A bleary eyed beginning. Its about one am on the 7th and I can't sleep so I'll try and re-hash the last few days for friends and family. It started out as a trip up and down the Sunshine Coast, but that changed after I found out about the fact that the Provincial Parks in Canada close on the 1st and oh hey, that's when I was heading out.
So as anyone who knows or loves me knows, I am stubborn. So, I thought, what the hell, I got this. So I headed out on a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. Easy ferry ride, no problems and I was super stoked to be on the road. I got to the campsite after an easy ride with some awesome downhills and walked my bike around the giant yellow "CLOSED" gate and proceeded to make camp. Everything was right with the world until it came time to sleep. After I made dinner and got into bed every sound echoed in my ears. It was eerie being alone in a huge campground. At a certain point I just decided to put my ear plugs in and play ostrich. It worked like a charm and I woke up the next day feeling well rested. That being said, I decided that I didn't want to spend 5 days with similar sleeping arrangements and opted to explore the San Juan Islands in lieu of the Sunshine Coast. I would say it was a wise decision. I pointed my bike South and headed back to Langdale for the ferry and another ferry, then Nanaimo.
So as anyone who knows or loves me knows, I am stubborn. So, I thought, what the hell, I got this. So I headed out on a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. Easy ferry ride, no problems and I was super stoked to be on the road. I got to the campsite after an easy ride with some awesome downhills and walked my bike around the giant yellow "CLOSED" gate and proceeded to make camp. Everything was right with the world until it came time to sleep. After I made dinner and got into bed every sound echoed in my ears. It was eerie being alone in a huge campground. At a certain point I just decided to put my ear plugs in and play ostrich. It worked like a charm and I woke up the next day feeling well rested. That being said, I decided that I didn't want to spend 5 days with similar sleeping arrangements and opted to explore the San Juan Islands in lieu of the Sunshine Coast. I would say it was a wise decision. I pointed my bike South and headed back to Langdale for the ferry and another ferry, then Nanaimo.
So when I arrived at the ferry, I had just missed it, as in, I could see it in the harbor. There is nothing quite as disheartening as seeing a raised ferry ramp and an empty parking lot. Consequently I ended up hanging out for about 2 hours and would end up missing my desired ferry in Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Apparently this is standard ferry happenstance. This doesn't strike me as the most efficient of travel, but you know what, I'm not going to suggest that there are bridges constructed all over the beautiful countryside, so ferries it is. While waiting a woman from Holland rode up who was absolutely laden with gear. It turned out she had been to Alaska and was carrying around several large jackets and boots. She looked at my load disbelievingly and commented on my lack of gear. I in fact think I have a little too much. I couldn't send home enough of my jackets from Vancouver, and I plan on getting rid of some stuff once I reached hotter climes. (For those curious, I will post a gear list later, but its too later for that type of thought)
After getting on my first ferry I realized that my options for accommodation in Nanaimo were 1) bike in the dark for an hour to a campground or 2) pay out the nose for a party hostel so I put a line out to the Vancouver polo folks for a place to stay via FB. After a rather amusing thread I had a place secured and set off for a friend of a friend's house with vague directions and no map. Whee! Turns out it was super easy to find and after a little wandering I met up with Jesse, my host for the evening. He had brought borscht makings and we got to making soup. While it cooked we headed down to the nearby pub for a drink and surprise surprise, my bank card wasn't working. This was disconcerting but I wasn't terribly worried as I had a back up emergency card in my pannier. I fished it out and came up with *half* a credit card. It had broken down the middle, But the magnetic strip was intact. So I taped it up and crossed fingers it would work. After several emails, I found out that my card had been blocked thanks to home depot and that I had a new one coming in the mail, to my home, in California. Not very helpful. But I got it sorted out and went to the ATM, where it was denied. Yay! Several more emails and it was "whoops, i forgot to unblock for ATM use." Thanks. I never ended up trying the soup as I was so hungry that we went for quicker and potentially more filling food options. I do regret missing the borscht...
Jesse was a great host and we had some really rad conversations. I really appreciated him telling me about his experiences growing up male regarding repression of emotions and feelings. It may sound weird, but I had finished reading a really great book called "Real Boys" by William Pollack, Ph. D where he talks about his work with young boys to younger adults and to hear first hand, rather than from text, made everything I read more real. I cannot fathom what growing up male in our society is like, but I met some really rad parents in BC and have some rad parent friends back home and I appreciate the work they are undertaking.
After getting on my first ferry I realized that my options for accommodation in Nanaimo were 1) bike in the dark for an hour to a campground or 2) pay out the nose for a party hostel so I put a line out to the Vancouver polo folks for a place to stay via FB. After a rather amusing thread I had a place secured and set off for a friend of a friend's house with vague directions and no map. Whee! Turns out it was super easy to find and after a little wandering I met up with Jesse, my host for the evening. He had brought borscht makings and we got to making soup. While it cooked we headed down to the nearby pub for a drink and surprise surprise, my bank card wasn't working. This was disconcerting but I wasn't terribly worried as I had a back up emergency card in my pannier. I fished it out and came up with *half* a credit card. It had broken down the middle, But the magnetic strip was intact. So I taped it up and crossed fingers it would work. After several emails, I found out that my card had been blocked thanks to home depot and that I had a new one coming in the mail, to my home, in California. Not very helpful. But I got it sorted out and went to the ATM, where it was denied. Yay! Several more emails and it was "whoops, i forgot to unblock for ATM use." Thanks. I never ended up trying the soup as I was so hungry that we went for quicker and potentially more filling food options. I do regret missing the borscht...
Jesse was a great host and we had some really rad conversations. I really appreciated him telling me about his experiences growing up male regarding repression of emotions and feelings. It may sound weird, but I had finished reading a really great book called "Real Boys" by William Pollack, Ph. D where he talks about his work with young boys to younger adults and to hear first hand, rather than from text, made everything I read more real. I cannot fathom what growing up male in our society is like, but I met some really rad parents in BC and have some rad parent friends back home and I appreciate the work they are undertaking.
Anyway, back to bikes. The road out of Nanaimo started off mellow, single lane of traffic with an adequate shoulder and then quickly turned into four lanes of stress. The speed limit was only 80-90 kph (50-55ish mph) but it seemed like folks were going a lot faster and while there was a nice shoulder, it was strewn with road detritus making granny-gear uphill progress wobbly. It eventually cut inland and then I just had to deal with logging and mining trucks on narrow roads. I tried to turnoff whenever possible and was met with appreciation to ignorance of my presence, but after one mining truck almost crowded me off the road it was no more mr nice biker and defensive cycling took over. Luckily it was a short distance to another ferry to Salt Spring Island where I was assured to be able to catch the next sailing on the other end. My destination was Sidney, and if I could make it, Victoria, to meet up with a BC friend for post wedding party shenanigans! The ride through Salt Springs was nice minus a killer hill straight off the bat. But I powered through and the screaming downhills made it worth it. I LOVE biking downhill, and not because its easy, because I like to go fast. It make me so elated sometimes I just want to yell wildly while in a full tuck with touring gear. Cars flying past me? Makes it that much more exiting.
Then I hit the head wind.
After biking in place (it seemed) I realized that there were quite a few cars passing me going the other direction. This, for you non-ferry familiar folks basically means a ferry has arrived and cars are unloading so you better get to the ferry quick. Cue me sprinting with touring gear, and then sprinting uphill with touring gear. I came around the bend, could see the ferry, went around another bend into the harbor and arrived to the ferry dock *right* as the ferry was pulling away. Literally. I could have thrown a rock at it with my eyes closed and not missed. An old man came up to me and said he thought for sure I was going to try and jump the ramp, that's how fast I came screaming around the corner. Sigh.
Then I hit the head wind.
After biking in place (it seemed) I realized that there were quite a few cars passing me going the other direction. This, for you non-ferry familiar folks basically means a ferry has arrived and cars are unloading so you better get to the ferry quick. Cue me sprinting with touring gear, and then sprinting uphill with touring gear. I came around the bend, could see the ferry, went around another bend into the harbor and arrived to the ferry dock *right* as the ferry was pulling away. Literally. I could have thrown a rock at it with my eyes closed and not missed. An old man came up to me and said he thought for sure I was going to try and jump the ramp, that's how fast I came screaming around the corner. Sigh.
Since I missed the earlier ferry I ended up having to use a local cafe's WIFI to look for a place to sleep in Sidney rather than carouse with my friend Jackie. The rest of that evening was uneventful, it being a flat and quiet bike ride for several km after getting off the ferry. So here are some of the photos to finish things up. I'll get to the San Juans tomorrow.