Old Victoria

I made it a mandatory rule the we will not ride our bikes on our day off. Right out of the hostel I was jumping up and down, walking on my own two legs. The ground felt good but after walking for six hours I started to hate it. Walking was overrated and we all just wanted to get on the bike again.

The city was happening. There was big jazz festival that I did not have much time to explore for I was exploring the city itself. I walked around the bay and tried to see what Victoria was like. It felt different then Canada and for some few moments I thought I was in England. It could be because someone told me that Victoria was more English then the English.

Eventhough it was our day off, we needed to get some supplies. We needed to laundry and buy groceries. I also got a new back wheel for only $50! The guys took time off from their current repairs to work on my bike. I appreciated it and bought them a six pack for their troubles.

I also decided to go with sandals for the rest of the trip. Putting your foot into a wet shoe is terrible and I never want to worry about that anymore. I spent some money on som quality sandals to get my feet happy. Now I'm happy.

Victoria is a nice city and I hope to come back.

Where to now?

This must've been the worst day. No one got hurt but it was very close.

The day started really nice. The sun was out and beaming down. Then things went downhill from there. We had to take Highway 19, yeah bikes on the highway, all the way down to McDonald Provincial park. It was about a 65 mile ride.

Well here's the bad part. We hit a hugh stretch that was all downhill. At that moment I was just thinking, "Hey, my bike is pretty awesome. It's old and reliable." I hit about 35 MPH on the downhill and the highway started to turn to the right. There was a little sidewalk, barely able to fit our bikes, that I did not see. I went past it. But right before it, was this huge pothole. I was going to fast to slow down, I was too close to traffic to swerve out of the way, so I just hit that damn thing so hard my waterbottle flew out into the highway. Then I hear George hit that same one, his pump flew off his frame. I stopped a few feet after to see if the other two were okay. We recovered my waterbottle, it was on the shoulder, but as George was reaching for his pump a truck ran over it right in front of his eyes.

Hitting that pothole was scary. REALLY scary because if I didn't have that weight in the back of my bike, I'd have flipped over on the highway. The cars were already close, about a foot away from us sso I wouldn't have just broke my bike, I'd have broken my face. I'm still a bit shaken up by it so I'm just going to go slow on the downhills now :)

I thought everything was okay. I went ahead a bit. Everytime I made one revolution, my whole bike bounced. I saw that my front wheel had a big flat spot. It was unbearable to ride, but we still had a few miles to get to the next town. We found a bike shop thanks to a local cyclists and they said they couldn't fix it. I HAD to buy another one. And even worse, this shop didn't carry the wheel size my bike had because it was so old. I had to ride another three miles down the road on a broken bike to get another wheel which costs $170. The fellas at the shop were really nice but still, money money money. Then we went to Wendy's too celebrate.

We left and the next bad thing happenend. George found out that his wheel was starting to bound a bit too, but then I felt that even my back wheel was bouncing. That means I have to get a new back wheel too, which is even more expensive. The pothole that costs me $400.

The day got even worse. We decided to head to Chemainus to see the murals. Very hilly country but had some amazing views. I don't have any pictures because we were trying to get into camp before sunset. We didn't make it anyway because we had some faulty directions and signs that led us nowhere. We rode until 9:00PM, in freezing cold, to find the next campsite.

For the first time we had a fire going. We did not know why we didn't do this the earlier nights.

Just around the corner

Our longest ride, 74 miles. At first we wanted to cut it in half but once on the road, we got lazy and just wanted to keep going. Well we made it. Sort of.

Heidi had a rough time because she hadn't been eating as much as us. Then we made a rule. Everytime we cook, usually pasta and some random sauce, we have to eat at least three cup fulls. Its been working out great.

The ride was quite beautiful, especially when we ran into Oceanside. Exactly as the name of the town says, thee ocean was fierce and the wind was even fiercer. Lots of headwind made our 70 mile trip even worse. But we made it down the Rathtrevor Beach in one piece.

It was a nice campsite, a hiker-biker camp. It was just a big lawn with tables for anyone to camp. It would've been more fun if we had enough strength to meet more people. It was a very nice beach too with deer and bunnies running around everywhere.

Just a little water

With one day of camping udner our belt, we were ready to ride our first full day into another camp. We were all woken up by the rain. And man, it was raining. We broke camp as fast as we could and ate a bit of breakfast. We suited up in our rain gear, except George in his jeans and poncho, and tried to ride out.

We were pummelled by the rain. No other way to describe it. If there is anything worse then trying to climb a hill with a bucket of water being dumped over your head every 5 seconds, tell me. It was bad.

The sun came and we were glad until it started to rain again. We changed a bit so our new clothes got wet again. We headed to the campsite, Saltery Bay, in low morale. Until we got there, the campsite was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. A huge forest right next to the beach. Mermaid's Cove was beautiful and we sat there for an hour. Then it started raining again.

Recap: Finishing up Vancouver

The first day from the airport was only the first day of the actual. We decided to spend some time in Vancouver before heading out. It was a mere 30 more miles but there was lots of confusion with the direction.

We got lost in the northern end of Vancouver and I was glad that we did. The parks were so amazing, and bike routes were built in. The parks surrounded the bay so we stopped at the docks and looked at the boats.

The thing with biking is that I couldn't stop anywhere I wanted to take pictures. Most of the great view were from uphill but thats the thing, I had to get up that hill. My average MPH is about 4 going up hill and I'll using every ounce of my energy to do it. I'm not really thinking about pictures at the moment.

We took a ferry that went around the islands, quite a different view from our waters. Here everywhere there is another island to look at. Every island is filled to the brim with trees with a few houses strung out.

Now here's the bad part. I mentioned earlier that George's crank got stripped. He had to buy a new crank, bottom bracket, and new chainrings, totalling up to $140. We had to wait for about 2 hours so we got into our campsite fairly late. Not a good idea since none of us really were campers.

Camping was fun! and apparently I snore :( But everything went well. The campsite was ok, water, outhouses, nothing great but it did enough for us. We were exhausted with all the confusion.

Bottomless peanut bag

It's only a few days before we head to the airport for Vancouver. I think it is best to check my materials before we go, even though I die a little every time I see how much I spent on everything. First thing up, bike tools:

What a pain. Bicycles have too many specific tools that I did not bother to buy. Let's hope I didn't jinx myself.

1. Topeak Alien II multitool
a. Screwdriver
b. Allen wrenches
c. Knife
d. Bike levers (no match for my hands)
e. Torx wrenches
f. Itty-bitty pedal wrench
g. Spoke tool
h. Wrenches
i. Chain tool
2. Crescent Wrench
3. Worthless hand-pump
4. Lubricant (TriFlow)
5. Grease (TriFlow)
6. Spokes x5
7. Spare Tubes x2
8. Stolen chain links
9. Combination cable lock
10. Decked out Bike from the 80's

Next up is camping; oh boy will this be fun. I've never slept outside for a night in my life. Here's what I got:

1. Tent (3 person)
2. Sleeping bag (+40)
3. Sleeping pad with broken valve (Yeah I'm still taking it)
4. CampSUDS
5. Random assortment of eating bowls
6. Knifeforkspoon contraption
7. MSR Dragonfly stove
8. MSR fuel canister
9. ShamWOW (Yeah, I got one)
10. Nylon rope

I think clothing is pretty important. REALLY important actually. I brought lots of things, just in case that one opportunity:

1. Bicycle shorts x3
2. Bicycle jerseys
a. Short sleeve
b. Long sleeve x2
3. Unmentionables x3
4. Jeans
5. Pants
6. Sweats
7. T-shirts x3 (dark colors so I don't feel embarrassed)
8. Socks x4
9. Sandals
10. Shoes
11. Rain jacket
12. Light jacket
13. Rain pants (still looking for them)
14. Bicycle gloves

And here's the list of a bunch things:

1. Sun screen
2. Bug repellent
3. MSR camp towel
4. Travel toothbrush x2
5. Toothpaste
6. Safety pins
7. Sewing kit
8. Chapstick
9. Nikon D40 (with Sigma 10-20)
10. EEEpc laptop (with charger)
11. "Pay as you go" phone
12. Water bottle
13. Camelback (70oz)
14. Headlight
15. Tripod
16. Notepads
17. SD cards (2GB & 8GB)
18. Flash drive (8GB)
19. Bungee cords x6
20. Zipties x100
21. Duct tape
22. Pens
23. Ziplock bags
24. Handsanitizer
25. Useless C-bag that I used to transport everything
26. Nail Clipper
27. Sunglasses

I think that's about it. Riding 1300 miles, piece of cake.

Something is weighing us down...

Two days to go and it is the first time I ride out with full gear. Not smart, but I'm not worried. The ride went out without a hitch and I came back just in time for ice cream. Things certainly look bright for this trip. I'm not the least bit worried because I got two competent, VERY competent, people coming along to stop me from throwing rocks at any yellow jacket nests. My riding abilities? Not good, but that is no cause for alarm. I rode for a bit and decided it was time to take a break. I set the bike to the side and took some pictures before everything was packed up and shipped to Vancouver.

Having everything with me on the road was a new experience. I wasn't even out a good 10 miles but I felt this weird sense of security. If I wanted to, I would have sat down where I stopped and set up camp. It was a great feeling. I was no long encumbered by the time of day, the roof of my apartment, or the weather. It was wonderful.

Hopefully ya'll will catch my enthusiasm. I'd love for everyone to take some time and travel at just the right speed, not too fast, not too slow. Darn my optimism though, I know it will come back and jinx me.