Triple Crown on the hottest day ever recorded
What a day to attempt a 3-mountain epic climb- my "treat" for the week. 133km and 7 hours of all-girl fun. Cypress, Grouse and Seymour mountains conquered, with a few navigation challenges in between! Andrea and I were all decked out in our pink West Point kit and schmancy Serotta bikes. Gabi was courageous enough to join us for Cypress, and we easily convinced her up Grouse as well! We rocked those hills.
The goal of the day was just to survive, not to break any climbing records. Cypress was a walk in the park, Grouse was pretty anti-climatic, but Seymour was a b!$#h. Didn't help that our ride was extended a bit while getting a bit lost heading between Mountains. I seemed to remember more shade on our final mountain, but I was mistaken. Good call by Andrea to bring the sun screen along! Although we kept well hydrated and fed, the last few kms of Seymour were a mental challenge to say the least. I wish I had a my camera for the views, the athletes, and Andrea's face covered in suntan lotion and chocolate "energy bar!"
So not only was this the longest (time- and distance-wise) ride I've ever done, but Vancouver just broke a 39-yr-old record for the hottest day ever recorded in the city: 33.9 degrees. Which is kind of funny if you come from Onterrible as that's typical summer weather. I limped home from the North Shore and enjoyed a cold shower, a tasty dinner at the Botchar-Dow residence and second dinner (hey, I deserved it!) at home with Christopher.