I rode over to Jermain Park where I met with Andrew and Kevin. The ride there was fairly uneventful. Popped some wheelies; jumped some curbs; found some mud; yatta, yatta. When I got there, I was warned that it was pretty muddy on the Ottawa Park side. So, we started on the Jermain side. All was good. We had some slick spots, but where there was leaf coverage on the trail, or where there was snow on the trail, the ground was still rather frozen. When we got back into the flood plain section, I expected the worst. It still wasn't too bad. Then, when we hit the switchbacks to climb out, it got ugly. Andrew fell and took a hit below the torso - if you know what I mean. I stopped because it was stupid slippery and I didn't want to try to navigate that final switchback in the saddle. After I got off the bike, I promptly fell and mashed my cheek into the handlebar. Apparently, I knocked my mud-flap off, too. Andrew was nice enough to recover that for me. The rest of the ride was without incident for me, but Andrew seemed to have bent his chain or done something that caused his pedals to skip/slip.

So, we only got one loop of the Jermain side before we called it. I'm thinking tomorrow's ride will be VERY much like last year's Longest Day Ride - mushy and painful. Just the same, I'll give it my all. This year, I'll be better at staying fueled, though.