By Ambassador Sandra Beaubien

There are two things that consistently put a big smile on my face: bikes and flowers. Spring is one of my favourite seasons with the anticipation of warmer weather, long rides, and flowers starting to bloom. Ottawa hosts a Tulip Festival every year and I do countless rides on my Rove to look at the various tulip beds planted across the city, easily accessible along paved bike paths.

This April I was very fortunate to spend a month mountain biking in southern Utah on my Process 134 and have witnessed many cacti and other delicate desert flowers coming into bloom.  The trails are really fun to ride and you learn quickly to look out for cacti on the side of the trail! There is nothing wrong with stopping mid-ride to get some flower pictures 🙂 I came back to Ottawa just in time to see the trilliums bloom, a favourite spring flower among many of my riding friends!

When summer comes, the wildflowers bloom and often I take a mountain bike trip (or two!) to the Quebec City area.  I love the sound of the wildflowers blowing in a warm summer breeze.  The chalet we rent has a beautiful wildflower garden so I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my Process 134 with them. I wash my bike in my front garden and sometimes I get distracted by blooming flowers and put my bike washing on hold to check on my flowers, get a selfie and give them some water! My red poppies give me the biggest smile each year.

As summer comes to an end and fall riding starts up, I often switch over to riding a hardtail and I took my Honzo on a mission to find some sunflower fields.  It is incredible to watch a field of sunflowers turn towards the fading sun in the evening.  The vibrant colour of autumn flowers make me smile as I reminisce on another fantastic riding season and all of the beautiful flowers I saw along the way.

I hope this blog post made you smile 🙂