Save your old bikes and turn them into something wonderful.
This is my bicycle build from a yardsale / scrapyard rescue to one of the best bikes I've ever built. A lot of work was done on this bike to turn it into the best bike for my intended purpose. This bike does it all, from commuting to work and back or to travel around the world!
1993 Rocky Mountain Fusion frame. Tange cromoly, triple butted,. extremely lightweight for an all steel frame. All Deore LX or XT groupset, some NOS. Mavic SUP 121 Ceramic hoop with DT Swiss spokes, NOS XT hubs. Schwalbe Marathons.
I must start off by being honest in saying that the title of this post should have been Whistler, BC rather than Squamish. Now you may already have an idea on how this trip had ended even before continuing on to read. But for those who want to continue on reading, here's the story...
Day 0, Thursday July 25
The days leading up to this bike trip has not been my typical over-preparation and over-planning like the good boy scout I usually try to be. In fact, it wasn't until the very last minute that I was able to secure a place to stay in our intended destination! There were a lot of distractions with work, life and daily grind. I would have liked to be more prepared for this trip, but be it as it may, we were going no matter what.
Thursday evening was the time for packing as the following Friday at the crack of dawn we would be on the road. I will be going on this trip with my usual cycling buddy Matt who has also had a week full of distractions., so neither of us are quite 100% prepared.
A few new equipment and gear I will be taking with me on this trip to test out for the first time. A new lightweight sleeping bag, a new air mattress, new HD action video camera and most importantly, a new bike! Well, not a new-new bike but a new-to-me bike, a bike that I had just built from frame up using an early 90's Tange cromoly double butted frame - yes, a steel bicycle! The bike weighed in at a piggish 32lbs including racks and fenders and everything durable and made to last. This will now be my dedicated touring bike as it is the one I have full confidence with not to break down in the middle of nowhere.
Newly built bike on it's first major bike camping trip
My packing was rushed! I even forgot to bring a pair of pants. Can you imagine forgetting pants?? Although the weather forecast was nice all weekend, it does tend to get cold overnight where a pair of pants would have helped warm me up a little. Oh, and before I continue on, here's a dumbass move I decided to do. I thought it would be a great practice to carry heavier than what I would normally carry on a trip like this, thinking to myself that the weight I will be carrying on future longer rides will be much heavier than this, so I packed up my trailer with things I would never use! A heavy U-lock and chain, unnecessary tools, extra shoes, more water etc. This was a mistake made due to over-confidence. A lesson that will be learned greatly.
So, stress levels were a little high when we found out that most, if not all, campgrounds around Whistler was fully booked for the Friday night. It was almost midnight and we leave in 6 hours and I've yet to find a place for us to stay. I was ready to accept this as stealth camping is always an option.. something I had always wanted to do. Stealth camping is basically setting up camp somewhere in the bushes where no one can see us. There is also the choice of knocking on people's doors and ask if we could set up tents in their backyards. As a final resort before I went to bed, I posted a somewhat of a plea on my Facebook page asking if anyone knew anyone in Whistler that can offer us a patch of grass in their front lawn or backyards so that we could set up tents and be gone by following morning. Surprisingly enough, a few minutes later, I get a private message from one of my friends. They had a friend that was offering us a place to stay in Whistler! Woohoo! Crisis averted! It's a wonderful thing to have such amazing friends backing you up.
2am I fall asleep. It will be in 3hrs that I will be waking up so that we can get on the road as early as possible. 3hrs of sleep will not be enough. Lesson learned once again.
Day 1, Friday July 26
5am. I'm wide awake. Feeling energized and no signs of any lack of sleep. I have 1 hard boiled egg and 1 piece of toast for breakfast. Will this be enough until lunch time? We shall find out.
Matt arrives a little later than planned. After last minute checking and packing of gear we are off at exactly 7am. We were both quite excited at this point.
Myself and Matt ready to ride
A chilly morning ride. Our legs and lungs will not be tested until we cross over onto the North Shore. It should be a great warmup ride. Our first challenge came upon the fork on Main St / Cotton Drive in North Vancouver where the road splits into Lower Level Rd and 3rd St. If one split is called 'Lower' level, then you can guess what 3rd Street is. Yup, a fairly decent incline. Something I was set on avoiding by taking Lower Level Road. Unfortunately, as we enter Lower Level Rd., signs saying 'construction ahead, no cycling allowed'. Argh! We had no choice. We had to go up 3rd St. Oh well... we may as well get this over with as there will be plenty more where that came from... much much more!
The rest of the ride all the way to Horseshoe Bay was quite tame as expected. Only the short blip on Capilano Road to get up to the Trans-Canada Highway was the next early challenge. However, as soon as 9am hit, I get a call from one of my clients saying they're having server problems and no one is able to get in. Aarrrgh! Remember, this is a Friday and it's still a work day and I'm supposed to be working! Worry set in at this point and I'm thinking to myself, 'Am I going to have to bail on this bike trip?? It's a server problem and that's pretty critical and I can't just push that off until I get back!' After making a few phone calls from the side of the highway, luckily I was able to walk the clients through on doing a full system reboot. The reboot fixed the problems and continue on we go! Yes! another crisis averted! However, this bike ride seem to have been filled with 'negative' energy so far. Still, all smiles here!
Ahh, the Sea-to-Sky highway... most locals know this to be a beautiful and very scenic highway. It is what connects Vancouver and Whistler. A lot of improvements have been made to this highway since our Winter Olympics in 2010 and it shows greatly as it now has wide shoulders for the cyclists to ride on. But there are still some areas where the shoulder seem to disappear and it gets pretty sketchy. For the most part, it is still a nice and safe highway for bicycles to ride on. Unfortunately, with the beauty comes the dreaded hills. Huge hills and some go on and on for kilometres at a time. This is what lead to my downfall., the damn hills. To those of you who are reading this that have followed my previous blogs, you may remember that I have had some injuries that I've been taking care of for now nearly a year. Rehabilitation on these injuries have been going so well and progress has been excellent! I thought I was ready. I thought I was in the best condition that I can be to take on this challenge. Unfortunately I was wrong and evidently, this bike trip has come too soon and a bit too ambitious.
taking a break on the side of the highway
As we tackled all the hills in front of us, my hip and knee pains started to come back. My quads started cramping up to the point where my legs would fully lock up. This kept on going throughout the ride and we still have a long ways to go. I was not tired. But my legs are constantly locking up, there is nothing more to do but stop, wait until the muscles release, then try again. But the hills kept coming and there are more to come.
It was hot. But the scenery was gorgeous!
Nearing the Brittania Beach Mining Museum, a large hill faced us. This was at the peak of the afternoon where the heat was at it's highest point. This hill destroyed me. I had to get off my bike a few meters at a time just to ease the pain from my quads locking up. I was wishing this would be the last big hill before Squamish. Was I ever wrong. As we got over this hill, we reached the Mining Museum where a nice long break was taken. I have also been having stomach pains by this time so the public restroom was a very welcomed stop. It is around 2:30pm now and we still had not had our lunch. It's funny, while suffering during a bike ride, you never find yourself getting hungry. You have this mindset that you just have to keep going. The whole goal was to reach Squamish, have our lunch, and then continue on to Whistler. This may have been a terrible plan now that I look back on it.
Immediately after leaving Britannia Beach, one of the biggest climbs I've seen hit us. It was a long ride up to Squamish. My legs were gone. There was no second wind I've been hoping for. I am ashamed to admit that I needed to get off my bike and push my way partly up this hill. This is where I decided that I was not gonna make it to Whistler this day.
Finally, Squamish. Time to reassess the day. As much as all the difficulties that I/we have had so far, the scenery was amazing. Through all the pain I was having, there was never a time where I would not look up and enjoy the surrounding trees, ocean and rocky mountain sides. I have driven my car on this highway many times before, but inside a car you miss so much of the outside world and it passes you along without notice. Riding your bicycle through this at 12km/h is the perfect speed to enjoy the beauty that is given to you. You hear the birds singing, the waterfalls coming down the mountainsides, you see hawks and eagles soaring above you,. even the roar of the metallic trucks that whiz past you becomes somewhat musical. I am still enjoying myself despite the hardships.
Did I mention the scenery was gorgeous?
It is about 3:30pm, there is still plenty of daylight to make Whistler. Here I am considering maybe I can continue on after a nice meal. A very welcoming Golden Arches awaits us. This has become a godsend stop on tours such as this.. $1 dollar large drinks all summer and plenty of water and ice to fill our bottles, a place to wash up and gorge food that is bad yet so good on a day like today. Just perfect to try and get my salt content back which I have lost so much of. Maybe I can make it after all.
.
Maybe not.
After sitting on a nice comfortable chair for 30 minutes, getting up became a shock. My hip joint and groin has become so inflamed that it was very painful just to walk let alone get back on the bike. Uh oh, not good. This was it., this is my end. I apologize to my friend Matt who I'm sure would have been able to keep going without me holding him back. I had to make alternate plans. I had to find a campsite for the night. Off we go to the nearest information station to look for campsites. And while there, I would ask what the remaining 50km ride to Whistler was like to see if it was attainable. The girl at the Info booth, who was a knowledgeable cyclist herself, tells me that from here it gets even tougher. There is still another 50kms and 2200 feet of climbing to do before arriving in Whistler. Well, that settles it, there is no way I can make it. Even Matt decided it was too much to keep going. The girl gave us directions to a campsite and we were off. The ride to the campsite was one of the nicest bike rides we've had this day. It was through a long bike path away from the main roads, sheltered from the sun under trees, AND it was all flat. I had no idea this bike trail existed until now. Arriving in camp, we took our time in setting up our tents. There was still a lot left of the day. Plenty of time to ride around and enjoy the remaining day without any punishment in attempting more hills to climb. We paid for and setup camp and waited until we were both hungry again for dinner. I had called my friends who had offered us a place to stay in Whistler telling them that we will not be able to make it there tonight. Thank you soo so much guys for the offer, too bad we couldn't make it. You guys rock!
much in pain arriving at our campsite
Our humble little spot for the night in Squamish
The rest of the daylight during the evening passed quickly. We headed into town for a quick dinner and we were back in our campground before dark. This became a time of assessment for tomorrow's ride. It will all depend on how I feel when I wake up. At this moment, I am finding it nearly impossible to tackle any more damn hills. Sleep came fast.
Day 2, Saturday July 27
It got quite cold overnight. I could have used those pants that I forgot to bring. sigh. 4am hits and nature came calling. I did not want to get up! But I couldn't hold it much longer. I got out of my tent to walk over to the porta-potties. I quickly found out that my hip and quads were burning and extremely tight. It was quite difficult to walk. This would answer my questions of whether I can ride today or not. I got back in my tent trying desperately to get back to sleep but I couldn't. No matter how tired I was, my body seems to still be pumping of adrenaline. It took another 2hrs before I zonked back to sleep. 1hr later it was time to get up.
Morning view of my Mayacycle bike trailer from inside my tent
It was at this moment when I had decided that I would take the bus home. I left it open for Matt to decide whether to take the bus home with me or to ride home alone. I am glad that he chose to ride home as that's what I would have done if the situations were reversed. We packed up our gear, had a quick breakfast from leftover dinner and off we went to the bus depot. The ride was cool and crisp and I wasn't feeling too much pain in the hip. I was tempted to try and ride home, but I knew deep inside that the first hill we tackle that my legs would soon give up. So those thoughts of trying to ride quickly went away. The station was still closed at this time and the bus will not be leaving until about 9:15. We decided that this is where we would part. Matt will head off while I wait for the bus for another hour or so. Thanks Matt, my apologies for having held you back and not being able to ride home with you.
Waiting at the Greyhound station had me thinking of a lot of things. Feeling discouraged and defeated I can only question myself if I was built for this kind of stuff. If I had it in me to be able to travel long distances with a fully loaded bike and do it day after day after day. I was never really tired during the ride and I was never having to breathe hard. This showed that my conditioning is where it should be but no matter how fit I was, if the legs are locking up and the hip is in so much pain, there is no other option but to stop. It's extremely frustrating and discouraging.
The bus finally arrive and they were able to put my bike and trailer in the luggage compartment with plenty of room to spare.
The bike and trailer fit nicely in the bus luggage compartment with plenty of room to spare.
This was the final leg of my journey. I may as well enjoy the bus ride home as much as I can. It was still a beautiful and scenic drive. Looking at the big hills we were climbing from the bus' point of view, it was clear to me that I had made the right decision. There was no way I could have ridden back. This was later confirmed by Matt that the ride back home was terrible as it seemed even worse and it was a hotter day with no shade as he was on the other side of the highway now. A great call on taking the bus home.
Arriving at the bus terminal in Vancouver, I still had to find a way to get home. There is always the skytrain in which I have taken before with my bike, but today I am pulling a bike trailer which make it impossible to get on the train. There is always the option of trying to ride home, a ride that I had done a hundred times before. Certainly this will be my choice if I can't get anyone to pick me up. Fortunately, after a few hours of waiting around at the station, I get a reply back from my brother that he would be coming to pick me up. Another rescue from one of my bike trips. This reminds me so well of my Sunshine Coast bike trip 2 years ago.
Vancouver Bus and Train Terminal
So now what? Back to the drawing board? Which drawing board would that be??
This was a humbling and an eye-opening experience. There will be some big decisions to be made from here on. I am glad that this happened now and not while on a much bigger and much tougher bike tour.
Please check out the video I made of the trip taken with my new HD Action Camera. No footage were taken of the pain from riding I promise!
This coming April 7, 2013 at 8pm EST, Maya Cycle will be appearing on CBC's Dragon's Den TV Show to WOW the Dragons with their bicycle trailer product!
I am so excited and can't wait to watch this episode as I have known about it for a whole year since it was filmed! It is now finally airing nationwide and we can all FINALLY find out the outcome from the shoot!
As some of you may know, I have become friends with Marta of Maya Cycle ever since I first met her at the 2011 Vancouver Bike Show (My Journey Into Bicycle Dorkdom) where I had my first look at their bicycle trailer product. Shortly after that, I purchased my own trailer and have become very 'attached' to it for all my cycling camping and touring purposes.
Maya Cycle with their bicycle trailer is a very new Canadian company started up by Marta's family with her father being the designer and engineer behind the trailer and Marta doing everything else behind the business side of things. Her stories of how the company started up and how at one point she had to unload hundreds of pieces of inventory from a shipping container by hand and having to store it all in her parents' basement was nothing short of jaw dropping. Having personally witnessed the hard work and extreme dedication that Marta puts into her company, the travelling she does all over N. America to promote her product, all the sacrifices and long hours of work and having seen her in tears because of all the pressure she puts on her shoulders, one can't help but to root for Marta and to wish her every bit of success that she deserves. And knowing that this type of dedication is behind the Maya Cycle family, I have no doubt in my mind that the company will soon start seeing the potential and growth in the very near future. And maybe being on Dragon's Den may just be what jumpstarts it all.
Marta about to make her pitch and woo the Dragons with her charm! She looks amazing!
A Favourite Dragon, Arlene Dickinson, goes off and tries the bike with attached Maya Cycle Trailer. Barefeet and all!
Maya Cycle Trailer in Action in front of the Dragons
This is so exciting and I'm so happy for Marta and MayaCycle. We still don't know the outcome of the show due to confidentiality reasons and Marta has been soooo well-behaved that she hasn't slipped a word... even through all my pleading and prodding for her to tell me!! Haha! All she tells me is that it was the scariest thing she'd ever done! So please, watch the show on Sunday April 7 at 8pm EST and it will be rerun on Monday April 8 also at 8pm. After the episode airs, there will be a section on the Dragon's Den website here http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/ where people can vote 'In' or 'Out' on each pitch, so please please vote 'In' for Mayacycle's pitch! Tell your friends! Announce it to everyone you know! I am sure you all have a cyclist friend or two! Join Mayacycle's Facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/MayaCycle and please visit their website http://www.mayacycle.com/ . The more people know about it, the better chance of Maya Cycle taking off!
Me and Marta out on a bike ride with our MayaCycle cargo trailers
Me and Marta manning the MayaCycle booth at the 2012 Vancouver Bike Show!
A HUGE Congratulations to Marta for being on Dragon's Den! Whatever the outcome may be, we will always be rooting for you! Go Marta go! Go Mayacycle!
This post is a few days late. As you know, coming home from a great vacation you just want to relax and rest and recover., and blogging was the last thing on my mind. And my long-weekend cycling trip to Galiano Island BC was just that, a great vacation!
First off, I would like to make a small correction from my previous blog saying that Galiano Island would be a great place to start for someone new to cycle touring. In fact, the island is actually very hilly. Rolling hills are constant and there was one hill that was extremely challenging. You definitely should have some cycling background to be able to tackle those hills offered by Galiano. Luckily, my friend Matt has enough experience with hills that he was up for every challenge we faced. As challenging as the terrain was, Galiano Island is a beautiful place, a perfect place for a getaway from big city life.
Day 0 - Friday Aug 3. Preparing, packing and first short leg of the trip
Having been on a cycling trip to Victoria the previous weekend, the packing and preparing was easier this time around. I am bringing the same things as I did on my trip to Victoria with the exception of not bringing my laptop as I knew I would not have access to power and wifi for most of the trip. This relieves me of an extra 5-7lbs of carrying weight. However, I did pack an extra t-shirt and a hoody for those cool nights and mornings.
The end of work day Friday couldn't come soon enough to start off the BC Day long weekend. Immediately after work I packed up all my gear into my trailer in which I would drive the trailer to Matt's parents' home where I would stay for the night so that we could start riding the following morning at the same time. Considering it was already 7pm in the evening, my best option was to take all the heavy stuff in the car, come back to my home and ride my bike unloaded. Once I had dropped off my gear and driven back home to ride my bike, it was starting to get dark so I had decided to take transit with my bike for the very first time. I rode to the closest Skytrain station and got on with my bike. I had never done this before and it was a good experience for possible transit rides with my bikes in the future.
On the Skytrain with my bike for the first time.
Arriving at Matt's parents' place, Matt had already arrived himself and is waiting for me. Matt also rode his bike and gear from his apartment to his parents' place so that we may start the ride together in the morning. We spent the rest of the night organizing our gear and doing last minute preparation for the trip.
Day 1 - Saturday Aug 4. We're off! The ride to the ferry to Galiano Island.
Saturday morning went off with a great start, a big breakfast made by Matt's Mom! I normally don't have a hefty breakfast before my cycling trips just in case the food doesn't sit well in my stomach, but who could resist a ham and eggs and biscuit breakfast?! Our ferry sailing was not until 1:50pm but we wanted to get on the road early to beat the heat so as soon as breakfast ended we were on our way.
My friend Matt and his bike. My bike and trailer armed with my Go Canada! flag in support of our Olympians
The bike ride to the ferry took us through Surrey and with a slight navigational error on my part brought us to Nordel Way in which we found out that bikes were not allowed. We had no choice but ride on this street as there wasn't much traffic. It was a short ride on Nordel and quickly we were on River Road on our way to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. Arriving in Tsawwassen, we had ample time before the ferry sailing so a quick lunch stop at the nearby Golden Arches allowed us to cool down from the heat before getting on the ferry. At the ferry terminal and to our surprise, there were so many cyclists awaiting to get on the ferry as well. I guess everyone else had the same plans as we had for the long weekend.
So many people opting to take their bikes instead of their cars for the weekend!
The ferry ride was slightly delayed as the ferries were having to deal with long weekend holiday traffic. But soon enough we arrive at Sturdies Bay Ferry Terminal on Galiano Island and we were off on our bikes once again. By this time it is nearly 4pm and knowing that the campsites may be filled to capacity with it being a holiday weekend, we decided that we should find camp as quickly as we can. Our destination is to Montague Harbour Provincial Park. No sooner than riding our bikes away from the ferry terminal, we quickly discover how hilly the terrain was. The road to our campsite was full of undulating hills and they seem to keep on coming as we get further into the island. Yes, the ride was challenging but it doesn't take away from the beauty of the waterside scenery and calming breeze. We did have to take a few breaks from pedaling as our loaded gear did not make the hills easier to climb. It was about 5pm when we reached our campsite and sure enough the campground was filled to capacity. Luckily, they had an overflow campsite for those coming with no reservation. It was in an open field that's shared amongst everyone coming in late and it was first-come first-served.
After a challenging ride into camp
We quickly set up our tents before heading out to look for food
Our campsite at an overflow lot shared by other campers
Our dinner for the night is at a nearby pub. We were both craving for some cold beer after a hot bike ride and when we heard that there was a bus that comes on the hour and takes campers to a local pub, The Hummingbird Inn, we didn't hesitate to join in. After a long wait for the bus to come, we finally get on and it turns out to be a most enjoyable bus ride with a very funny bus driver full of character. The whole bus was singing and playing along with tambourines and maracas to old tunes blasting on the radio. That bus ride alone was worth the wait.
Our awesome bus ride to the Hummingbird Inn
The Hummingbird Pub was a really nice pub that gave you that island feeling. The food was great and the atmosphere is what you would ask for in a popular local island watering hole. Unfortunately, this night the staff may have been overwhelmed by the amount of people because of the long holiday weekend. Our food came very late, but I will not dwell on that as we were in no rush and we had some good entertainment by a live duo.
Our live entertainment as we waited for our food
A few much needed drinks were had as we waited for our food.
Our pub night ended with another bus ride back to our campsite. It is about 10pm by this time and the fatigue and exhaustion has been setting in for a few hours now. The only thing left to do is succumb to the darkness and crawl in our tents for that needed sleep. Tomorrow will be another great day.
Our first day/night in the books. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Day 2 - Sunday Aug 5. Exploring the Island.
Waking up early the following day gave us a chance to explore our campground, Montague Harbour Provincial Park. It also gave us a chance to meet our neighbours who are experiencing the same things as we were and to make friends. The plan is to explore the island all day, take in the sights and sounds, and relax as much as we can.
Waking up to sunrise
As you can see from the pictures, Montague Harbour Provincial Park is indeed a beautiful place. I am glad we chose this location as our campground for the weekend. You can find out more information about the park from their website here Montague Harbour Provincial Park .
All through the day we rode and enjoyed the scenery. The road coming out of the park was a big challenging hill that we overcame with a few breaks on the way to the top. The day was getting hot and we were getting hungry, so the next stop would be for some food and some shelter from the sun. We found this at the Scoops Ice Cream & Burger Bar where we ate and at the same time I charged my dying iPhone at the nearest power outlet. Once we've had our food and had my iPhone almost all charged up, we wanted to look for a beach side location that had some shade and hoping for some cool breeze. Some locals recommended we check out the Bellhouse Provincial Park so off we went. Wow, what a sight! It was an amazing location at the southern part of the island. Here we could see other Gulf Islands and many vessels on the Pacific Ocean. It was where we rested for a while away from the heat and even had time to take a power nap. If there was camping allowed at this location, we would have certainly taken it.
It was truly an amazing place and we were content to stay here until it was time to head back to camp to get ready for dinner.
Once again we were craving for some cold drinks from a long day of riding in the sun. The Harbour Grill Restaurant provided this for us. It was only a couple of kilometers from our camp so that was very convenient. We had time to cool down a little at camp using the communal water faucet on site and I was able to wash up and change my shirt before going to the restaurant. That faucet was a lifesaver, it was the source of our drinking water, our shower and for washing our dirty shirts.
Thanks faucet! What would we have done without you! And check out those tan lines!
After our nice meal and drinks at the restaurant, it was time to wind down at the campsite. We spent the evening by the water just chillin and playing fetch with dogs that passed by with their owners. It was soon time for bed as we would be going home tomorrow. What a great day it has been.
Yes, that is indeed a dog fetching the largest log ever!
Getting ready for bed. My trailer nicely tucked under the fly.
Day 3 - Monday Aug 6. Going Home. These trips always seem too short.
Waking up way too early the following morning was not by choice. The whole campsite was awoken by loud screaming crows and it wasn't even 6am yet. These crows were absolutely persistent in their 'cawking'! Argh! I can hear other campers cursing inside their tents for being awaken so early in the morning. I took a video of the said crows so you have an idea of how our morning started.
Now that we're all fully wide awake, the only thing to do was to start packing up, and at least we can take our time and not have to rush. The ferry sailing isn't until 12:40pm so there is plenty of time to make it to the ferry. We decided we would get out of the campsite, head to the main town and have breakfast or brunch and get to the ferry as early as we can to avoid all the people that are also leaving the island. We packed up all our gear quick. Soon we would be on the road. However, neither of us were looking forward to pulling our fully loaded bikes once again over all those hills. Oh well,, we have plenty of time to take it easy.
Off we go riding out of our campsite. Thanks Montague Harbour Park, you have been very accommodating. No sooner than getting out onto the main road we see something amazing. As I pedaled on at a nice pace, I see a beautiful deer by the side of the road. It allowed us to ride by it and it didn't run away. I was literally 5 feet away from it until it finally got spooked and ran away. I was able to take a video of the whole encounter here: (If you are reading this blog in your email and not seeing the video link, you must go to the actual blog site)
After a few hill climbs we finally get into some downhill into town. It was such a great ride when most of the way is going downhill. And at this time of the day, the air is still fairly cool and there aren't too many cars! We arrive into town and just sat around at the Sturdies Bay Bakery and Diner. Both of us only had a danish for breakfast thinking we would have lunch later on before the ferry sailing. We spent most of our time at this bakery and from there we decided to buy our ferry tickets really early. We ended up waiting at the terminal for two hours waiting for our ferry to arrive. We didn't mind, there was still a lot to see.
Waiting for our Ferry
A couple of otters on a dock
Yes, that is indeed a baby seal!
After a few hours of waiting, finally our ferry arrive. And as expected, it was full to capacity. It seems that everyone on the whole island wanted to leave at this time. It was a good decision to come to the terminal as early as we did.
The ferry was packed!
The ferry ride was quick and soon enough we were unloading at Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. The weather had change significantly at this time, it has become overcast and almost chilly. We didn't mind the colder temperatures but the dark clouds seemed worrying. We had a quick stop at the nearby McDonald's to top up on water and have some needed lunch as our breakfast danish evidently was not enough. Here, I had decided to cover my trailer bag with a plastic cover just in case it rained on our way home. This would prove to be a great decision later on.
The ride was still over 40kms away to arrive at each of our homes and even though most of the way is flat, we will both have to tackle some more hills before we finally arrive at our separate destinations. The rest of the ride was uneventful until we got closer to the Alex Fraser Bridge, this is when it started raining. It rained and at some points it rained hard. This is another first, riding in the rain with a fully loaded trailer. In the back of my mind I wanted it to rain. It was something I have yet to experience. I have commuted by bicycle in the rain before, but not pulling nearly 70lbs of gear including bike. I wanted to test out everything I had whether they would hold up to the rain or not. Everything held up perfectly. The bike was a little dirty, the trailer was a little dirty, but other than that, there was no problem whatsoever. I was smiling the whole time it was raining.
When we reached River Road and Nordel Way, this is where myself and Matt would find our separate ways. He will continue on on River Road and I will make my way up and across Alex Fraser Bridge. This is the end of our journey. It was still raining as we make our stop to say our 'see ya laters'. We know it won't be long until we make another bike trip some other time some other place. But it was great to be able to share our experiences and especially great for me who has always done bike touring solo. Now I have someone to talk to and reflect with in the future.
The final leg of my journey is to challenge the bridge and all the remaining hills that I must climb to get to my home. As tired as I was and as hard as the rain came down, the smile never left my face. I knew I had another epic weekend of bicycle touring in my pocket, they seem to get better and better every time.
Finally home. Go Canada Go!
I arrived at my home as the rains let up and the sun started to shine again. My biggest reward will be a nice long shower and a lot of food!
GPS Tracking of our trip
A GPS tracking of our trip is created on my Everytrail account here GPS Tracking - Galiano Island . Unfortunately, my iPhone was at low battery most of the time as there was no power available at the campsite to charge up and I had to conserve my battery, so only the important parts of the trip were tracked.
Total distance travelled via Bike Computer: 140Kms
Total time on saddle: 8hrs 46mins.
Max. Speed: 67.5km/h Woohoo!
Avg. Speed: 15.4km/h
Elevation: Vertical up 1245meters, Vertical down 1236meters
Please check out the video/movie I made of one of my other Cycling Tours. The Kinsol Trestle.
