5/30/09 Segment 6: Victoria to Sidney Vancouver Island. Ferry to Vancouver.
Pretty mellow day today. After that monster ride yesterday we were real happy to have a kick back day for travel. The hostel was pretty crazy at night what with a lot of the younger kids rolling in around 1am. We were in a row of bunk beds, 8 in our section, and 5 kids rolled in a bit on the inebriated side. Needless to say that they were a bit noisy getting settled. I ended up putting about four sheets of TP in each ear just to take the edge off of everyone’s snoring and movement.
Did a photo walk early this morning, staying along the warf and the government buildings in the old downtown district. Victoria is a very beautiful, cosmopolitan city, very much reminiscent of cities in Europe. A staggering amount of people commute on bike, and we were told that Victoria has the highest per capita bike riders in the nation.
The weather is stll stunningly beautiful. It’s much different than the rainy, fogged out, socked in place that I was in many years ago. Never had good luck with the weather here……until now. After my photo walk, I tried to get in my daily dose of Skyping, but hardly anyone was home. I even called the local time and weather number in Hudson just for a hoot!
Got some breakfast at a local café, eating out on the sidewalk while people watching, and then back to Hostel to get our gear back together and get on to the ferry. We were directed to a bike trail. Actually a rails to trails gig. It ran for the full 24 miles from Victoria to Sidney, right up to the ferry crossing station. It was absolutely fabulous. Imagine the bike and hike trail up on the east side of the valley, but just spectacular, with the coastline on your right side nearly the whole way. Couple that short ride with the cloudless blue skies, and it made for a very memorable spin. And the amount of people out on their bikes was really mind blowing. It was as if the whole city was out riding.
Made it to the ferry for a 3pm crossing. Nice boat ride, with some impressive sights of the Sound as we skirted along the US border in the waterway. Got off at a Godforsaken place called Tsawwassen. It’s a flat spit of land, very much like something along Key West……But off in the distance are the snow covered Canadian Rockies. I remarked to Ryan how strange it was to call a place like this boring, what with those snow capped peaks way off in the distance. We’ll soon be riding in those buggers!
Hit a golf course 19th hole grill and pub to get some dinner and watch the Cavs loose again. No more powder in the air, taking imaginary pictures, and just plain strutting the talk with NO walk.
Met a really nice guy at the campground, Ray, who is a masters cyclist, and racing in Victoria in the morning. We let him park his van in our campsite and bs’d with him for a while about all his riding and the riding routes he and his teammates do in the southern BC area. He showed us on the map of the route we should do up to the Banff-Jasper area, and it was exactly the route we were planning on doing. Imagine that…….got one right! He lives in Kelowna, and invited us to stay with him and his wife when we get up there next week. Even turned us on to a mt bike ride on an ancient RR line that crosses 20 some trestles – sounds like an awesome day on the dirt.
Back at the campground now, and it’s a real dump compared to the places we’ve stayed at thus far. This is more like a trailer park in Ravenna than a camping area in BC. I mean there’s cars and trucks up on blocks……I ---- you not! Well, I guess everywhere has their Ravenna, and Tsawwassen is BC’s! Next stop……Hope, BC. Late………Pete
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