August 2,2010

What a week. We had an awesome ride on Tuesday evening, the weather was a bit cooler and the trails were dry and the Bettys were rippin' it up. We broke into two groups, what we lovingly call the faster and the slower groups, and were going to meet up later for an outing  (see below)

Note to self - don't just carry the cell to call out, but turn on the volume to receive calls!! Dahhh!!...

So after a fantastic ride in the Don led by Barb up and around the Catalyst, we were waiting in the parking lot wondering where the other group was. Apparently, they had a terrific ride too and were all riding really well when Sarah T, our newest  member, had an endo on the way out the trails. Luckily, the Bettys have first aid training and she was in the good hands of Pat and Eleanor, but after waiting for the Betty with the phone on silent mode(dah) to come with a lift up Redway Rd the group decided to walk up the big hill. It was clear to us waiting what had happened as the group approached. Sarah, who had been wearing a lovely white jersey which we had all admired at 6:30, was wearing a dusty brown jersey and a shiner at 8:30!! And a big smile!! Funny thing about mountain bikers, there's a toughness to us that gets us out on the trails in the first place, and a resilience that allows us to tackle those trails and learn from our mishaps.

We managed to help Sarah get a little cleaned up and her and her bike into the car and home safely for some rest. We hope she is healing fast and will be ready to join us again soon!!

Later that evening it was onto event #2, the Spanner sample sale at Susan's place. Wow, are we ever outfitted for work now....Bettys do have to make a living after all to support our biking habit and good clothes are essential to that end. Thanks Susan for the invite, not to mention the stylist advice. It was a ton of fun.

Midweek Becky posted a note on the forum about the Canal Days Mountain Bike Race in Port Colbourne. It was a 30K race on the awesome shorthills trails, some of which were used in the Lake to Lake event in June and some brand new trails recently built by the conservation authority in the area. Another 'wow' is in order, it was a terrific course of about 80% twisty technical single track, the rest was some pleasant double track and a wee bit of gravel road crossing but truly a single track race. The shorthills cycling club puts on a great event...complete with a hot lunch and loads of door prizes from the local bike shops. The Bettys will be there for their next event..mark your calendars ladies, it's in February!!!

Next on the agenda is our ride tomorrow night, and the 6th Ocup on Sunday at Kelso. Hope some of you will come out and 'try an Ocup", I hear Shannon has checked out the course already and will be trying the event, and Becky, Erica and I will all be there. Its a great one to try or spectate at since its so close to the city.

See you tomorrow,

Ride On!

Melinda