Ridley's ...

...Jon and Kate plus eight. That was the crew leaving cadence Saturday morning.

Craig just got there in time after a few concerning phone calls; it was confirmed he is on his way. He would be the last person I know that would miss this day for no good reason. He just happened to have one of "those" mornings mixing up time. Erik almost had to ride the plus 200 with no gloves, but now he just owes Cindy one (probably more than one....). Katy  and Keith are too busy these days, but great when they have a minute to stop by for a coffee.

So slightly after plan we leave north; Jon and my self, Craig S and Craig M, Cesar, Thomas, Erik, Pat, Mark and one of Eriks friends. And a few km north of the city we picked up Graham who road out to meet us. A group of 11 for a 200km ride in march (almost April i guess); id say that's pretty good.

Last year I had no idea what to expect; but whatever that could have been; it was. This year I knew and it didn't disappoint.
Perfect day, sunny and not too cold.  Awesome group to ride with but the ride is still hard! Good hard. We hit the lunch stop, local Water Valley pub at the 75 km point, that's not even half way in. Great spot with all sorts of animals on the walls. The stop is as it can be with only one cook; we snack and go. Next stop Cochrane 100 + km. Mostly gravel road; a couple of bald eagles and a huge owl, some hills up and some down. Not much wind. We make it to Cochrane; Erik makes sure we get all the way to Calgary and fuels us all at Starbucks. We ride some awesome new "pathway" and Craig gets hijacked by a party bus but in the end we all make it home and its not even dark!...210km and a bit....long day in the saddle but even though my butt hurt and my legs hurt I feel so fortunate to have a passion for something that lets me experience these days. The ride, the people, the experience ... Im very lucky...where to ride tomorrow?

Happy Riding !