Sufferfest (part 2)

I wrote a couple of months ago about Sufferfest.

A few buddies and I were going to ride bicycles over a three-legged course through the interior of BC: three days, 500km, two major summits, endless good times good times. And I was going to suffer. And it was this weekend.

Ahh… best laid plans.

Turns out life gets in the way of adult life. One of the riders got called up and is currently sweating or freezing (because, apparently you are never doing neither) in the belly of a LAV somewhere. Another went to start a new business this winter, so (as any small business person can attest) he just doesn’t have a long weekend in the foreseeable future. With the 2/3 of Alberta Contingent of the ride not available, logistics for the interior fell apart.

We ride without a broom wagon, so logistics matter.

One of the riders is planning to Race the Ironman Canada in Whistler this year. I cannot support this idea – in a perfect world no bike ride would ever be immediately preceded by, or immediately followed by, a run or a swim – to do so is to detract from the bike ride. As would wearing a singlet. But each man chooses his path, and there is no doubt his path this weekend will stir up some dust, in which I will be riding.

As the Ironman Canada circuit is new this year, our resident Ironman was interested in pre-riding the course, and from this we developed Sufferfest Plan B.

Saturday we ride our bikes from home to Whistler – 125km, much of it uphill, but a good day in the saddle.

Sunday we ride the Ironman Course – 180km, two out-and-backs, 4200ft of climbing, alles gute.

Monday we will ride back from Whistler – after a quick trip to the Cayoosh Summit on the Duffy Lake road – 230km, switchbacks. This is where we suffer.

Last time I talked about this, I was wondering about my training plan- suffer lots in training, or suffer much more this weekend. I cut the difference, and hopefully have found the calculus. I rode my bike a lot, but have done nothing that could be termed “suffering”. I haven’t done a ride longer than 80km in 6 months. Make no mistake; I will be pedaling squares on Monday.

And this gets real as of tomorrow. I can’t believe Past Pat did this to me.

One comment on “Sufferfest (part 2)

  1. Is this a training session for a season of beer drinking? You ought to be ten pounds lighter by Monday night! Could you possibly have been born with ADHD? Have a safe trip, and may the wind always be at your back. Mom

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