Today Rob, Tim and I did the 3rd Annual Remembrance day ride on Fromme in honour of the Canadian veterans that have fought in the wars and kept the peace around the World. Some might ask how is riding your bike on Remembrance Day honouring veterans? In my mind the people in the Canadian Armed Forces fought to ensure that Canada and other countries remain free. They fought so that people have the liberty to pursue their lives in a free manner and enjoy life without any bounds. With this idea in mind, we ride on this special day to honour those that have fought to ensure our freedom.
It had been more than a week since I rode because I spent the last week writing a paper for a course I am currently taking so I was really eager to make this a good ride. The planed route was Upper Oil Can, Pink Starfish and then Digger. Unfortunately Rob had to jet a little early and he was not able to make it up to the top of UOC and simply rode Pink Starfish and Digger and Boundary. Tim and I continued up to the top after Rob left us and that is when the snow really began to come down. About half way up the hill there was a little snow falling, but near the top the flakes were huge and it was starting to really stick on the open parts of the road. So once we were at UOC we geared up and began the ride down. UOC is one of those legendary trails that I just cannot get enough of. Lots of rock, roots, wood and flowy technical sections. Both Tim and I had a great time ripping down this trail in the dark mist of the morning.
After the Lobotinator (a plank ride across to a big flat rock face) and back onto the road we went up the road a few minutes to Pink Starfish. A few days earlier I had looked at some pictures online of the somewhat new work that had been done on the trail and I looked forward to riding the trail. After coming from UOC to Pink Starfish I quickly found out that they are two totally different trails. I am not going to start trail bashing, but I liked UOC however I did not like Pink Starfish. Half way down the trail I had to pause on a rock because I did not know what was on the other side. In doing so I had to walk down this rock and the ride went very wrong. I twisted my ankle really bad. I absolutely could not bear any weight on it without pain so we had to now find the most direct route down the hill.
Once we were at the bottom of Pink Starfish we went down Digger to the road and to our cars. It was not the best ride I have ever had but am not complaining as it was a ride in honour of our fallen troops. Once home at 11:11am I observed a moment of silence.
