CCCP: My new cycling club

Today I went riding with my new cycling club. They are associated with a local bike shop, called Cycle Pop and so the club is called Club Cycliste Cycle Pop, or for short, CCCP. As you can see from the club's website, the logo features a wrench and cog, styled in the manner of a hammer and sickle, and the team colours are red and white.

That brings me to one of my concerns: the club attire (mandatory shorts and jersey) are red and white. I thought everyone knew that bike shorts must never be red or white, as the following picture (not from my club) certainly illustrates:



Oh well!

It was so nice to get out for a ride. I've been cycling my city bike all winter long, but yesterday was the first time out for a real ride on my better bike.

The group headed to the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve (racetrack) and divided into four groups, with various target speeds. I thought I wouldn't let my hubris take the best of me, as I haven't done much training this winter, so I didn't place myself into the fast group right away... but my group was too easy for me, so I moved up. Hooray for ego-boosters!

Unfortunately there were two accidents in our ride. (My friends assured me that last year they only had one accident in the whole season.) The first time, someone at the front of the pack decided to change directions (turn or go straight) at the last minute, without adequate lead-time or signalling, and the person following didn't have time to react. Ouch! Fortunately she wasn't hurt beyond some scrapes. The second accident was one of the strangest accidents I've seen. He pulled out of the peloton for a minute, and suddenly just flipped over! Either his rear derailleur or his chain seized up for some weird reason. His chain broke and his derailleur will need serious work, but fortunately he too was uninjured. Let's hope future rides are uneventful!

After the ride, Syvlain, Patrice, Steve, Bruno, and I went to brunch just off St-Laurent, and then to a beautiful chocolate shop on St-Denis for hot chocolate. Life is good!