Glad you're enjoying the trip Shane! I'm just debating buying a car in Vancouver and driving it home...nice BMW 2 series I found here...will see what the final value comes in. Then a quick hop back to Toronto after this rotation. This thread did NOT help the cause...LoL Enjoy BC. Beautiful country out here. I'm in awe every time I step out of camp.
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Ride Report: 2020 BC
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
Day 12 & 13:
I have a cousin who was living on the island and a couple days ago they decided to move back to Vancouver. She is 6 months pregnant, has a 2 year old and a very active dog. Her husband was helping to unload the moving truck and happened to badly sprain his ankle while walking down the ramp. So her Mom calls me to ask if I could go over and help them finish the move in and unpack all their stuff. They live in North Vancouver and my sister lives in Richmond - if I wasn't riding my SV modified bike all around the city I would go crazy. The traffic can be pretty brutal especially if you have to use major bridges to connect from one area to another during rush hour times. Anyways, I spent the last two days helping them unpack and settle in. Had a nice family dinner there last night with my sis and her kids and good times all around. The bent right handlebar on my bike is started to grow on me. I can go from dork to stud in milliseconds now.
The husband who sprained his ankle is very active and does a fair bit of mountain biking and hiking in the mountains. I ask him for some cool places to see and run or hike and he gives me a decent list of places to check out. One of them is right next to the Vancouver Airport and not too far from my sisters. It's called the Iona Jetty and it's essentially a gravel/concrete pier that sticks out 4.1km into the Strait of Georgia, towards Nanaimo. There is another jetty that is 3.2 km which I think is beach sand all the way out, so I hope to have time to check that one out.
Before Covid, I was working out pretty much every day. In the 5 months since Covid, I've been now working long hours from home and have maybe worked out 5 times in total. Heading out to the Iona Jetty would be a nice easy flat run of anywhere up to 8km, which is perfect for my out of shape self.
As someone who like native plants, it was a pretty nice area of many marsh and sandy beach type plants. Lot's of cool flowers and tons of birds and butterflies out and about.
There's also some serious birder photographers who come out with their ginormous cameras:
Not very many people at this time and it's pretty straight!
Once I ran out to the end, I was greeted with this prize - I guess that's Nanaimo in the distance somewhere:
I was able to run almost the whole 8km without gassing out too much. Really looking forward to going on a few more runs and maybe a hike or two. This picture is at the very end of the jetty, looking back at the mainland and airport. Directly under the rising sun is the airport:
Because it's so close to the airport there are planes of all sorts flying over the jetty every few minutes. Despite this, it's actually very quiet out there:
I totally lost track of time and was an hour late to the dealership to get my new bars put on. I pulled in and they took my bike right away and had it all buttoned up in 90 minutes. The mechanic also found some issues from work the previous owner had done and sorted them out, so now the bike rides like a champ. I forgot to ask him about my clutch, but it seems to be fine now.
They even had one of the new Katana's there which gets me thinking about my next bike....
For the next week there's nothing planned. Maybe I'll have time to get out to the island, maybe I'll have time to go out on a day ride or two, or maybe I just stay in town and relax with family.
I have a cousin who was living on the island and a couple days ago they decided to move back to Vancouver. She is 6 months pregnant, has a 2 year old and a very active dog. Her husband was helping to unload the moving truck and happened to badly sprain his ankle while walking down the ramp. So her Mom calls me to ask if I could go over and help them finish the move in and unpack all their stuff. They live in North Vancouver and my sister lives in Richmond - if I wasn't riding my SV modified bike all around the city I would go crazy. The traffic can be pretty brutal especially if you have to use major bridges to connect from one area to another during rush hour times. Anyways, I spent the last two days helping them unpack and settle in. Had a nice family dinner there last night with my sis and her kids and good times all around. The bent right handlebar on my bike is started to grow on me. I can go from dork to stud in milliseconds now.
The husband who sprained his ankle is very active and does a fair bit of mountain biking and hiking in the mountains. I ask him for some cool places to see and run or hike and he gives me a decent list of places to check out. One of them is right next to the Vancouver Airport and not too far from my sisters. It's called the Iona Jetty and it's essentially a gravel/concrete pier that sticks out 4.1km into the Strait of Georgia, towards Nanaimo. There is another jetty that is 3.2 km which I think is beach sand all the way out, so I hope to have time to check that one out.
Before Covid, I was working out pretty much every day. In the 5 months since Covid, I've been now working long hours from home and have maybe worked out 5 times in total. Heading out to the Iona Jetty would be a nice easy flat run of anywhere up to 8km, which is perfect for my out of shape self.
As someone who like native plants, it was a pretty nice area of many marsh and sandy beach type plants. Lot's of cool flowers and tons of birds and butterflies out and about.
There's also some serious birder photographers who come out with their ginormous cameras:
Not very many people at this time and it's pretty straight!
Once I ran out to the end, I was greeted with this prize - I guess that's Nanaimo in the distance somewhere:
I was able to run almost the whole 8km without gassing out too much. Really looking forward to going on a few more runs and maybe a hike or two. This picture is at the very end of the jetty, looking back at the mainland and airport. Directly under the rising sun is the airport:
Because it's so close to the airport there are planes of all sorts flying over the jetty every few minutes. Despite this, it's actually very quiet out there:
I totally lost track of time and was an hour late to the dealership to get my new bars put on. I pulled in and they took my bike right away and had it all buttoned up in 90 minutes. The mechanic also found some issues from work the previous owner had done and sorted them out, so now the bike rides like a champ. I forgot to ask him about my clutch, but it seems to be fine now.
They even had one of the new Katana's there which gets me thinking about my next bike....
For the next week there's nothing planned. Maybe I'll have time to get out to the island, maybe I'll have time to go out on a day ride or two, or maybe I just stay in town and relax with family.
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I just upgraded to an iPhone 6 for this trip, so that's what I'm using for all these pics.
Priller
Well-known member
It's hard to know what'll be quiet these days, but my go-to when I lived in BC was the Pitt-Addington Marsh, north of Pitt Meadows. It's not challenging terrain, but the scenery is amazing with mountains on either side of the river valley. Lots of wildlife, too.
If you're looking for a twisty riding road, the absolute best in the area is the Sunshine Coast Highway from Gibsons to Earl's Cove. Once you get past Halfmoon Bay, the road is as good as any I've ridden anywhere. It's not massively scenic, though there are some views of the ocean and lakes, but the road itself is a perfect blend of slow-, medium- and high-speed corners with very little traffic in the mornings or on weekdays. You do have to take a ferry to get there, but it's incredibly civilised and motorcycles go straight to the front. It makes a great day trip from Vancouver. We used to ride it a few times a month in the summer, and it never got old. If you go, save any food stops until you see if the Ruby Lake Resort restaurant is open up at the top near Earl's Cove. If it is, the food is delicious and mostly locally sourced.
If you're looking for a twisty riding road, the absolute best in the area is the Sunshine Coast Highway from Gibsons to Earl's Cove. Once you get past Halfmoon Bay, the road is as good as any I've ridden anywhere. It's not massively scenic, though there are some views of the ocean and lakes, but the road itself is a perfect blend of slow-, medium- and high-speed corners with very little traffic in the mornings or on weekdays. You do have to take a ferry to get there, but it's incredibly civilised and motorcycles go straight to the front. It makes a great day trip from Vancouver. We used to ride it a few times a month in the summer, and it never got old. If you go, save any food stops until you see if the Ruby Lake Resort restaurant is open up at the top near Earl's Cove. If it is, the food is delicious and mostly locally sourced.
Thanks for this. I'll be making my way over to the island tomorrow and staying in Port Alberni for 2 nights, but will be with my sister and her kids in the van. This Sunshine Coast ride you suggested might be perfect next Wednesday since it will be my last day on the coast before heading home.
Priller
Well-known member
Just to be very clear (mostly because I'd hate to be responsible for you not being happy with your last day on the West Coast!), it's definitely not the Sea-to-Sky for scenery. There's a few good spots for photos, but the road is mostly back from the actual coast, so it's lots of trees. The appeal is fully in the incredible twistiness of the road, combined with decent asphalt conditions and relatively low traffic levels.
Should you decide to go, make sure you have a relatively full tank of gas on the ferry (there a gas station not far from the Horseshoe Bay terminal just off Hwy 1) so you don't have to stop in Gibsons (home of the Beachcombers - Molly's Reach is still there) or Sechelt. You'll have a crowd of ferry traffic behind you that you'll want to stay ahead of.
The road itself is amazing, with no nasty surprises or sneaky decreasing radius turns. If you see concrete barricades on the outside, it'll be relatively tight, and beyond that everything is fairly predictable.
I had a quick look, and apparently the restaurant at Ruby Lake Resort is closed for lunch these days, so a good lunch destination would be the Backeddy Pub in Egmont. They do a decent pint and burger, along with more ambitious fare, and have good views from their deck.
Let me know if you go. It's probably the single thing about BC that I miss most (though that's a short list), as you can probably tell. There is absolutely nowhere in Ontario like it.
Awesome - thanks for checking into the restaurant @ Ruby's. I have about 350km fuel range so I'll make sure I'm good before getting there. I like to ride among the trees - I've seen tons of big wide open scenery and will also be taking the Sea to Sky northbound back towards Lillooet on my way home so nothing to worry about me being disappointed. It's also only a short ride, so I'll probably be back at my sisters in Richmond for lunch!
Also just plotted out 3 days riding the twistiest roads within the interior of southern BC as I make my east.
Beachcombers - I used to love watching that show. Thanks again!
Also just plotted out 3 days riding the twistiest roads within the interior of southern BC as I make my east.
Beachcombers - I used to love watching that show. Thanks again!
Priller
Well-known member
Don't underestimate the ferry times. When you add the time before (arrive at least a half hour before sailing), it's close to two hours. That said, if you do an early boat and don't hang around anywhere, you can be back for noonish. You pay at the Horseshoe Bay end and just ride on for the return trip (keep your ticket).
What's your rough route for the trip back? A good friend piles on the miles in the interior with his BMW K1300S, so knows every road worth riding. I'll run your route past him to see if he would suggest any changes. I've done the low road through Manning Park to Nelson, and there are some awesome bits.
Thanks. I was actually looking into the travel times to go up to Powell River and then across to Comox and then loop around and back, but the ferry times just don't work from Powell River to Comox. You're right about getting back around noonish and that's what I was hoping for - something like:
7:30am leave Horseshoe Bay
8:15am arrive Gibsons
75 minute ride to Earls Cove + 75 minute ride back to Gibsons = 10:45am
11:00am leave Gibsons
11:45am arrive Horseshoe Bay
For my route home through the interior, I used the Destination Highways BC maps and came up with these 4 days. One day is just a loop starting and finishing in Vernon BC. A couple days are long, but that's fine with me - I have shorter days around them and am always on the road by 7am. Some roads I will ride more than once which is okay - it's just a rough plan for now since I had some time this morning. Thanks again
Day 1: Richmond to Cache Creek: Richmond to Cache Creek (700km/9hr)
Day 2: Cache Creek to Vernon BC: Cache Creek to Vernon (650km/8hr)
Day 3: Vernon BC loop: Vernon to Vernon (900km/12hrs)
Day 4: Vernon BC to Creston BC Vernon to Creston (900km/11.5 hrs)
Day 5: Creston BC to Calgary (rear tire @ GW: Creston to GW Cycle World (650km7hrs)
Iceman
Well-known member
Day four you'll be passing my father's house. He lives in the mountains along 3a, just south of the ferry at Kootenay Bay.Thanks. I was actually looking into the travel times to go up to Powell River and then across to Comox and then loop around and back, but the ferry times just don't work from Powell River to Comox. You're right about getting back around noonish and that's what I was hoping for - something like:
7:30am leave Horseshoe Bay
8:15am arrive Gibsons
75 minute ride to Earls Cove + 75 minute ride back to Gibsons = 10:45am
11:00am leave Gibsons
11:45am arrive Horseshoe Bay
For my route home through the interior, I used the Destination Highways BC maps and came up with these 4 days. One day is just a loop starting and finishing in Vernon BC. A couple days are long, but that's fine with me - I have shorter days around them and am always on the road by 7am. Some roads I will ride more than once which is okay - it's just a rough plan for now since I had some time this morning. Thanks again
Day 1: Richmond to Cache Creek: Richmond to Cache Creek (700km/9hr)
View attachment 44868
Day 2: Cache Creek to Vernon BC: Cache Creek to Vernon (650km/8hr)
View attachment 44869
Day 3: Vernon BC loop: Vernon to Vernon (900km/12hrs)
View attachment 44870
Day 4: Vernon BC to Creston BC Vernon to Creston (900km/11.5 hrs)
View attachment 44871
Day 5: Creston BC to Calgary (rear tire @ GW: Creston to GW Cycle World (650km7hrs)
View attachment 44872
My friends from Ontario have been passing his house all summer lol. I've seen several bike pictures of the lake across from his house.
Sent from my SM-A530W using Tapatalk
Priller
Well-known member
Thanks. I was actually looking into the travel times to go up to Powell River and then across to Comox and then loop around and back, but the ferry times just don't work from Powell River to Comox. You're right about getting back around noonish and that's what I was hoping for - something like:
7:30am leave Horseshoe Bay
8:15am arrive Gibsons
75 minute ride to Earls Cove + 75 minute ride back to Gibsons = 10:45am
11:00am leave Gibsons
11:45am arrive Horseshoe Bay
For my route home through the interior, I used the Destination Highways BC maps and came up with these 4 days. One day is just a loop starting and finishing in Vernon BC. A couple days are long, but that's fine with me - I have shorter days around them and am always on the road by 7am. Some roads I will ride more than once which is okay - it's just a rough plan for now since I had some time this morning. Thanks again
Day 1: Richmond to Cache Creek: Richmond to Cache Creek (700km/9hr)
View attachment 44868
Day 2: Cache Creek to Vernon BC: Cache Creek to Vernon (650km/8hr)
View attachment 44869
Day 3: Vernon BC loop: Vernon to Vernon (900km/12hrs)
View attachment 44870
Day 4: Vernon BC to Creston BC Vernon to Creston (900km/11.5 hrs)
View attachment 44871
Day 5: Creston BC to Calgary (rear tire @ GW: Creston to GW Cycle World (650km7hrs)
View attachment 44872
I think it would be very tight to get back for the 11:00 sailing, and would make a contingency plan if it doesn't work out. I don't think you'll be off the boat until closer to 8:30 (they're rarely bang on schedule), and there may still be some minor holiday traffic between Sechelt and Gibsons on your return leg. It's doable if everything falls into place, but the next ferry isn't until 1:15, so it's a bit of a gap. Maybe have some Beachcombers-related sightseeing lined up if you don't get back in time? Davis Bay is also worth a stop for some pics on the pier, as is Egmont, but you'd have to know early that you weren't getting the 11.
You could also do what we used to, and do a few laps back and forth between the Pender Harbour Golf Club (turn around in the lot) and just past Ruby Lake Resort (turn around at the park). It's simultaneously the best bit of the road and the quietest, and really rewards a few return trips as you learn the corners.
I've passed along your tentative routes to my BC riding pal, I'll let you know what he thinks...
Priller
Well-known member
So according to my BC touring connection, the route looks great with one exception: the road to Rossland and then Trail is amazing, near Castlegar. Unfortunately, it's bang in the middle of your longest day, so not sure if it would work.
Same guy offering that advice was up riding the Sunshine Coast today on his 999S, and said the road is still in great shape...
Same guy offering that advice was up riding the Sunshine Coast today on his 999S, and said the road is still in great shape...
ScorpionT16
Well-known member
Just got back home, may start a ride report to help those out west, I did alot of those routes and stayed at places nearby, all places I stayed at were really great and welcoming.
Also, near superior a lot of the trees have already started changing colour, so when your back shane, you'll be greeted to some nice views.
Also it feels alot colder here at night than out west, I rode the mountains a few times at night and 12-14c with a heated jacket I was comfortable, here, not so, I was freezing, it was 8c at night in Wawa 2 days back, and prairies are also fairly chilly now
Also, near superior a lot of the trees have already started changing colour, so when your back shane, you'll be greeted to some nice views.
Also it feels alot colder here at night than out west, I rode the mountains a few times at night and 12-14c with a heated jacket I was comfortable, here, not so, I was freezing, it was 8c at night in Wawa 2 days back, and prairies are also fairly chilly now
Shane, forest fire in Vernon today. This is what it looks like outside my house, which is 50 kms away from the fire:
Might not be cleared up when you pass through. I don't think you'll be any danger on the main roads, but air quality might be a concern.
Might not be cleared up when you pass through. I don't think you'll be any danger on the main roads, but air quality might be a concern.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be in that area Friday onward, so maybe it will be better by then.Shane, forest fire in Vernon today. This is what it looks like outside my house, which is 50 kms away from the fire:
Might not be cleared up when you pass through. I don't think you'll be any danger on the main roads, but air quality might be a concern.
Correction: The fire in Vernon is a small one.
The big one is actually in Northern Washington:
Will affect your ride through the Crowsnest Pass.
The big one is actually in Northern Washington:
Will affect your ride through the Crowsnest Pass.
You may need to keep that heated gear handy if you are doing the Rockies toward the east. Looks like we have a lobe of Arctic air reaching down and drifting east slowly. Colorado went from 101F to 33F overnight and of course gradients like that = sturm und drang. Still part of the adventure....I actually prefer chillier weather ( within reason ) to non-stop heat.
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