Pedal For Paws

Firsts and Almost Firsts

The posts here are becoming a bit more sparse now.  Its a great time of the year for riding, but given that I'm well into the off-season, the rides in general lack much to write about except perhaps for a pithy comment posting to Facebook.  Well, to be more precise, while I could ramble on about the joys of autumn cycling and churn out the ride stats here on this blog, the rides in general lack much that you would want to read about.

The final blog-worthy ride I had planned for the year was Saturday's Pedal for Paws charity ride.  While the event was the last one I had circled on my calendar, it paridoxically ended up being a day of many firsts and near firsts.   For example:

• This year was the first for the Pedal for Paws, but there's no doubt the ride will have many more years ahead based upon Saturday's success.  While they can't always count on having such beautifully crisp fall weather to draw the crowds, I'm sure many people who came on Saturday will surely show up again to ride the well marked scenic roads to burn just enough calories to indulge in one of the more memorable post-ride dessert tables.
• Before Saturday, Mrs D & the girls had never appeared in BikeReg's confirmed rider list.  It was their first time ever doing a mass start ride (in fact, I think it might have been the first time they rode with anyone besides me!), though to their dissapointment, there was no mass start.  Unlike a race where everyone sets off at once, the riders trickled onto the course at their leisure, so as soon as the train was set to go, we ventured off.

• The event offered varying distances for riders to choose from, and a little before 9 AM the Desmarais clan set off for the girls' first-ever ride beyond 30 miles.  Unfortunately within a quarter mile after starting out we encountered the only confusing signage of the day and we ended up cutting out 7 miles from the course.  We realized our mistake only when we unexpectedly arrived at the day's rest step after only 14 miles (rather than the 21 miles outined in the cue sheet).  We chatted with a few others who made the same routing error, and we learned that we regrettably skipped perhaps the most scenic miles of the day.  Mrs D also was bummed that we skipped the flatest portion of the ride as well.  So, instead of logging an impressive personal record of 35 miles, the girls ended the day with *just* 28.1 miles, in about two hours and eighteen minutes.

Rest Stop Phot-Op with Steve Y

• It was also the first time pace lining for the girls.  We were clearly on the slower end of the riders out on the longer course, but each time riders passed us by the competive juices in me got going to put in an extra effort.  On a few occaisons it was just enough for the train to latch on to the wheel ahead of me, giving me a brief respite as I drafted in a short stint at the back of a paceline.  Settling for drafting wasn't lofty enough of a goal though when I saw a chance for the girls to score their first ever town line sprint.  As you can see below, we made a good effort to pull off to the side as we slowly ramped up the pace of the train.  However, we were no match for Dave J as he sprinted off the front to score the town line.  Clearly the guy must not like kids to dash their hopes like that.  ;->

At the back of the pacline, snapped by Steve Y

 
Going for the Town Line, snapped again by Steve Y

More than Numbers

Even had we somehow magically powered our way to nudge Dave J out for the townline win, it, and all of the other "firsts" (and any other number from the day quite frankly), would have eventually just been a minor detail in what ended up being one of the best rides of the year for me.  Often I view my family rides as a convenient way to get a work-out in while still counting it as family time.  Saturday AM ended up being just the opposite for me, where the fact that I got a very good workout in really was just the icing on the cake. 

The girls energy levels and spirits only seemed to rise along with the miles and the days temperature.  The singing and joking was non-stop, only interupted by the frequent cheers for the girls as riders passed us by (which I'm sure fueled their spirits even more). And the look on Jo's face as we crossed the finish line as she boasted to all that could hear her that "we won!" is one I'll never forget.

They might be stil too young to have clear memories of Saturday's ride when they get older, but I'm sure Mrs D and I will be quick to retell the stories if they ask us.  But better yet, I'm hoping we'll be back for many more Pedal for Paws to keep the good times rolling.