2017 Cycling Roundup

And for those who were waiting with bated breath, here are the cycling news stories from the year that was 2017.

It was another year of firsts and of new high water marks. It was the first year where the cycling events more or less dominated my planning, for the summer months at least. It was all about one fondo per month:

• May: MEC Spring Ride (100 km)
• June: Gran Fondo Badlands (160 km)
• July: Cycle of Life Tour (200 km)
• August: Tour de Victoria (140 km for me, 46 km for Tammy and Miranda)
• September: a shortened MEC Fall Ride (122 km)

The Cycle of Life Tour was of particular importance. I raised $1300 for the Victoria Hospice, and it was significant. It was an effort to pull off, but from the point where I made the decision to do it, it came together thanks to Dad, Tammy and to friends and family and coworkers at Esri Canada. I did an interview via email with the event coordinators, so that’s immortalized me. 🙂 It worked into the visit from Zachary, and made for a great weekend, especially for Dad and Ian and their tour of Saltspring Island.

The early months of 2017 saw a first for the Bow Cyclists: events happening during the off-season. Traditionally, once the end of year party finished, the next time I would hear anything from the club was in April. But this year, Mark arranged a two-day mechanics course for the club members. That led to a couple of virtual Zwift club rides and then a couple of Zwift nights in the Bow Cycle shop. That had us primed for the spring and our kickoff ride on April 30. I’d already been out for rides by myself and with other club members (Derek, Tommy). The early season was a bit mixed, with some wet weather and storms, but the summer was dominated by dry, hot and smoky from fires in BC.

The club season was the best yet, with great enthusiasm and participation by riders of both genders and all levels (looking for no-drop, that is). If that was all that happened this year (my second as a Club Ambassador), it would have been fantastic, but this year Miranda grabbed Tammy’s bike and joined the club, too. I didn’t pressure her. She enjoyed the ladies rides most of all, and I think Tammy was jealous. Tammy also joined in on the Tuesday unofficial rides, which worked with her new evening work schedule. Her new bike really helped, but her new job put the kibosh on bike commuting.

Outside of the planned stuff, there were lots of other good things that happened:

• Another stint in the Human Performance Labs at the University of Calgary,
• I finally rode to the summit of Highwood Pass,
• Our fleet of indoor trainers increased to two,
• I got another chance to ride rollers,
• I replaced the wheels on my commuter, hopefully ending my streak of broken spokes, and
• Brian donated his bike work stand to me.

The weather in late November and early December was ridiculously nice, which really bumped up my kilometers for the year.

I am not expecting this trend to continue indefinitely, but I keep surprising myself. I need to start making my plans for 2018 soon. The one fondo per month really worked well in 2017.

🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️