Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Day 1 - Mileage: 94.55 km
Victoria, B.C. to Maryhill Bypass & Broadway Ave., Vancouver B.C.
A perfect day to start a trip of a lifetime. I hope I’m up for it. Breakfast was a perfect send off with Belgian waffles and sausages, scones, muffins, cranberry bread (I hope you’re not hungry as you’re reading this). Albert wanted to top up the tire pressure on both bikes, so we had our challenges figuring out Presta valves – I also wanted to confirm that my little bike pump will indeed come through for me when I need it. I managed 40 psi, but no more, after I totally flatted out one of the tires on my new bike. Sorry, Jay.
However, with the car pump, we finally got them up to sufficient pressure.
We got down to Mile 0, which is only about half a kilometer from the B&B, took some pictures, then made our way down to the beach so I could dip my tire into the Pacific Ocean. After a few hugs and tears, I set off at 10:55 a.m., along Douglas Street, then Blanshard, and on to Hwy 17. I tried to keep my eye open for the bike route, but was a bit nervous of losing too much time, since I really wanted to catch the 1:00 ferry if at all possible. So, in the end, I just followed the highway. There are good shoulders all along the route, and once I got out of Victoria, it was fine. There was even a section where there was no traffic, and I briefly tried out my new aero bars. At approximately the half way point, Albert passed me in his rented vehicle, followed by Adele. Both honked and waved, then shortly after that I saw them both pulled over by a police car! I also stopped, of course, and it turned out the officer thought that Albert’s licence plate had expired. She was a lovely lady, and apologized for making the error.
The highway seemed to have quite a lot of downhill, and at one point I looked down at my speedometer and noticed I was going 57 kph, and didn’t even notice it. The bike is very well balanced, and I felt great. I made it to the ferry at 12:30; we got the bike loaded up, and off we went. The ferry ride was relaxing, which was just as well, because it turned out I would need energy for the rest of the day!
We pulled off the highway at the first opportunity so I could get my bike unloaded etc. Serendipitously (that’s Murray C’s word), we had stopped at one of the biggest great blue heron rookeries in Canada, according to the gentleman who pointed them out to us. It was incredible to see all these very large birds landing in trees, and to see the young ones trying to fly. I had also spotted a bald eagle perched on a pole as we drove away from the ferry, and sure enough, there was an eagle’s nest here as well, with two young eagles sitting atop it. They were fairly large already, but evidently do not develop their tell-tale white heads until they are about five years old. I left Adele to admire the location a little longer while I started out. I arrived at the place we were to meet Pat and Rick, but still no Adele. I started worrying, so called her. It turned out she had answered the call of nature at the reserve by going into the little meadow in front of the trees, and sitting on the grass (she had to be discreet because there were other people around). Her intention was to sit in comfort, while watching the herons, and trying to take a picture, so she wasn’t thinking very much about what was happening to her nether regions. Much to her chagrin, she soon discovered she had sat down on an ants’ nest! She was covered with welts in all the most inappropriate places, up to her waist, and over her hands. She had to ease the pain and itch by dousing a sock with cold water, and doing a quick wash. Luckily she has a good sense of humour, and is still laughing about it.
Then started the next leg of the biking adventure. After some photos, possibly for a local Richmond newspaper, I followed Rick. Then I followed Rick some more….we finally stopped at 7:00 p.m. when I said I really couldn’t go on any more. We had met up with Adele and Pat several times, but the last stretch was the longest. It turned out we turned right instead of left at one point, and ended up taking a shortcut, for which I was grateful. We went through bad traffic, over bridges, up hills (usually walking, because I’m not up to hills yet, and haven’t totally figured out the gearing), and down hills (me braking most of the time). We stopped at Maryhill Bypass and Broadway Ave.; I loaded up my bike, and then we drove to a restaurant in Maple Ridge, where we had supper with Pat and Rick. We ended up at a lovely campsite, but it was 9:45, so we got ready for bed and crashed. Thus ends day 1.
Victoria, B.C. to Maryhill Bypass & Broadway Ave., Vancouver B.C.
A perfect day to start a trip of a lifetime. I hope I’m up for it. Breakfast was a perfect send off with Belgian waffles and sausages, scones, muffins, cranberry bread (I hope you’re not hungry as you’re reading this). Albert wanted to top up the tire pressure on both bikes, so we had our challenges figuring out Presta valves – I also wanted to confirm that my little bike pump will indeed come through for me when I need it. I managed 40 psi, but no more, after I totally flatted out one of the tires on my new bike. Sorry, Jay.
However, with the car pump, we finally got them up to sufficient pressure.
We got down to Mile 0, which is only about half a kilometer from the B&B, took some pictures, then made our way down to the beach so I could dip my tire into the Pacific Ocean. After a few hugs and tears, I set off at 10:55 a.m., along Douglas Street, then Blanshard, and on to Hwy 17. I tried to keep my eye open for the bike route, but was a bit nervous of losing too much time, since I really wanted to catch the 1:00 ferry if at all possible. So, in the end, I just followed the highway. There are good shoulders all along the route, and once I got out of Victoria, it was fine. There was even a section where there was no traffic, and I briefly tried out my new aero bars. At approximately the half way point, Albert passed me in his rented vehicle, followed by Adele. Both honked and waved, then shortly after that I saw them both pulled over by a police car! I also stopped, of course, and it turned out the officer thought that Albert’s licence plate had expired. She was a lovely lady, and apologized for making the error.
The highway seemed to have quite a lot of downhill, and at one point I looked down at my speedometer and noticed I was going 57 kph, and didn’t even notice it. The bike is very well balanced, and I felt great. I made it to the ferry at 12:30; we got the bike loaded up, and off we went. The ferry ride was relaxing, which was just as well, because it turned out I would need energy for the rest of the day!
We pulled off the highway at the first opportunity so I could get my bike unloaded etc. Serendipitously (that’s Murray C’s word), we had stopped at one of the biggest great blue heron rookeries in Canada, according to the gentleman who pointed them out to us. It was incredible to see all these very large birds landing in trees, and to see the young ones trying to fly. I had also spotted a bald eagle perched on a pole as we drove away from the ferry, and sure enough, there was an eagle’s nest here as well, with two young eagles sitting atop it. They were fairly large already, but evidently do not develop their tell-tale white heads until they are about five years old. I left Adele to admire the location a little longer while I started out. I arrived at the place we were to meet Pat and Rick, but still no Adele. I started worrying, so called her. It turned out she had answered the call of nature at the reserve by going into the little meadow in front of the trees, and sitting on the grass (she had to be discreet because there were other people around). Her intention was to sit in comfort, while watching the herons, and trying to take a picture, so she wasn’t thinking very much about what was happening to her nether regions. Much to her chagrin, she soon discovered she had sat down on an ants’ nest! She was covered with welts in all the most inappropriate places, up to her waist, and over her hands. She had to ease the pain and itch by dousing a sock with cold water, and doing a quick wash. Luckily she has a good sense of humour, and is still laughing about it.
Then started the next leg of the biking adventure. After some photos, possibly for a local Richmond newspaper, I followed Rick. Then I followed Rick some more….we finally stopped at 7:00 p.m. when I said I really couldn’t go on any more. We had met up with Adele and Pat several times, but the last stretch was the longest. It turned out we turned right instead of left at one point, and ended up taking a shortcut, for which I was grateful. We went through bad traffic, over bridges, up hills (usually walking, because I’m not up to hills yet, and haven’t totally figured out the gearing), and down hills (me braking most of the time). We stopped at Maryhill Bypass and Broadway Ave.; I loaded up my bike, and then we drove to a restaurant in Maple Ridge, where we had supper with Pat and Rick. We ended up at a lovely campsite, but it was 9:45, so we got ready for bed and crashed. Thus ends day 1.
posted by BikingBabe at 11:15 AM
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