Alvin and I are registered for the The RBC GranFondo Whistler | Ride from Sea to Sky – Vancouver to … check out the link, sounds and looks like an amazing ride, I think they are expecting 8000 to 10000 riders this year, can’t wait. Anybody wanting to join us please do, the more the better. I do have friends and family in Vancouver that we may be able to stay with, but will know closer to the date. Looking forward to that first ride at the water tower.
Ever wonder what would happen if today’s Republican Party Primary were a pro-tour cycling club building their peloton? Whatever happened to the vision that spawned the anti-slavery party? Well, whatever you may have to say about them, just be certain that they are “severely more conservative” than you or anyone else. And that just makes us all feel so damn good.
If there were a Republican pro-tour, the delegates motto might be “I can pull longer than you”. Which we all know is the way to win a race, right?
About a year ago, Noreen and I visited Rudy & Sue vacationing in Gold Canyon, Arizona. We stayed with them for a few days and had a great time relaxing and doing a bit of hiking, touring, cycling, and lots of visiting. One morning I borrowed one of their bikes and Rudy took me on his routine ride through the area. Part of the ride includes a fairly steep climb. On the way down I decided to see how much I could clock that hybrid street bike at. Rudy was a bit shocked when I told him I thought I’d hit 63 kph, but there it was on the OD. Well, this winter Rudy is back out there and check out this photo he recently sent me. I think I have to get back to Arizona, with my Colnago this time – the GC Challenge is on (although, Rudy is quite the computer hack…maybe I should insist on a pacer timed result 
) .
2011 was a good year for riding a bike on Saturday mornings. We had 36 different riders out for at least 1 ride of the 34 that was posted. Nobody completed all 34 and 6 made it thru 1 ride. Here are some stats.
| MIT Rides | # of rides | ave km/ride | ||
| 1 | Alex N | 60.0 | 1 | 60.0 |
| 2 | Andrea | 78.5 | 1 | 78.5 |
| 3 | Andres | 47.7 | 1 | 47.7 |
| 4 | Hailey | 52.0 | 1 | 52.0 |
| 5 | Joe | 101.3 | 1 | 101.3 |
| 6 | Jonathan | 76.1 | 1 | 76.1 |
| 7 | Camaron | 135.0 | 2 | 67.5 |
| 8 | Glen | 142.4 | 2 | 71.2 |
| 9 | Mom | 150.0 | 2 | 75.0 |
| 10 | Patrick | 70.0 | 2 | 35.0 |
| 11 | Rod | 170.0 | 2 | 85.0 |
| 12 | Shannon | 160.0 | 2 | 80.0 |
| 13 | Sue | 160.0 | 2 | 80.0 |
| 14 | Chris | 238.4 | 3 | 79.5 |
| 15 | Helmut | 143.4 | 3 | 47.8 |
| 16 | John | 231.6 | 3 | 77.2 |
| 17 | Pete | 269.7 | 3 | 89.9 |
| 18 | Ryan | 261.0 | 3 | 87.0 |
| 19 | Yvonne | 210.0 | 3 | 70.0 |
| 20 | Ed | 355.9 | 4 | 89.0 |
| 21 | Robert | 259.0 | 4 | 64.8 |
| 22 | Paul | 469.3 | 5 | 93.9 |
| 23 | Roydon | 369.0 | 5 | 73.8 |
| 24 | Valerie | 655.8 | 8 | 82.0 |
| 25 | Alex | 759.1 | 9 | 84.3 |
| 26 | Hans | 909.5 | 10 | 91.0 |
| 27 | Mark | 1,129.7 | 13 | 86.9 |
| 28 | Rob | 1,063.9 | 13 | 81.8 |
| 29 | Alvin | 1,242.0 | 14 | 88.7 |
| 30 | Werner | 1,188.4 | 14 | 84.9 |
| 31 | Curtis | 1,404.6 | 18 | 78.0 |
| 32 | Neil | 1,522.4 | 20 | 76.1 |
| 33 | Merle | 1,852.5 | 25 | 74.1 |
| 34 | Ron | 1,944.9 | 25 | 77.8 |
| 35 | Jac | 1,999.2 | 26 | 76.9 |
| 36 | Jim | 2,122.4 | 29 | 73.2 |
| Total MIT rides in 2011 | 34 | |||
| Total KM’s ridden by MIT | 22,004.7 | |||
A 135 mile bike, ski and running race is now on in Minnesota, over a snowmobile trail. This race started 7:00 A.M. Monday and many competitors are still not finished. 3 Manitobans—Hal Leowen, Ian Hall and Dallas Sigurdur are already finished and did well. The following website gives up to date information on how the competitors are doing, who’s finished, times, positions etc. : http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php/results/2012-results