Family Outing

Put together Friday afternoons off, with unseasonal weather (for November), and you get plans for an after work ride. I mentioned this to Sonia yesterday, and she came up with the idea of driving up to the Park, and from Gamelin I'd go for a ride while she pushed Dalia in the stroller. Re-reading what I just wrote, it sounds like Sonia would have to keep up with me on foot AND push the stroller. I'm not that mean. I was originally thinking of a road ride, but as my mind was wandering during my commute home today, I decided to bust out the mountian bike instead. Fast forward ahead to getting ready to go. Now, the last time I rode my mountain bike was almost 2 months ago (yeah, I know, pretty sad), and all that needed to be done was switch over the pedals from my Mendotta and switch out the race wheels for the everyday wheels. I was about to do this when I looked at my Mendotta and decided, hell, I'll just ride that instead. I figured I could ride up to trail 15 and keep on truckin' untill I needed to turn around and come back. I've never taken my Mendotta out on the trails, so I was keen to see how it held up.

 My "cross" bike.

 

 

 Dalia, ready for her first stroll in Gatineau Park.

 

Sonia: "Hurry and take the picture. The sun is in my eyes and I can't see crap."

Leaving the parking  lot, I had about an hour to ride. When I hit the first climb on 25 towards 15, I was surprised at how well the bike climbed. Later on, I found myself picking lines through the bigger rocks on the trail, but whenever I did hit a rock or a root, the bike kept rolling along. I guess that's what all the fuss is about over 29er's. It didn't take long though, until I was missing my fuel ex, and my hands and low back started to ache. Not much later, I got to take a break, but not voluntarily. Barreling down the trail after crossing Notch road, I went over some good sized rocks. It didn't take long until I felt my back tire get mushy. Great, a flat. Switch out the tube, inflate it, and gave the tire a squeeze to check the pressure. Hmmm, lets compare with the front. The front feels.....soft????? Motherf*cker!!!! Double flat, and no way to fix it. The only consolation is that I was near the parkway, so as a last ditch effort, I filled the front with some air in the hopes that it would hold for a bit. ....It didn't. Now, if you ever find yourself in the park with a flat and no way to fix it, the grass at the side of the road is reaaaaal smooth...makes you forget that you're riding on a flat and makes you forgot that you're a dimwit without a patch kit.
When I got to the bottom of the Pink Lake hill, I decided "what the hell", I'll put some more air in the front. And lo and behold, it held air! On the road the rest of the way. Back at the parking lot, Sonia didn't fare much better. Turns out that about 10 minutes into her walk, Dalia decided she was hungry and started WAILING, so Sonia had to feed her as soon as she could. So, neither of us got in the ride or walk that we were hoping for, but at least we got out for a bit, and one of the three of us was happy:

Dalia in a milk coma.