Critical Lass June 2013 ride report

Critical Lass June 2013 ride report

Thanks to all who came out, despite the drizzle, for yesterday’s Critical Lass ride!

Here are a few candid shots I took at the beginning of the ride. Sorry, no group photos this time.

Karen is 6 days to her due date in this photo, and still riding her Linus comfortably, although hills are a challenge. In awe.
My kids rode their Norco bikes, and Erin hauled her littles in a Madsen borrowed from Karen’s. She said the balance felt a little different than her longtail, but it felt like they were about the same weight and effort to pedal.
It was chilly, so both Erin and I had opted for wool layers in our outfits. I love that the Madsen has a frame lock – so smart for something that’s hard to maneuver into a bicycle rack.
My jacket is in the basket and didn’t stay off for long. I wore a wool-and-angora-blend tunic, bamboo-blend skirt, leggings, and the wonderfully loud bicycling socks from RedBike (not shown). You can see Karen’s gorgeous boots from local designers Poppy & Barley in this shot.
Layers and denim were the outfit of choice for the breezy, drizzly conditions.
Layers and denim were the outfit of choice for the breezy, drizzly conditions.

My husband was out of town, so we chose a short, level route in the neighborhoods surrounding the university – then cut it even shorter when my littlest on his single-speed kid bike had clearly had enough. Oh, parenting. At least my eldest was a trooper. I won’t repeat the experiment of bringing both kids along for another couple of years. I am so grateful that everyone was patient and wonderful with them. Bike people are the best.

I promise next ride will be longer and more interesting, and there will be photos from en route!

We ended up at Gracious Goods in Belgravia, where we took over a cozy corner of the cafe and had a lovely chat. The food was delicious.

You can kind of see the menu overhead in this photo. Lots of lovely baked goods, soups, and sandwiches. Most of us opted for tea, but they have coffee from Transcend.
I was also grateful that Karly and Anna, who have so many Bikeology events to attend as the Bikeology organizer and EBC board member and former executive director, made time to come ride with us. These women seriously rock my world.
I was also grateful that Karly and Anna, who have so many Bikeology events to attend as the Bikeology organizer and EBC board member and former executive director, made time to come ride with us. These women seriously rock my world.

Then Karen, Erin and her kids, and me and my kids bailed and headed home. I hope the rest of the riders continued on and explored the neighborhood a bit. Thank goodness several of them had also attended the Vintage Ride organized by Raving Bike Fiend during the morning (I’ll update with links to those ride reports when they go live)!

Upcoming Critical Lass Dates: Sunday July 21st (to Highlands, coincidentally on Marshall McLuhan’s 102nd birthday) and Sunday August 18th (Fringe, anyone?) and Sunday September 15th and Sunday October 13th (a River Valley leaf-viewing ride). As always, we meet 1pm at Bicycle Bottleneck, at the lamppost at the south end of High Level Bridge. (I’ll update this with links to the Facebook event pages as they go live.)

Hope to see you at Kidical Mass next Sunday!

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