Wakefield 'Easy'

Sh#t! How did we mess this up? Wrong turn....somehow.

It was supposed to be an easy ride. Four hours or so, three dudes. In reality, hour-one was teeth-on-stem-hard, as Todd and I chased Iain up Erables. Are my tires slow? Well, Iain's on the same. Todd seems to be doing fine. Is he? Turns our we were both suffering while Iain drove it into the wind. Gawd it was windy. 27kph on a descent, PEDALING! Things had eased up a little by the time we hit the Connor Rd. detour off Ch. Mt. Cascades. If only there was more of this in our Spring Classics to justify our fat tires!

Three Steelwools: two generations of Truffle Pig and the original Secteur 18.

Yay, lets snack before more snacking! 'I've gotta get some shots.'

Cool.

Charming.

At this point, we'd moved back into Pipolinka from the hallway, and were on coffee  #2, somewhat terrified at the thought of returning to the out of doors. The temp was dropping and we were damp. WTF, isn't it April 1?

Keep the hat on to help it dry. 

How many papers did I stuff down my pants? Three, the perfect number. With a tailwind, I was comfortable on the return leg. Phewf.

The Spring Classics in the Ottawa-Gatineau begin on Sunday, while Paris Roubaix is contested over in Europeland. Like Roubaix, our route will be flattish and windy. Unlike Roubaix, ours will feature sharp gravel, rendering supple tubulars inadequate. It'll be a test of will and tread, a battle of whits and guile. We've been doing all we can to prepare, and on Sunday THE QUESTION will be answered: was it enough? 

Here's Iain's trace. My Garmin wigged out, so this is better than what I've got: