You know the old joke about an almost empty rink, there were 10,000 people there, most of them came disguised as chairs. This was the case Sunday morning for the 51.5km ride around the Aspotagan. With all the other stuff going on it was anticipated many would be missing; Navy Marathon, Mudder's Day10/5km, Viking and Dipper off in New Glasgow certifying the Johnnie Miles Marathon etc., and they were.

THOSE THAT WEREN'T THERE MISSED POSIBLY THE BEST RIDE OF THE SPRING.

After driving to Hubbards with a Timmies in my hand and wipers musically slapping back the morning fog, I arrived at 8:00 pm to meet with my Gonzo buddy, the Stalker. We started down the old #3 as the sky began to clear and as we careened around the corner at East River we were greeted with a panarama of blue sky and dark green ocean. Time to remove the outer garments and begin to spin our way to Blandford. The quietness of the lack of cars added to the tranquility of the motionless sea and the chirping/squaking birds around us. With just enough of a breeze to keep us cool we covered the 25 km to breakfast in an hour and 10 minutes.

We daydreamed on the deck about our upcoming trip across Canada and how the breaks for breakfast, lunch, supper, tied together with a couple hours of peddling each time would be the highlites.

After getting our cholestrol levels up to standard we were off to Bayswater, a stop at the Swiss Air memorial, and off to the fishing villages of Aspotagan, Northwest Cove, and Fox Point.

Norm kept talking about how little he has biked, how much he is enjoying it, and how he was concerned about the trip. Now mind you for him to talk about his concerns he had to slow down for me to be in range.

But he is still 25% slower on the downhills so he better have a big lead at the top of the Rockies or he may not catch me before Ontario.

Breaking the 70km per hour mark past Shatford's Lobster Pound felt real good.

>From there it was 10 minutes back to Hubbards, my car, a drive thru at Timmies and home to my big chair and the NBA triple header on NBC. Could life get any better. (Only if the Raptors were still around and my Knickerbockers could whip them again).

Please also note where my beloved Yankees are---------again.

Cheers to all my other Gonzo buddies and buddettes and hopefully your weekend was as much fun as mine

PS: For any who care, Viking and I placed 2nd in the Stock Boat Division of the Marathon Canoe race in Middleton on the Annapolis River, 12 kms of twisting back and forth.. That sounds better than it really was. The competition wasn't great but we still worked hard and have another benchmark Plus it was lots of fun.

Love and kisses

Sungod, Birder, Motor, Allison, and C.S. Lewis