Welcome to the SCC Gibsons Grind Bike Ride 2015: Pics & Vids

New Photos taken June 22, 2013

The pier at Davis Bay, near the turnaround point for the 50 km ride.

The view from partway down Mason Road on the 100 km ride. Yes, it's steep, and you have to come to a full stop at the bottom. Get your brakes checked before the ride.

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Another local rider, GB, has kindly let me post some of his photos. The captions are mine, so if they are incorrect, blame me. Just click on the shot to enlarge. Thanks GB.

Gibsons Harbour

Ocean View

Highway 101

Trout Lake. This is on the side of the road of the 100 km ride. A great place to stop and rest.

Another shot of Trout Lake.

I believe that this is the intersection of Mercer Road and Highway 101. If so, it is pretty much the turn-around point of the of the 100 km ride. This is where the Sunshine Coast Cycling Club used to have their weekly time trial. It would make a great Strava section, starting here, riding to the far end of Mercer and coming back on the highway, as the Gibsons Grind 100 km route does.

I'm not sure where this was taken but I hope we have weather like that on the 30th.

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Local rider WAB1234 has put up two time lapse movies on YouTube that show the kind of the riding you can expect in the Gibsons Grind. Note that not all of the video is taken on the route. Thanks WAB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFAZt5hOkjw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFZg0BaueyY

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Sometimes it’s too easy to forget how good we have it here on the coast. I’m often dreaming of distant places I’d like to ride or events to participate in. I’d love to climb some of the legendary cols in Spain, Italy or France, or ride along the coast of California. I don’t ever dream of my next ride from the driveway to Port Mellon and back even though it has great views, you almost always see wildlife they couldn’t even imagine in France and it’s a great ride. I have to admit that I take the local beauty for granted.

I’m just not the type of person to just ride along and enjoy the scenery. I enjoy and take comfort in focusing purely on the act of riding. I love losing myself in the mechanics of cycling, the connection between the road, bike and myself. But now and then, I extend my focus outward long enough to notice my surroundings and am shamed by my shortsightedness amidst such beauty. I don’t usually stop and snap pics but my last ride was so beautiful that even a guileless schlub like me had to stop and enjoy. These are shots from a rider’s point of view that were taken along the route of the Gibsons Grind.

Safe riding,

Larry