"Fogust", Mike said. Fogust indeed! In fact, it was Fogust in Julyvember. You know, that month between Fogust and Junuary. Yep, it has been one of those summers thus far. From our house, to the waterfront, the temperature can be 10 to 20 degrees different. We had some heat in July, but only about one week's worth. In any event, at least the weather has been stellar for just about every event ride we've done this year. And we've done our fair share again this year.
We'll missed the Ride the Muse as it will no longer be sponsored. That was the toughest ride we did last year. However, this year's Ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC and Party (RSVP) win's top toughest ride honors for this year thus far. We (Bruce, Shelly, Lisa and I) even think it was the toughest ride we've done yet. That's because we faced 25 mph headwinds traversing Skagit Valley on day one. We rode over 110 miles that day, climbed in AND out of Snohomish Valley and faced the sawtooth profile of Chuckanut Drive. Last year we complained about Chuckanut and even called it names "F@#kanut Drive" (thanks Bruce S.). This year, even in the heat of the day, we relished it as it relieved us of the incessant pounding of the wind. We climbed, eight climbs to be sure, but we also glided the scenic descents and were able to recover. There was no such solace in the wind. One had to actually stop and dismount to catch any sort of break. The wind was heinous and relentless.
Our troop consisted of Bruce's wife Kathy, son-in-law Kyle, daughter Allison and grandchild Everett. Kyle and Allison rode but Allison had to abandon day two due to . . . let's just say equipment issues and leave it at that. We all had lunch together in Arlington at our favorite burger joint and motored on. Lisa and I cruised into Bellingham and headed straight for Boundary Bay brew pub. We had our well deserved and well earned savory beers as well as a succulent hummus plate. Then it was off to the hotel to shower and regroup with the rest of our troop Kyle soldiered on for day two and made it to Vancouver by 2PM. Lisa and I made it by 2:38 while Bruce and Shelly, well, made it a TAD later.
Fun was had by all recounting the journey at dinner both nights. And, I want to personally thank Bruce S. for the wonderful dinner meal in Vancouver, BC. Thank you Bruce! The sable fish was . . . delish. May the wind ALWAYS be at your BACK and may the trail rise up to meet you. Bruce ended up having to replace his entire . . . tire due to a rather horrendous gouge (can't remember which day). Luckily, there was a service repair vehicle moments away and he got it all, as my father would've said, "squared away".
We (consisting of Lisa, Shelly and I) also tried something new this year. Daring and bold and carbon footprint conscious, we rode home from Vancouver, BC. We're town mice, not city mice. We visit the big cities, but we're far more comfortable just living in our little town of Port Angeles where almost everything is within walking distance. So, the idea to ride through Vancouver across the Fraser River, twice (north and south forks), unassisted by 'Dan Henrys" seemed a bit daunting at the time. But hey, I'm a map guy. So this should be easy for me, right? Yeah, but add my wife and our friend Shelly and a heap or two of doubt and we gots ourselves a good ole fashioned ad-venture!
This particular adventure wasn't so straight forward as one might think. We had a busy city to traverse, a few rivers to cross and a couple o' ferries to catch. So I did my research. I wanted to avoid the George Massey Tunnel (GMT, not to be confused with the Canadian tax of the same abbreviation) as it involved catching yet another means of scheduled transportation, a "free" shuttle service. University of British Columbia has collaborated with Google and put together rather awesome website that serves the greater Vancouver cycling community and visiting cyclists as well (http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/bikeways/planner.htm).
It will map your route from one given point to another using various criteria you can input. Least hills, shortest path, bicycle lanes/routes, greenest, least congested route, etc. are all filters you can enter to determine which route gets generated on the map. AND, you can export it as a kml file and print the directions. Be sure to check your ink supply before trying to print it at home instead of the office! I ended up having to write them down on a piece of paper . . . with a pen. I know, right?
I chose this website over some of the others like Bikely.com or MapMyRide, etc. because they were all rather random and somewhat anonymous and who could I sue if something bad happened along a given route? Just kidding! I looked at some of the routes others posted on those sites but couldn't be sure they were do-able by bike. How do I know if some joker in a car turned on his/her GPS and routed an impossible route for cyclists just for spite? Anyway, the UBC/Google site gave me satisfactory detail and info to calm my anxiety. Like I said, I wanted to avoid the GMT crossing but to do that added about 20 miles to our route. After riding over 180 miles in two days and listening to the sole two women I'd be leading I wisely decided that the shortest distance made the most sense.
The Cycling Planner had a link to the GMT which gave less than clear directions to the shuttle service pickup site on the north side but did give a schedule that I ultimately misread. Hey, I was thinking about allot of things . . . to think about . . . and stuff! I read the schedule as every hour on the hour except noon. I didn't think we'd be getting there any later so I kind of missed the part about not having any southbound service at 2PM. So sue me! (no, don't, not really please). The northbound service was every hour:thirty on the hour:thirty, except noon:thirty and . . . I wasn't really paying attention to that one because it didn't affect us since we were heading south.
But, the ferry service at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal does operate every hour on the hour. I still haven't figured that one out yet as it takes 1:35 minutes to cross. They must be using four(?) vessels. Anyway, back to the shuttle at the GMT, we left Vancouver around noon and followed my handwritten directions to the shuttle service pick up on the north side of the GMT. Oh, and, I chose this route because I was able to use Google Earth's "Street View" to actually traverse the part where we pass the signs that are posted along the road that takes us directly to the place where shuttle picks us up. You can actually read the signs in Street View.
Lisa, Shelly and I got there at 1:38. There're benches and a big sign with the shuttle service hours of operation (which I neglected to read clearly yet again). Luckily the shuttle driver drove up and dropped off a single bicycle rider from a northbound transit just a minute or two later. He asked us if we knew there was no shuttle service until 3PM. "Umm, er, no", we said. We (Shelly) immediately tried to bribe the guy with a 20 spot. Inevitably he capitulated and we got through the tunnel to the other side (but you didn't just read this part, understand?). He totally saved our bacon! (you didn't just read that either, okay?). From there, we headed on to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen and caught the 3PM ferry (schweet!).
When we got to the other side, we headed straight to the Stonehouse! Ya kinda gotta take a left and then a right once you cross the bridge over the terminal entrance road. Anyway, it is our (Lisa and I) favorite endpoint for the Lochside/Galloping Goose trail. We also like the Sooke Bay Inn(?) at the end of the western extension of the Galloping Goose. We grab a late lunch and . . . a beer though I've yet to get too excited about ANY Canadian beer. Unfortunately, they're a bit like Belgium in that regard. We take our time and head straight south on the Lochside Trail all the way to Victoria where we end up staying at the Empress for the night. We arrive at sunset. Another stellar weather day and night on our trek. We clean up and bop out to the Banker and Bard Scottish Pub for some liquid refreshments and entertainment.
The next day consisted of breakfast, trying to find Shelly a top and catching the 3PM ferry home. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the Canadian ferries DO NOT serve beer? Yeah, apparently, their crossings are too long (over an hour) and since most of their passengers drove onto the ferry, they found it unreasonable to serve beer and/or wine. Bummer! Even the Coho doesn't serve beer. They'll sell you liquor via the duty free service on board, but cold beer and wine, not so much. So, you can purchase a fifth of whiskey or vodka or scotch and . . . and what? Well, you get my point.
And there you have it. We traversed the daunting route from Vancouver, BC to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. Now Lisa and I can catch a couple of ferries, a free shuttle service for cyclists and cross a few bridges to downtown Vancouver from little ole Port Angeles and back without use of a car. Mass transit and bicycles only please. Pretty cool. We'll be trying this again in the near future to watch some Canuckle-headed hockey games for sure.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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