A riddle for you: How far is 88 kilometres? In a car, heading out of Victoria, it’s about as far as Ladysmith. On a road bike, pedalling up and down rolling hills through six municipalities, it feels like the Never Ending Story.
Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a tad or maybe I just wanted to drop a reference to a weird fantasy film that only children of the 80s can love. But when myself and the Tour de Rock riders gathered at the Saanich cop shop and were informed of our longest-ever ride along the Victoria/Oak Bay/Saanich waterfront and then out to Sidney, the nervous anticipation was palpable.
If the weather gods were on our side, the cycling gods were devising malicious little plots along the way.
The winding, sun-drenched ride along Dallas Road, Beach Drive and through the Uplands was great as we gained some confidence, pushing along at up to 35 km/hr and still taking the time to admire the ocean views and gargantuan homes of which those on cop/reporter salaries can only dream.
But then, as we reached Mount Doug Park, the calamities started to pile up.
First, Adam Caruthers, a military police officer with CFB Esquimalt, realized that the trouble he was having getting up the hill on Ash Road was due to one of the screws coming out of his cycling shoe, meaning his left foot would not clip in. Jack Knox once told me that riding unclipped is like “trying to eat soup with a fork.” Hence the problem. So we pulled into the Mount Doug Park parking lot and one of the trainers came up with an extra screw to set Adam straight.
Then, just as we set out onto Cordova Bay Road, we heard the distress call from behind. “Mechanical!” That ominous phrase that every cyclist dreads.
Dean Norris-Jones, the Reynolds Secondary VP and venerable guest rider, had the chain break on his 10-year-old loaner bike completely snap. Like jilted lovers, we were starting to think the components of our bikes/gear were literally rejecting us as we rode on.
Dean has another explanation for the chain break: “I’d like to think it was my powerful legs.”
In trying to think of how to get the disabled bike home, Victoria police Sgt. Gary Jones offered to ride his bike to his home about three kilometres away, get his truck and then drive Dean back to Saanich police headquarters where his car was parked.
“I thought I was done for the day but I saw my next door neighbour and I said ‘do you have a road bike?’” Dean said. He pumped up the flat tires, rode back to Saanich PD from his home in Royal Oak and, instead of waiting for us to roll in after our epic ride, decided to ride the route backwards in hopes of meeting up with us somewhere along the way.
Sure enough, Dean turned up in Central Saanich, just near the entrance to Butchart Gardens, greeted by cheers and impressed slaps on the back.
It was about 1 p.m. and we had already made it to Sidney, re-fueled with a coffee stop at the Roost in North Saanich and were bracing for the final leg of the ride. Because it’s always the last 25 K that seems to hurt the most. At this point, my right knee was aching and my shoulder blades felt like they were being pulled together with an elastic band. The final hills along West Saanich Road and Interurban seemed twice as torturous as usual.
But we pulled back into Saanich PD around 2 p.m. in one piece, as a solid team, feeling invincible. Ride 88.5 kilometres: Check. Bring on 100 K!
Katie DeRosa is one of the media riders for this year’s Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, a 13-day bike ride from Port Alice to Victoria. Follow DeRosa's blog for details about the ongoing training, leading up to full coverage of the ride Sept. 20 to Oct. 3. To donate to her fundraising campaign, click here.
