![]() Flat to gently rolling with the occasional grunt and grind would describe it best. What a way to clear the sinuses! The upside of that was I knew the elevation changes would be fairly tame as farmland goes. It’s serious farm country for the most part and being springtime the fields had just been turned and ripe with the smell of fresh manure. I knew a little of this area northwest of Guelph, Ontario however I had not ridden these roads before. Your direct cone of vision widens and your peripheral vision has a greater range of focus. ![]() You can once again hear everything that is behind you as well what is in front of you. Your hands change, realigning muscles and motor skills with brake levers and shifters. And for any of us that have spent serious amounts of time on a bike, you never forget a thing.Īt the first push of the wheel it’s as if the time out of saddle has somehow been instantly deleted and every race, tour, or trip to the corner store is joined together into one continuous ride with no beginning and no end in sight. And hence the expression, “It’s like riding a bike, you never forget”. Here I am, feet in the traps, cranks spinning, hands on the hoods the same as when I was 15, or at least that is until I get to the first climb of the day. The first 10km was the usual limbering up and settling in, something that takes a little longer now that I am 60 years old however I am only partially acknowledging that line in the sand. The gates were closed as expected but no matter, I parked the car at the side of the road, unloaded the bike, gathered my gear together and was off. I arrived at Polksi Dom, the intended starting point for the event and what I understand is a country meeting place for Poles living in the area. Sunday, May 3rd was probably the best weather we’d seen so far this year with clear skies and a high in the low 20’s (☌). So what to do? Well, I had the route map and the roads aren’t going anywhere (so to speak) so why not just go and ride it. I found the best prep during these weeks was to park the carbon bike, Di2 shifting and clip pedals altogether and tell my brain that such things didn’t exist outside of daydreaming in the hammock. The cancellation was a disappointment to be sure as I had spent the last few weeks getting my 1966 Legnano Roma Olimpiade fully sorted as well as putting in some good road time to make sure that I didn’t drift into another rider reaching down for a shift lever or to tighten a toe strap. It may have been too early in the season for an event such as this (La Bicicletta vows to try again) or perhaps some went on Google Earth to see what lay ahead and had a change of heart. The ‘buzz’ was great however a few days before the event was to begin, calls went out that ‘paid registration’ did not live up to email interest so it was off. The format: only pre’87 steel frame bikes with down tube shifters and no modern ‘clip’ pedals. Inspired by the world famous L’Eroica event which graces the rural strade bianche (white roads) of Tuscany, La Bicicletta in Toronto announced the Giro Epoca d’Oro retro cycling event this spring.
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