All But Three
Permanent Brevet #188
Ride date: January 11, 2019
by Mark Payten

On a beautiful January 11th morning at 0500 hrs Gord left his home in North Saanich to cycle to his start point for the inaugural "All But Three" two hundred kilometer permanent. Knowing that he along with his two cycling compatriots would be establishing new course records and personal bests was not on his mind. The 8 degree Celsius start was a magnificent bonus for this time of year.

Gord met Dave at the corner of East Saanich Road and Cooperidge Dr. at 5:30 and they were off to the next pick up point at Lochside Trail and Searidge Drive in Cordova Bay. They encountered Mark just before Claremont Avenue and Lochside Trail as he rode out to meet them. Their twin beam so light were so steady that it looked like an approaching car. Mark just previous to this had experienced a Johnny Cash wannabe on a black bicycle coming toward him and was relieved to find it was his two riding compatriots for the day.

There was a very light but steady breeze from the north that propelled the participants southward along the waterfront route to the first at the Starbucks on Belleville, kitty corner to the legislature. There was little traffic on this stretch. Dallas road proved to be a little rough where they were preparing for the installation of the state of the art sewage system. It will be very pleasant to ride this stretch once it is completed with a designated cycle track and smooth pavement.

The next section up Fort towards the Royal Victoria Hospital was very busy with commuter traffic. Dave's comment was that it was preferable to ride this stretch on the weekend. Maybe up Richardson may be a better daytime option. The riders then continued northward into the slight breeze up Foul Bay and Henderson and around the Ring Road. The university workers were just arriving and the traffic circle on McKenzie/Sinclair was busy and slowed the riders down. However the rest of the journey out to Sidney was pleasant with only that slight headwind. Dave as is his preference pulled us most of the way to Sidney. Actually, Dave pulled for most of the day. Gord and Mark relieved him of his duties occasionally to recover enough to carry on!

The route went around Lands End Road then Chalet and West Saanich southward. They took roads and trails south as far as Latoria Rd (Royal Bay) and then headed south again towards Esquimalt and Fry's Bakery and the Spiral Café where nutrients and caffeine were ingested.

Now they were on the homeward journey. Gord reached his Canadian Tire end point at 2pm, left only with a short cycle home. Dave was dropped off at his door at 2:30pm but decided to continue on with Mark to achieve his quota of 300km of non-rando kilometers for the week. He turned around at Hunt Road. Mark, not caring about such lofty goals arrived at Lochside and Seabrook at 3:00pm and then cycled lazily up Amblewood Drive to his home at the top of Cordova Ridge with 307 km of total kilometers including rando distances in for the week.

It had been a glorious ride. It had been Gord's first Permanent and earliest 200km ever. The weather was sunny with only mild breezes except for a few mist drops around Chalet Rd in Deep Cove. The temperature was around 10 degrees Celsius for most of the day. It was hard to believe it was a January ride. Let's see what February brings.