288/365 (Oct 15, 2011) – Winter is coming… Not that it ever really left in some areas. This was an amazing year for the snow sticking around. In August we rode up to the top of Mt. Baker and there were still piles of snow at the upper parking lot. While the top of Mt. Garibaldi never completely becomes free of snow, it is still amazing how much snow stuck around for the duration where it normally disappears. And it sure isn’t going anywhere at this point.
Today we had a few errands to run around town and deal with, but we managed to get out on the bikes by early afternoon and take a ride up to Squamish for a coffee. And it was nippy out on that road! But at this time of year you take those sunny days when they come and you make the absolute most of them. Yesterday I put a few hundred km on out in the Valley. I had thought I might stop in at Weaver Creek spawning channel, but two things made me keep riding on to Agassiz and beyond. #1. I figured I’d get harassed for arriving without waders since I knew there was an egg take going on out there, and #2. I had picked up a big Harley rider that I’d tried to leave behind a few times and he kept coming back and tucking in with me again, he’d stuck with me for better than ¾ of an hour and I didn’t feel like seeing if he’d follow me down a relatively isolated road… so I kept on going until we finally parted ways. It was kind of irritating, when I ride alone, I like to ride alone.
But to get up today and see another stellar day, we just had to grab it and go with it again.
It was also a pleasant surprise how many riders were still out and about, LOTS on the S2S. This is my third autumn on two wheels and one of the things I consistently notice is that the riders become friendlier (including me) the later it gets in the season, probably because there are fewer Squids on the road. There is more camaraderie, strangers are chattier. It’s kinda neat, and that from a self proclaimed anti-socialite.
As we left Squamish we pulled into a rest stop to grab a shot back at Mt. Garibaldi. The recent rains and the colder weather has cleared the air and the views along the S2S were crystal clear for a change. But the cold air also tells me that winter is coming.
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