The weather could not have been better for the PEO Road Warriors this past weekend. It was a fun event starting on the Saturday with family and friends attacking the 25 miler. We saw some great performances that day by all. Tim Collins, the CEO of Stafflink, didn’t let his mountain bike slow him down as he sped past those cyclists on their expensive road bikes. Dallyce Macas, although not on the PEO Road Warrior Team (she had to put her own team together) finished first in her age group! A few of our kids completed the 25 miler in fine form finishing either top in their age categories and well up there with all the riders.

That Saturday night over 40 PEO Road Warriors including their families and friends enjoyed a pasta dinner, a keg of fantastic Lake of Bay Beer(Thank You Darren), wine, and of course some fine CARBO loading deserts as we watched the beautiful sunset at the Goren’s Cottage on the lake. There was lots of fun, laughter and debate as we motivated each other and prepared for the next day – temperatures were expected to drop to 5 degrees for the start of the race. A few of us more experienced riders had troubles finding the right gear – what were we thinking.

Our Sunday morning started at 5:30 am – yes for all you engineers and astrophysicists, and we had two of them with us who dared tackle this race, it was pitch black and FREEZING! But once again as the goal driven individuals we believe we are – neither the darkness nor the frigid weather would hold us back. We gathered our gear, checked our tires, overdressed with layers and assembled in the corals with over 1,500 other cyclists. Yes even after that we still all looked great and ready for the start of the race. We had a simple plan of attack -stick together and draft off one another in order to save 30% of energy output. We had Steve and Keith calculating with precision the drafting efficiencies if we did this correctly. We were determined to not just finish but have us finish as a team in the top 5. At 7:00 am the gun went off and the push to get the start line started. I have to admit we didn’t hear the gun…we were almost 500 metres away from the start line in the serious by casual riders coral. It took us over 5 minutes to get to the start line and our strategy of sticking together quickly dissipated as many of us lost each other before we even got to the start line. But all was not lost…the 7:00 am start was also when the sun began to rise in the east and for many of us turned the event into an incredible morning. It was an absolutely incredible sunrise which quickly warmed our hands and bodies as we got going on our 50 mile and/or 100 mile trek. At points we all suffered in pain, but by the time we all finished I can tell you there were only smiles to be seen. Congratulations to all those that participated and thanks for keeping me motivated to train all summer.

If you missed the opportunity this year…consider joining us next year.