The Tale of the Randonneurs vs. the Evil Blackberry Briar
Ride date: April 26, 2025
by Deirdre Arscott

Yes, for Colin and me, it was the tale of the randonneurs and the evil blackberry briar (our own fault). It happened trying to get around the fence that is blocking the entrance to the Mud Bay Dyke Trail. The others picked up their bikes and hiked just a short way. Instead Colin took an old broken up trail thinking that it would lead back to the trail that we wanted. Colin is always very sensible (isn't he?) so I followed him... deeper and deeper into the blackberry briar that swallows randonneurs and their bikes whole. We couldn't get out. We ended up clambering up onto the highway but we couldn't get off it. So we backtracked. Colin had to help me haul my bike down the embankment off the highway then we rode and carried our bikes through all the blackberries to the start of the trail. At least 45 minutes had passed already. Oh well, a little bit of cyclocross. I have always wanted to try that but not on a rando ride.

Colin had flats front and rear. We managed to get all the embedded thorns out and fix the flats - a minor miracle wouldn't you say? It was still light so it was a bit easier to see the thorns. We noticed that we could pick up the fence and move it just a bit to squeeze our bikes and ourselves through. Why didn't we notice that before? Off we went down the Mud Bay Dyke Trail. After about 10km I hit something hard. You guessed it, pinch flat in the pitch dark! Colin had another flat on the Freeway Trail - no time to fix, just pump. More pumping on Gilmore Ave and we finally made it to the finish at 1:52, just in time. We took a selfie to prove that we were actually there on time. It was an adventure and we were delighted with ourselves for finishing!