Ride to Conquer Cancer Spring Training Session

Have been meaning to write up a post about this training ride for way too long now!

On Sat April 28th the nice folks at RTCC organized a great training ride from Burnaby to Belcarra (via Port Moody) and back. This is the route they selected – a major chunk of it is along the Barnett Highway that is quite popular for cyclists:

My friend Kathy and I wanted to add some more km to our ride so we decided to cycle all the way from Vancouver to Port Moody AND BACK! So our ride looked like this:

We took the Adanac (Canada spelt backwards)/ Union Street bike route that connects Vancouver to Burnaby and seriously underestimated how long it would take us to reach the start line!

We had no idea there were so many hills and we had to stop a couple of times to check that we were still heading the right way. PLUS I needed to eat something along the way because I had a MAJOR HANGOVER from the night before… hehe

Note to self: NEVER drink heavily before an early morning training session.

We arrived 30mins late but onwards we cycled till we reached the pitstop at Port Moody 🙂

Here are some snaps from our ride!

I had heard of the Adanac Bike Route before and always figured it was a fairly easy and quick bike route… It’s actually very pretty but those hills slowed us WAY DOWN! The street sign is also in Chinese as that part of the route is in Chinatown 🙂

The street was lined with gorgeous pink Cherry Blossoms. I cannot get over how gorgeous these trees are! Vancouver in Spring – So Romantic!

And here’s what Southern Burnaby looks like – See how high we were climbing…up to Burnaby Mountain!

We eventually arrived at the Start Line – but everyone had already gone!! So we signed in and left immediately. Boy, were we already tired after climbing all those hills…

I thought the ride was VERY well organized. Volunteers were stationed at intersections to help stop the traffic and press the zebra crossing traffic light buttons. They encouraged us along the way and had arrows set up as various stages  to help us figure out where we were going.

Much later… I encountered what is known as a ”Mama Bear” before we made it to the Port Moody pit stop.

A fellow rider who was in charge of “sweeping” i.e. making sure no riders get left behind and everyone is safe noticed I was riding with clipless pedals and sneakers and she gave me an earful about it. I had to charge my pedals in order for her to allow me to continue.

Obsession Bikes were on site to tend to any bike issues – so she got the helpful guy to change my pedals for me as soon as we got to the pit stop, and he also pumped up my tires as they were getting kinda low!

I actually had my brand new clipless shoes in my backpack but I was way to scared to put them on and ride clipless. Originally I was thinking of riding with one sneaker on and one clipless shoe. In hindsight I am so glad I didn’t.

A. Because it would have looked so stupid.

B. Because I really needed to practise on the grass and easy terrain first to build some confidence (more on this later).

Of course Mama Bear was only looking out for my safety but it was kinda weird feeling like a 7 year old again! Haha – look at my face in that picture – I was pouting like a grumpy kid!!

Kathy and I had a BRIEF (and I mean super brief) rest, enjoyed some snacks, and soon we were heading back! We could’ve continued to Belcarra but the hill leading to that final destination was described as a ghastly, super-steep climb and we were in no mood for that!

All smiles again!

Our Port Moody photo opportunity by the water….

This was my first EVER time visiting Port Moody – I thought it was so beautiful. I love how the houses there blend right into the forest, and of course that it is by a river – so the houses have water views. It’s probably a really nice place to raise a family.

Kathy and I finally made it to the finish line – where we spent a good 20 mins checking out all the bikes and bike fashion on the other riders.

Cycling can be quite a stylish sport…

Look at me in my sneakers and pink teenager-style hoodie – I make it look so casual and frumpy!! hahaha

We were so worried that cycling back via Adanac was going to be a killer – but it was for the most part all downhill, as Vancouver is situated at a lower elevation than Burnaby.

I caught this little cycling notice/ monument on the Adanac route. Isn’t it pretty?

Our silly photo opp at the Adanac mural:

I’ve recently taken a liking to murals…. I think this one is very pretty and retro!

It was a GREAT day for cycling and in total we did 70kms. Which is pretty epic considering how many hills we tacked! 🙂