February 24, 2019
First of the Last Goodbyes
The Classens
We first met the Classens as we bumbled around the bike paths of Victoria. They recognized us and vice versa from the blogs. Since then we have been following each other's adventures and meeting up both accidentally and deliberately. This time, when we wrote about our trips into Victoria to visit Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), they suggested a get together in the city. It would be a send off for us, and a chance for them to describe their next planned route.
There is a phenomenon known to all touring cyclists. When you are together with other cyclists, hours can pass as you jabber about old routes and new, equipment, health, and all the myriad other topics. So it was today.
The Classens suggested a restaurant almost 1 km from MEC, and were gratified to have Dodie declare the walk no problem. The location also turned out to feature a special test - lots of stairs. Dodie went straight down them. She had her walking stick, but really did not need it.
While we came into town by car, the Classens typically cycled in- about 35 km. return. They really look "official" - in signature yellow and green!
From our side of the table, the Classens look like this:
While we might not exactly say they are cycle touring super stars, and certainly not from their modest demeanor, they have done some really tough bits in their five European tours.
A special bonus was that the restaurant included a torte among their dessert choices.
This confection was labelled a "torte", and we would have to agree, because it was very similar to the "Ludlab torte" mentioned as in an earlier post as one the first "tortes" we ever encountered. Like Ludlab this certainly had no layers, being a slab of pure chocolate "ganache", just as the menu promised. According to Wikipedia, Ganache or crème ganache was originally a kind of chocolate truffle introduced by the Paris confectioner Maison Siraudin in about 1862 and first documented in 1869. Yes, it is much more like a "chocolate" than a "cake". No matter, we are logging this as the first torte of the blog!
From the Classen's side of the table, the Grampies and the torte looked like this:
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