dead legs, and I feel initiated into another group of bikers

This morning I met up with A to go bike riding on the P'tit train du Nord, a scenic, flat and safe biking path in the Laurentians. I had only been on the northern portion (North of Labelle) where it is paved, but this time we were going to go on the gravel path from Prevost.

We were told to go south as it was "rideable, just a few snow patches" and that going northwards was impossible. We headed south, going through the snow (I fell too) but gave up after probably 500m. It looked covered. We then thought maybe they were mixed up and headed north. It looked promising, all for maybe 700m. Ended up on a sideroad, towards a juvenille detention center. We figured we weren't getting anywhere so decided to take the shoulder of the 117North. It was hairy. Cars weren't used to us, and the shoulder was covered in sand, dirt and glass. After 1.5 hrs of 8% climbs, we headed back, which was easier but we still had some return 8% climbs. With my heavy bike, low gear options and lack of food, I felt pretty slow...

To be honest, I'd like to think the two previous days of biking had some effect too. Friday I took easy, Saturday we biked at the F1 track with the club (our coach recommended race pace efforts, but after the first one my throat was on fire due to the -3C temp.) I was doing mostly 8:30 laps, and one at 8:15 where I was really pushing it. Slow hunh? Sunday 'becca and I went for a nice ~80km ride west along the water. It was a bit crowded on the way out, but the return was beautiful. A lot of people probably didn't realize the sun would still be out at 6, or maybe they went home for dinner, or were discouraged by the wind and cold, so we had the bike path to ourselves and happily road home abreast.

So, you must be curious how I feel initiated? Well, on our return we were going to mec but got off on the wrong Acadie exit. A joked "why not stop in for some sushi?" and headed into the parking lot of Rockland centre. I was staring at the bright yellow overhang of the basement parking lot and thinking "something wrong"... and then we heard it. BANG! and we both remembered the bike on the roof...
Luckily, the damage was minimal, and it was my friend's city bike. Scratch on the headtube, and the rearwheel got twisted as the bikerack let go of the fork, but not the wheel so it got snagged. ... new wheels for A... another excellent reason for me to get a van in the future. I know for sure that I'd probably do the same thing with my bikes on the roof of any car. And knowing my luck, it would be my race bike.