Riding into friends

I've decided that I need to use the phrase riding into friends instead of running into friends. The very thing happened this week end. I was set to go for a ride with my friend Chad on Sunday afternoon , and was grabbing an espresso when I saw a familiar figure (and bike) ride by along Bloor. They too must have seen my bike, rested up against the coffee window, because they did a double take in my direction.

I jumped out of my seat and stuck my head at the door and waved to the potential stranger and watched as they did a U-turn and came rolling up. My hunch was right — it was Garry, a rider who I'd met on a recent group ride in December. We talked outside the cafe, and I mentioned that me and my pal Chad, whom he knows, were doing a ride. Turns out, he was simply out for a ride himself and had already gone 11 kilometres coming from the east end. I told him that we were heading for some food first and he was into it, so we joined forces.

So we set off three of us down Dundas, riding through traffic to get to a place called hot pork where we got some breakfast sandwiches. It was really cold. Parking our bikes outside Hot Pork, I mentioned my poor circulation, and Garry happened to have some chemical warmers in his handlebar bag which he kindly gave me. It takes about 10 or 15 minutes for them to warm up, he told me. Just enough time to order and eat a breakfast sandwhich.

We had a nice late breakfast (Hot Pork might have my new favourite breakfast sandwhich in the city) and chatted before hitting the road, heading down to the lake, where it was a little windier and colder, as expected. We rode along the lake shore trail until we got to Cherry beach, where we sat by the water and chatted some more.

The conditions were pretty icy off trail, but other than that it was just a bit cold. We arrived at Cherry Beach and chatted by the water. We watched a brave soul slowly walk into Lake Ontario, submerge themself, re-emerge, and do pushups, their whole body red. Brave.

We parted ways there and rode home. The whole experience made me feel like I was a teenager again, when you had time after school and your friends made plans spontaneously. It feel like I've only experienced this riding into friend's phenomenon, living in the city recently, as I've gotten to know more bike communities. And of course, it's always nice to ride with a friend (especially in the winter).