Once the cold north winds begin to show up in November, I stop climbing. I follow the simple rule that if your not pedalling your bike, your not staying warm. All but one climb (Scenic Caves) in this area takes anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes to descend, with a good windchill, its smarter just to stay on the flats and pedal. However with the warmer temps I decided to give it a shot.

Here in Collingwood we didn’t see the epic amount of snow that Buffalo did, however we did receive enough to get the locals excited about the upcoming ski season. Most of my roadie friends hit the nordic tracks this weekend, since I don’t own skis, I opted for the trainer on Saturday while it poured rain and was able to get out for a quick ride Sunday. This time of year, any time away from the basement and the trainer is always welcomed. With warmer weather and threatening rain showers, I headed out for a quick loop on my gravel bike. Cruising up Sixth Street toward the escarpment, its always amazes me how much more snow they get “up top”. Today I decided to climb Grey 19 and descend Scenic Caves. My theory, warm up on 19 and get down quick by descending the Caves (it’s only 1.5km long, so its the quickest to descent this time of year, two mins tops). Between the climb and descent was an amazing messy gravel section. Its always good to get your gear filthy, makes it look like you were having a good time!

The overall experience was great. With just over an hour on the road I managed to completely cover myself with mud, but more importantly I was able to escape the flurries we normally get this time of year. It was only a short ride, but it still counts!

Just passed the 1/2 mark on the Grey Road 19 climb