91 kms; 3.10 hrs; 316 metres; 3098 calories. Mark, Raymond, Dave, Perry, Derek, Kevin, Angelo, Mark W, Eric, Marcel, Michele, Alastair, Mike—special welcome to Michele and also a welcome back to Mark W.

Okay, have I got that number right: fourteen cyclists? You bet! It seems that the prospects of a Starbucks coffee in Kanata was too hard to resist, even on a dull, uninspiring morning, with a high likelihood of rain. Yet, there we were at Arnprior Library trying to read the wind and weather and finally deciding that the ride was on. And, what a ride it was. And, not without a mechanical when Kevin flatted on County Rd 20. Admittedly, the road surface on Diamondview is not road-bike friendly. And, the heavy south-east wind made the early going  unpleasant and the heart rate spike. All this was forgotten however on the mad dash down Old Carp Road to Starbucks, with Perry and Dave and Marcel leading the charge. At this point no one gave a fig about us having to ride our way back uphill, on the return journey, to Carp and Dwyerhill. We would deal with that later. And besides, if the tour director was worth his wages, we were bound to have a tailwind home. And, yes, we did. Sweet!

You know, while the sky was dull and the temperature cool when we pulled away from Starbucks, there was no damping the spirits of the group. Many thanks to Eric who set the perfect tempo for the 45 km ride back to Arnprior. It was on- the-money: no one dropped off; yet, the pace was honest, especially on the long-run into Arnprior on Dwyerhill. Now, that was sweet. And, if there was any doubt about that, the high fives and smiling faces as we pulled back into the library parking lot said it all. You just should have been there. And, you can tomorrow when we will ride down-tempo to the Neat for coffee. Check it out:

Stinsons on White lake Rd at 8 am 8 am 8 am; White lake Rd to Mountain Cr (Conc 8) to Waba Rd to Campbell Side Rd to White lake to Burnstown to the Neat; home via #508. Should be in the range of 50 kms. Pace will be easy. ciao. hc

arnpriorcycling@bell.net Comments always welcome.

”… .

So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig’s having lashed across it open.
I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.

One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.” RF