Aprés le sommet, le cliff

Aprés le sommet, le cliff.

There’s no doubt the FRF Baker fondon’t took its toll. In the two weeks since, there’s been a dearth of riding. Some reportedly still haven’t remounted their bikes.

For more than a week, I didn’t even want to look at the Lapierre.

The dust and road grit from 161 km settled nicely on the rims.

Our season’s goal had been achieved. The training had paid off. What was there left to ride for?

Well, Princess of Pavement provided the answer.

With her summer break from her studies winding down, and an injured foot hampering her run training, she declared she wanted to ride. In fact, she wanted to ride with me.

It was just the motivation I needed.

Happy trails! A rare ride with Princess of Pavement!

When the Princess and I first got together, she scoffed at my love for the long ride, the hours spent pedalling on busy streets and rural roads.

Her enmity did not deter me.

So she decided to join me.

She got a foldy bike. We went on some rides, some of them longer than she would have liked.

Then she got a proper road bike. Longer rides became more her realm.

Then she got Holly Go Quickly, a very fine carbon fibre Cannondale. She said she felt faster, more capable. She even signed on for a Fondo.

Alas, as the busyness of motherhood and her studies took hold, Holly Go Quickly gathered dust and cobwebs on the bike wall.

Until late this summer, when I was charged with cleaning her up, oiling her chain, pumping her tires. All in preparation for some rides.

Cycling with Princess of Pavement is not about racking up the Strava trophies, or piling on the training kms. It’s about finding quiet, interesting routes that promise a reward part way through.

In this case it was lunch at Granville Island, and a debauched ice cream bar at Chocolate Arts.

Enjoying our Chocolate Arts reward with our route guide for the day, Grant.

Princess of Pavement will tell you the distance was still a little much, the pace still a bit too quick, the demands on her muscles that had lost their cycling memory a little too steep.

But our leisurely 53.5 km roll along treed bike routes and gravelly paths was just what my cycling soul needed to recharge.