Fat Ian’s Post:

Last Friday, I had the interesting experience of helping to change a flat in the dark, with wet clothes, on the open prairie, with a 40km/hr wind.   Fortunately I was collaborating with a couple other riders and we weren’t reliant on the flatee’s pump which had decided to freeze up.  Oh, and we hunkered down in the ditch on the leeward side of the road.

For this Wednesday’s ride,  meeting spot is the usual – Grant @ Chalfont at 7.   Let’s roll north to the Assiniboine River and find a spot out of the wind to work on some technical skills: starting a fire, boiling water, changing a flat, etc.  If you’ve got any of the following feel free to bring them:

– a small stove, such as you might use as survival gear on a long winter ride (whisper lite, pocket rocket, solid fuel tablet, etc.)

– firewood (whatever you can carry – even a few offcuts of lumber)

– stuff to change a flat (pump, tire levers)

– a mug, tea bag or hot chocolate

If you don’t have a stove or whatever, still c’mon out and learn something – like how to keep warm mid-ride by throwing on an extra layer (so bring an extra jacket/hat/mitts to throw on), or how you can help with changing a flat (it certainly helps to have a team working together).  We’ll be close to the duck/skating pond where folks can get inside in case you get chilled.

Hopefully the outcome will be that we all feel a little more confident in our abilities to deal with the kinds of adversity that we all face sooner or later on winter rides.