After our ride last Saturday to Horseshoe Bay with two trips up to the first lookout of Cypress, our group declared that it was an Epic Ride. I completely agreed. We pushed each other and fed off each other’s energy and enthusiasm. We didn’t give up the lead at any point, the lead was taken repetitively and continuously by everyone in the group. It was awesome.
With the rainy weather approaching, I thought that our long rides may be ending for the season, so when I got the email announcing our Saturday ride I was excited: TRIPLE CROWN. For those unfamiliar with the Triple Crown, it’s a ride up Seymour, Grouse and Cypress mountains on the North Shore of Vancouver. Each one has about 1000m of elevation gain from start to finish and climbs about 100m per km for 10km. This would be my first attempt.
We started out in a large group with an easy ride out towards Deep Cove. We picked up the pace once hitting the Dollarton and pushed all the way until our first coffee break at Honey Doughnuts. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out!
Half the group had to be getting home so split off as four of us started up Seymour. With two mountains still ahead I tried to keep my heart rate below 160, but it was tough. Compared with Cypress the week before, Seymour is steeper at the beginning but levels out at the switchbacks where you can push up to 22-25km/hr. It was close to 0 degrees at the top with snow already in the alpine. The trip down was exhilarating with a top speed of 74km/hr, but VERY cold. The road’s not in as good a shape as Cypress, so extra care needs to be taken.
We stopped at Bean Around the World at the bottom of Seymour for a quick washroom break. The rest of the group had to be getting home so that left two of us to continue up Grouse. We could have easily called it quits and gone home as well, but we figured it was the last time we could ride it this year. We agreed that we’d do Grouse and call it a day.
Grouse is by far the easiest and shortest tip of the Crown with the only real challenge being the last 200m of elevation coming into the base of the gondola which is the steepest section of all three. As we were sitting under the gondola eating and rehydrating before making the trip home, I put the idea forward to at least go to the first lookout of Cypress. The trip down was quick and I hit top speed within the first few seconds at 76km/hr.
My intense Type A personality usually means that I’m the one suggesting a longer route at the beginning , a way to extend the ride halfway through, and pushing the competitiveness up a notch throughout the day. I usually have to temper this or I’ll end up with a lack of training partners. Not so with this group, I’m happy to say that I’ve found a group that thrives and drives one another to be better riders. I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by such a strong and agreeable group of people.
Cypress felt the longest to me. It could be that it was the last of the three, that I ran out of glycogen halfway up or that the bone chilling cold and nasty clouds were looming above – OR that it’s actually the longest. Luckily, I remembered halfway up that I still had a muffin, somehow I’d gone the whole day carrying a large delicious muffin unnoticed. Needless to say I was thrilled. After eating it as I climbed, I felt the energy slowly return which let me get to the top.
We didn’t hang around long at the top with the weather looking ugly. The wind picked up as we descended and I can still feel the chill of the cold when I think back – extra layer next time!
Not to take anything away from last week’s ride, but this ride eclipsed it and is the new standard for an Epic Ride. Can’t wait for the next one!
Total ride time 6 hours.
Total distance 145km.
Run With Power 