-
Posts
-
Report submitted by Ye Chu:
Boy oh boy…that was a doozy! The 50+km bike ride in Abbotsford immediately became everyone’s favourite ride. The trip was posted as a “roller coaster” and boy oh boy, we were not let down! We biked over hill over hill, with some downhills that were a doozy. The scenery was jaw dropping spectacular. It reminded me of my bike trip through wine country in France, vineyard after vineyard and all framed with the majestic Mount Baker in the background. We had several highlights to our trip, but the best was visiting the Clayburn Grocery store and tea house. Mr. Haber aka Mr. Criminal Lawyer and his wife, make traditional English tea with the most delicious lightly crispy scones with a mouth watering soft interiors. I had called Mr. Haber the day before about preordering 6 currant scones and to inform him that 8 hungry cyclists would be dropping by at noon. When we arrived, he and his wife kindly offered us free scones with their famous homemade strawberry jam and clotted creme ( has to be milk from a jersey cow as it is high in fat, he informed us). When I say famous, he and his wife have been published in Bon Appetite, Vancouver Sun and won first prize for the best scones in Abbotsford. I think “Greggy“ in particular, enjoyed the delicious scones.
Another highlight for me, being an architect, was the historic village of Clayburn. It was the first “company town” in Canada as it was built around a brick factory. In the village, the “Clinker” house circa 1900s, was built with rare “over fired bricks” that almost turn into glass. The small cottage is currently on sale.
From the vineyards we meandered to the Masqui Dyke— a very bumpy gravel trail, that one rider didn’t appreciate too much. We ate lunch in a flooded park next to mission bridge. It was hard to dump our garbage as the cans were half under water.
The bridge to cross over to higher ground was underwater too. Two of us, took our socks and shoes off to walk through the knee deep water. Two brave soles biked through it and their feet were soaked. The rest walked carefully along the wood 8”x8” guardrail base, pushing their bike through the water and with the other hand gripping the top railing to avoid falling into the water.
All in all, Donna lead a fantastic trip. We only had one mishap with a chain jammed hard in the crank set. Luckily, Greggy was there as he was the only one who was strong enough to unjam it.
By the time we got back to the cars, everyone was “bonked”. We had red faced from being over heated. Some people got sunburnt too. But boy oh boy, that was by far my best club bike trip yet. Nothing short of spectacular!
Ye Chu – barch, aocad, ncidq, rhn, hcc – Ye Chu Design Studio
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.