What a start for the new G5 road season! Multiple weather sites claiming rain at 10am. Excited amateur weather forecasters mulling it over. So G1-G4 cancelled their ride. But we persisted on. Stay calm and carry on. After comparing mostly lame weather apps (Weather Network) we went with the Weather Underground app which forecasted rain for noon, It’s 11:55 am as I write this and the rain has just started ![]()
Since G1-G4 cancelled we accepted some of those riders into our group. Things were looking potentially spicy but it worked out just fine. Broke up into 2 groups later. It was a shorter route than planned. Back to Sobeys by 10. Dry and got a Saturday ride in. Finally
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Great group, great pace, strong riders on the front helping to pull us old timers along.
The shorter route worked out perfectly, we all got back well before the real downburst started.
Thanks to Brent and Brian for the post-ride refreshments.
It’s the end of May and we finally got our second FastRec road ride in. The weather can be so unpredictable. ![]()
11C with moderate NE winds greeted us. G6 had a few stragglers show up for @Sean_Ryans group. G4 looked very popular this morning. G5, the slow intermediate or FastRec started with 7 riders. All were game for this new adventure awaiting them. Off we went to Ariss and beyond for this cool wind in our face ride. Me thinks the bodies were willing but the wind was more dominating. G4 started before us, apparently a few mechanicals slowed them down.
Arrived at the Mews in Elora. Coffee etc was consumed.
Ready to leave then those G4s showed up and took over.
We got out of town then, headed for the Middlebrook. The hounds were released and a brisk ride to West Montrose ensued.
The mandatory photo op in Conestogo was interrupted by some G4 riders.
An informal poll showed everyone was happy with the day. Great. It seemed like we crawled into Elora but flew back. Average 25.6Km/hr. Right on target.
A quick debriefing at the end with snacks and we went our separate ways 'til next Saturday.
Contined…
Sounds like everyone had fun. A little bit sorry I missed out on the social aspect, but the weather here in Barcelona has been great.
A bit warm but nothing we aren’t used to later in the summer, around 23 - 26C and not overly humid, sunny and a light breeze to keep us from overheating.
Just miss being on the bike.
So the start to Saturday the sixth of June was interesting. 9 riders showed up for G4 ,5 and 6 rides. The rain had stopped earlier in the morning and there was overcast and winds. G1-3 delayed their start from Sobey’s to 9am.
G4 ride was too long. G6 ride was too short. It turns out the G5 route was just right. We merged the 3 groups into one and off we went into a pretty stiff breeze from the NW. G6’s fearless leader was not feeling up to the ride at all and dropped off.
We continued west to Lisbon.
Break stop in Wellesley Home Hardware lot. Beware or rammy black pickup trucks even in parking lots. Yikes.
Got some relief from the wind once we headed south from Lisbon on Road 104. Fresh pavement and a tail wind into Ratzburg.
Then onto Road 43 east. We flew. Quiet road. Winds +30KMs/hr. Wowza.
Doodled around New Hamburg and headed for Baden Coffee.
Lineup was out the door, and a power outage made for a long break there. Legs full of lead, Kevin and Gerry dropped us. Finally got to Wilby Rd. Another PB! Fast ride back to Sobey’s.
Watermelon and debriefing.
For some a tough ride, but that is where great memories are made. Pooched but smiling. Kudos to Mike for being dragged into this show but coming out looking quite strong.
June 13th Fondo to New Hamburg. Pre ride the numbers looked promising but we lost some to the G4 group. So we started with 5 riders. Newbie Christine joined us. The winds were light when I left the house but by 9am it had picked up so there was work to do at the front. Thanks Hugo and Peter.
Once we turned east at Ratzburg on Perth Rd 43 the wind was at our back. Nice easy fast ride to New Hamburg.
We headed back to Waterloo. A pleasant return, a few more hills for Christine but the reward at the end was a fast downhill on Columbia. By the way our newbie Christine transitioned from LTGR to G5 FastRec extremely well. What a pleasure to ride with.
A small but ‘share the load’ group ride today. Smiles all around.



























