The Final leg of the Vancouver Island Ride

After spending the night at the Art and Soul B & B, (with a marvelous dinner at the
"Rocking Horse Inn Pub" -- very, very, English, don't you know!) we took off for Victoria by Sag-wagon as this was my day off from riding. I was the designated "Driver" as Mo had been crawling at 10-15 miles per hour, keeping an eye out for me and coaching me all the way.(One quite amusing incident occurred as I was riding by Mo(the coach), she called out to me telling me to drink water. As she called out, another cyclist passed me and immediately took out his water bottle and started drinking!!)
Arrived in beautiful Victoria with the old English-style Buildings and Hanging Baskets of the most colorful flowers,and of course great PUBS. "Suds" Blumenthal was in his element!! We were hosted again by Mo's family for the 2 days that we spent in Victoria.
Took 2 great rides through Oak bay and Cadboro bay, which were spectacular, riding along the water past small-boat harbors, beautifully landscaped gardens and great houses with incredible views of the ocean and the Olympic mountain range across the water on the mainland USA (Olympic Peninsula WA.) We stopped at a lovely cafe along the water and next to a fishing pier and watched the action while we had a bite and wonderful coffee.(By the way, the coffee bars and the motel room coffees were outstanding especially when compared with the US motels!!)
Left Victoria in the afternoon after taking the Ferry to Port Angeles WA and then started the final 60 Kilometers. Drove to Lake Crescent, a Sapphire-Blue half-moon lake to knock your socks off, and then rode along the Sol Duc river with fast-flowing waterfalls and through Red Cedar, Hemlock, and Maple forests to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, where we spent the night in a cabin. Soaked in a natural "Sulfurous"hot tub to help my hard- working legs and joints recover after a long uphill ride, and to calm Mo's frayed nerves!!
The Last stretch was back to Lake Crescent (Mostly Downhill) where we found a
great campsite on the edge of the lake where we set up camp for the night to sleep under the stars SANS tent. Some terrific neighbors gave us firewood for a lovely campfire; had dinner with a delicious bottle of red wine, given to us by another friendly tourist we met at a B & B in Trinidad and celebrated our wondrous Vancouver Island adventure.
I must comment that Mike's Black Mountain Bike was fantastic allowing me to climb some very difficult hills,and behaving beautifully on the Down-hills and what's more NOT ONE FLAT TIRE!!( Averaged 33miles/54 kilometers per day and 14 days of riding) Also, the weather was perfect all the way (no rain, never too hot, no strong wind, and when there was a breeze it was behind me!) I also want to thank all who sent encouraging e-mails and Blog-comments and to say we had a ball doing this
great ride.
CIAO from Joe and Mo.

ONLY 100 CLICKS (KILOMETERS) TO GO !!

Campbell River is a most delightful town -- very pretty, clean, with wide streets,
spectacular vistas of ocean, snow-capped mountains,and sail boats in quaint small harbours. We spent two nights in CR., and for my "rest" day from riding, took a ferry
to nearby Quadra island, where I did a 20 mile ride!! (Not very restful as the Island
roads were somewhat "Rolling"). Visited the Lighthouse that we could see from our motel in CR.
From CR the return journey Southward began. Once again the trip to Courtnay was fabulous as I had the wind behind me; the weather was as clear as a bell; the ocean could not have been any deeper blue, and the road was less busy as the Holiday weekend traffic was gone.
As we needed to get some more miles to complement the Northward trip, decided to try and camp at a lake called Lake Cowichan . However, the road there turned out to be a 60 mile per hour "Route 1" type highway with Loaded logging trucks, the Lake was overcrowded,
the campground was not pleasant, and "The Irish Pub" was CLOSED.So the sagster stuck me back in the van and we went back to Chemainus to the same Motel as on the Northern ride (a 45 mile day).
Today we left Chemainus(which is famous for the large murals around the town) and trekked Northward again to go to a marvelous B and B called the "Art and Soul" which is owned by an artist couple who do Pottery.However the
return trip was done so that we could revisit the Fairwinds golf club restaurant which serves THE BEST STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING in the world!! not to mention the fact that it also has my favourite SUDS on TAP!!. The ride was beautiful as we took a side road via a small "point" to get to the restaurant and then to the B and B.
Tomorrow we will return to Victoria for a few days to spend some time with Mo's cousins.I will then do the famous "Galloping Goose" bike trail which I believe is about 30 miles long.Will report to you from the road when we complete the last "leg" of the 760 Clicks.
Till then,
Ciao (from the "bikester and sagster )

Chemainus to Campbell River (" Half-way ")

We spent the night in Chemainus (where I soaked in the "hot-tub"); and then had a deserved "Pint of suds" and shared a wonderful Reuben Sandwich with the "Sagster"(who had her deserved "Tin and Jonic").Started to send e-mails and working on the blog and unfortunately "GLITCH-CITY" arrived and spent a frustrating time trying to fix it but to no avail. Decided to leave it till the next stop. The following morning we took off for Qualicum Beach which was another approximately 45 mile leg.
A side trip along a small country road (to try and avoid the traffic, which was plentiful) took us to an ocean-side golf course where there was a fabulous restaurant, which served an excellent "Pint of Bitter" and the best "Sticky-toffee" pudding!!. However, the sagster missed the turn-off to the "Fairwinds" golf course (thank goodness for cell phones) and that delayed our lunch, which made everything taste even better especially after the extra miles of rolling hills!!
Got to Qualicum Beach and found a lovely Motel with a Dutch motif; and a nice restaurant attached; a pool for Mo to swim; and a small bar where I could get my suds!! A good breakfast was enjoyed and we then headed out for Courtnay/Comox.
This leg was somewhat tough as there were quite significantly tough and steep rollers plus lots of traffic and many areas of narrow bike shoulder; did have a deer cross in front of me and another behind, very nonchalantly and paying no heed to the plentiful traffic.
Finally got to Courtnay and drove 3 miles to Comox to a FULL town and no accommodations. So back to Courtnay and a small clean motel BUT with no WiFi availability! So, that delayed the communications again. (All this time the weather has been great around 65-70 degrees, partly cloudy and no remarkable winds. The road, however, is a main road communicating these towns, although not the Highway,
it is like our route 1 , but with much more traffic).
Across the road from the motel there was a great "Pub" which made up for the lack of WiFi !!
Following morning we took off on the next leg to Campbell River which was the most pleasant trip so far since the first days' ride. The journey was pleasantly rolling and the last about 10 miles there was a great section right on the coast with terrific views of the ocean, the islands in the estuary, and the snow-capped mountains of the Mainland, some of which were covered with magnificent clouds. We got to C.R. and
found a great harbourside pub "Riptide" to quench both the sagster's and the rider's thirst. Going back tonight for dinner & to try their "Sticky Toffee Pudding"
We now have reached the Half-way point and the next leg may be unscheduled as we may trek further north especially if the weather holds and if the road conditions are as nice as the last session. Will keep you informed if the computer and WiFi behave.
Till we meet again.

CIAO (from the Bikester & the Sagster.)

Victoria to Chemainus Ride

The Northward journey started with a loop ride from Southeast Victoria to the city and back. The ride was incredibly scenic passing along the coast and seeing the mainland USA (Olympic Mountain Range) across the water, and passing through beautifully sculptured lawns of private homes and Golf courses, while riding along the water under avenues of big Maple trees.
We then took off for the Northward journey!! This was a most fascinating experience --
being escorted by two motor cyclists( Mo's wonderful relatives) who took us along the
Highland trail. This was characterized by riding mostly on small TRAFFIC-LESS roads'
through thick forests, along magical bodies of water(lakes,Ocean inlets,) and scenic views from high mountainous viewpoints.
BUT the key to riding these marvelous roads was the number of CLIMBS that I had to scale: These were category "Umteen" on the Tour De France scale of measurement!!
However the beauty was worth the effort!!
After the climb we went across the Malahat Highway, which is the only connection between Victoria and the Northern Island, so the "Sagster' took me in the sag wagon to the ocean-front road to to continue the ride. Continued the journey over rolling terrain again with View-points galore to reach Maple Bay, where we took a "wrong" turning that naturally led us to a most beautiful "Pub!!" The stop allowed me a fine pint of "Bitter" and some victuals to replenish the expended energy and give the Sagster a chance to relax from the stress of keeping me in check.
The final leg landed us in Chemainus (a small coastal town)after approximately 45 miles of riding. Tomorrow we are going to view the many murals for which the town is known, and then head on to the next adventure.

On the Way to Vancouver

<


<


We are off!!(on the road to Vancouver)!
We started out from Inverness, after packing our reliable old "Shakespeare"(our minivan) with my 2 bikes and our camping equipment, and headed out to Highway 101-- with our first stop UP the Pacific coast to Trinidad. Of course, on the way we passed through my favorite ride on the West coast, namely, the Avenue of the Giants!! I had to get on my "mount" and ride the Avenue Northwards (against the wind) which limited my average speed to only 30 miles per hour!! JUST KIDDING!! JUST KIDDING! My "Sagster and Coach" kept a close eye on me as usual. Just a spectacular ride as expected, and added to the mileage I have to make up to complete the 760 K's on the Island. Arrived in Trinidad at a delightful B & B overlooking Trinidad Bay where we spent the night.
Then we drove up the coast (route 1) to Gold Beach and then Florence (bringing back memories of my prior rides DOWN the coast in 2009. Now we are inland in Washington
(Olympia) and head to Vancouver, probably tomorrow, to spend some time there and then to the Island to ride the coastal route.
Until the next episode,
CIAO !!

The "Mo and Joe " ride begins.

Here we go again on to Vancouver Island to ride a total of 760 Kilometers(K's)
If you received the brochure you will notice that the total mileage on the island is less than the 760K's!! -- so -- I will be doing the "extra" mileage on the way up to Vancouver starting with the first leg going to Tomales from Inverness. The scenery on the way there will have to compare with that on Vancouver Island as you can see on the accompanying snapshots. The Island ride, as outlined, will cover 592 K's(370 miles) and the rest will be in California and Oregon some of which we have ridden before.
The first ride as I mentioned will be 44K's (27miles) and the next ride will probably be in Oregon -- will keep you posted.