HORSESHOE BAY RIDE

Yesterday was a rest day and the first half was spent getting on the BC ferry and traveling to Vancouver to our friend Patti's house. After unloading the bikes and our luggage we headed to Granville Island for a bit of shopping, wandering about and just generally enjoying the scenery. The public market was amazing and we loaded up on fruit, veggies, bagels and a few VERY necessary delicious treats. 

HORSESHOE BAY RIDE

Today we rode to Horseshoe Bay from Patti's home in Richmond. We started a bit later this morning as it had rained overnight and we wanted to allow for abit of time for the roads to dry. . We met up with Howard Brown, another one of our Trilogy Bicycle Club snowbirds about 25% into the ride. He only rode with us for about 10-15 miles as he had to get home early.

In total we rode 56 miles and crossed four bridges (twice!). One of the longest bridge we crossed was the Lions Gate bridge. It is a suspension bridge and is a total of 5800 feet across. It crosses the mouth of the Burrard inlet and provides views of Stanley Park and North Vancouver. The building of it was originally funded in part by the Guiness family (beer).

We rode right into Vancouver, through several neighborhoods and into the city and down toward Stanley Park. Vancouver is a major bicycle friendly city with designated bike routes and bike lanes. Some streets only allow bikes to enter making it very easy to traverse the city.

Vancouver and surrounding areas are going through a renaissance and many older homes have been purchased and either reconstructed or torn down and rebuilt. These are not just a few homes but this seems to be going on all over the area. All of these homes come with very high price tags and the real estate market is booming. Some homes are lovely and others are overbuilt and what I like to call McMansions. Each to their own!

We peddled for about 8-10 miles on Marine Drive and were treated to spectacular views and homes ranging   from 3 - 14 million dollars. We arrived in Horseshoe Bay and had a quick little lunch as we watched the Nanaimo to the Horseshoe Bay ferry arrive.  Then we turned around and did most of the same route home. 

Regarding those hills we've been climbing - a few thoughts. What I realized today is that I have been gauging the climbs and percent elevation relative to Arizona riding. Then I thought, hey, most of the people that will be riding here in Canada next year are primarily from the North (USA & Canada) and are used to these types of roads and have lots of experience riding hills in their home towns. Those of us from AZ will just have to do a bit of training to get ready and then it is just one foot in front of the other. 

Overall this was a great day, and most of the car drivers are very respectful to cyclists, and believe me there are lots and lots of cyclists here.  

Tomorrow off to Kelowna to do a bit of mountain biking and visit with more Trilogy Bike club friends.