Pedal - paddle - win

Last Sunday I finally got around to a couple of things I'd been meaning to do.

One of which involved dirt

With Mine Over Matter less than 2 weeks away, I hadn't really rode any singletrack...um...this year. So, we buggered off to the GORBA trails and did some of that.

I rode some stuff that made me pucker and clench. I walked some things that scared the bejeezus out of me. I then proceeded to turn around and ride some of the stuff I'd walked on the way out.

I held up Tanker a lot

There was some nasty climbing, some sketchy drops, some very-nearly-catching-my-bar-on-a-tree-and-vaulting-over-the-handlebars, a mud hole or two, and a modicum of screaming. I cleaned some sections I'd never managed before, and actually managed to come out of the whole thing undamaged!

Can I get a w00t for remaining upright?

This bodes slightly better than the final single track experience I had pre-Mine Over Matter in 2012. Hopefully this means I will have a rather longer race than I did that year, with fewer long-term consequences. 'Cause damnit, that sucked.

Then to cap off an awesome weekend, we unwrapped the Weather Canoe and found that our idea of "put it up on sawhorses and wrap it up in a tarp" had indeed kept it undamaged through the horrible Polar Vortex Winter of Death and Ice Storms. Thus, we'd be able to try out our new acquisitions.

Such prettiness from Grey Owl Paddles

We popped the PunkRawKanoe up on the roof of the car, then drove down to Puslinch Lake, arriving just as the golden hour was beginning.

Breezy but lovely evening

We paddled through the honey-coloured sunshine of a gorgeous summer evening, delighted with our new paddles.

Tanker loves his new bent shaft!

Why the new paddles? Well, we've just booked ourselves a 4-day canoe trip through Frontenac Provincial Park for the end of next month, and decided to spoil ourselves a little. It'll be Tanker's first canoe trip, and our first paddling excursion since we went sea kayaking on Georgian Bay for our honeymoon in 2003.

Campsite booked for our first night.
I can almost hear the loonsong already..

I've never even been to Frontenac before. I can't wait!