Did a 5 hour slog in the rain yesterday. A few people were planning a long distance ride in Hamilton and since I usually ride alone for long rides I thought it would be fun to have some company. Plus I've never ridden any of the trails in Hamilton so it would be a good chance to get a look. The forecast wasn't looking too good for Sunday but I kept my fingers crossed anyways and headed out. Met Jeff and Ryan for a 9am start and we were off. Weather was dry but cool and windy. We immediately hit some fast downhill single and double track which was a lot of fun. After about an hour of riding the rain came but it wasn't too bad since we were mostly in the forest and the canopy was keeping us dry. Eventually we had to hit the road for awhile and proceeded to get completely drenched from head to toe. We made it back into the trails but by now they were pretty bad as well so we cut them short to prevent trail (and bike) damage and stuck to the road and gravel paths. There was a fair bit of climbing (from my perspective) and I definitely had trouble keeping up with the other two. Something to work on over the summer. We were near the end of the ride and had the choice of taking the long way with a big climb or take a set of stair up the escarpment to the cars which was the short way. We were all cold so I suggested the stairs but I suspect the riding the climb would have been better. See the pictures below. All in all a really good ride...good training which I need and good company.

Thanks to Ryan for the pictures.

Steve