GT Training Poker Ride DMcC

This is the first of weekly training rides for everyone but especially for GT riders.  The first of these rides are coordinated by Doug McCulloch but I hope to pass on those duties as distances become longer.  These will all be timed rides instead of distance and will include hills.  We start with easy rides and build our time and difficulty.  This is also an opportunity to learn how to become a coordinator as we will be looking for volunteers to step up and coordinate training rides through April and May.  

This 2 and a half hour Poker Ride starts at Bowness Park (weather permitting) and if you want to be part of the game, put a loonie in the bucket and choose a card.  At three more stops along the ride you will earn another card and then at the end of the ride you get your last card and the best poker hand wins 50% of the pot and the next two best hands split the other half.  

We ride from Bowness Park along streets and the bike lanes till Shouldice Park where we join the pathway.  At 29th street we climb the hill up to 16th Ave. where we pick up a card near Gus's Pizza.  Then its back down to the river and on to 10th St. where we once again climb to 16th Ave for another card.  From there we continue on east till we reach the one hour turn-around time and follow the same route back to Bowness.  Options include skipping any of the hill climbs and meeting for coffee at Cadence afterwards.