A Sweet Ride
With only about 36 hours at home in Quebec (home meaning Glen Sutton) I took advantage of being in one of the best places on the planet to ride a bike.
It was last Sunday and I had just returned from some work with CBC at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Mte. Sainte Anne. Which, by the way, was a fantastic event. My favorite moments were watching Catharine Pendrel (Canada) ride a stellar race just missing the podium (it was so close, so thrilling and she is SO STRONG!!) and Jose Hermida (Spain) kill it for the win.
I had the chance to interview both after the races and oh was I nervous as this was my first time playing this role in the broadcast. I was so afraid to ask the dumb questions I’ve been asked so many times…. anyway when I asked Hermida what the gold medal meant to him (he’s been second many times) he had tears in his eyes, saying something like ‘I’ve been racing here since 1997…..Mte Sainte Anne is like the Cathedral for mountain biking…..People come here to worship….I always dreamed of winning here…..’.
I was so inspired by this guy with the funny moustache.
But back to my ride. I have this route I mapped out in Vermont. It’s about 160kms and I have to drive down to Jay to begin and end the ride in the perfect spot. When crossing the border, and telling the border patrol what I was going to the USA for, we chatted a bit about my route. The guy was a recreational cyclist. After a few minutes he said ‘you look so excited to ride I can’t hold you up any longer!’ and let me through.
It rained a bit at the start and the wind was howling, but I didn’t care. I had food and money in my pockets, and a rain jacket, and I was so happy to ride. So happy to be out on the roads I’ve trained so much on. I picked my way south on all the smallest roads on the map, eventually making it to Stowe. Before climbing up the steep grades of Smuggler’s Notch, I stopped and warmed up a bit with coffee, lots of coffee.
Soon enough I was descending the other side of Smuggler’s Notch and loving the winding, scenic roads the looped me back north and ultimately up and over Jay Peak, down to the car.
going over Jay Peak it was already 6pm
I was hoping not to get rained on at the end of the ride
I found myself at the car wondering ‘did I really just spend 6 hours on my bike?’. I felt like the luckiest person on earth to have had the time and made the time for such a trip. What a trip!
All it took was imagination. And somehow, I managed to skirt the rain all day long.
What a ride!
I guess I should mention the joy of riding was exaggerated by my ride: a brand spanking new 2011 Tarmac SL3 from Specialized. What a sweet rig. Thank you, Larry, and Dave, too, for putting me on such a machine :))
Back in Glen Sutton the most spectacular lighting on the Mississquoi River
the other side of the rainbow
And a few kms from our house a double rainbow!
and my beautiful bike…..
