of the day. When I say road bikes, I mean bikes with 28mm or larger tires, not your typical carbon dream-crusher. Proper bikes for spring riding, frienders, fender flaps.

Camera Roll-31
40k in, and its time for Pipolinka stop #1. They've always got the coffee ready to go;  I can't imagine a better bakery to punctuate a ride. 

Camera Roll-29
Rob surveys Jamie's steel steed. 
Camera Roll-26
Rolling the good stuff about 60k in. Buff!
Rather than completing the Alcove Loop as planned, I suggested we roll onto Parent instead to achieve the full 120k targeted. Soon enough, it transitioned into nice hard-packed dirt, just right for our plump tires. Ok, the frozen rut I caught wasn't too cool, but that was an isolated incident....
Camera Roll-21
Four steel bikes and one aluminum in this photo. Steel is real. Iain rocks his Steelwool Sweet City in 1x9 format.
Camera Roll-18
Three rides in, and I was finally able to get a decent shot of a dogsled team.! Mush!

A little over 120k for the day, two Pipolinka stops; outstanding. Marty was hardman of the day (HotD), riding his fixed gear and NOT imploding or exploding, and that's with over 1000m climbing. Chapeau! Jamie was also exceptional considering he was ill, budgeting his energy very well. Props. 

No comments: