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Aug
15
Steveston cycle ride
Filed Under Life, Scenery, bike, riding | Leave a Comment
Steveston is a quaint village in the south west corner of Richmond that has some great cycling along the sea front; and cycling was the order of the day.
What to do on a searingly hot Sunday morning? Air conditioned mall? Nope. Relax by one of the numerous lakes around here? Nope. A 3 hour round trip on the dykes to the west and south of Steveston? Check!
Steveston as a settlement has been around since the late 1870′s and became renowned in the area for its Salmon canning. There’s still an historic cannery in the village, but it seems that today the big earner is tourism and, in particular, whale watching tours from the likes of Seabreeze Adventures.
However, this trip was more about 2 wheels and sight seeing rather than getting in to the local history. Steveston is around a 45 minute drive from PoCo, so bikes were thrown in to the back of the car as I certainly wouldn’t be riding there, as much as I love cycling. Rather than head downtown Lesley and I decided to park a few Km away near the west dyke recreational route. 
Which reminds me, these British Columbians adore getting outside whenever the sun shines. Walk, cycle, skate, board, whatever it takes to get mobile, BC’ers will do it. It makes it virtually impossible to live a couch potato existence here as one is just shamed in to activity.
Our route took us along the west dyke and in to the village proper. The views are, just like most views here, pretty spectacular,.With the mountainous northern vista’s to the beautiful blues of the Gulf of Georgia to the west and south, the scenery is the complete stress buster. 
Arriving in the village, the relaxed pace changed to serious speed as we’d happened across the inaugural Steveston Sockeye Spin. A multi-lap 900m circuit around the downtown area provided some additional entertainment before the ice cream stop beckoned – it was after all, very hot work watching the real cyclists.
Our ride continued along the south dyke until we decided to loop back and take a quick wander around the street market. The market is very much a farmers and artisans affair and I’ve never seen so many local organic coffees on offer in one place.
I can thoroughly recommend the ride, it can be as vigorous or as relaxed as one wants to make it as the route is flat, very flat and even though we didn’t tackle the complete dyke circuit, it was smashing morning out. I’m certain that we’ll be back to finish of the missing sections of dyke another day.
All the pics are on my Picasa site. Sorry iPhone/iPad users, the slideshow is Flash based.
Jul
24
A chance to get out on the Ducati in the brilliant sunshine led us to Stave Lake near Mission.
Lesley hasn’t been on the back of the Ducati since last summer when we took a couple of trip to Fort Langley on the old Albion Ferry. As the sun was shining we decided to head out to Stave Lake, just to check it out.
The journey was well worthwhile as we ended up at yet another stunning lake location within 40 minutes of home.
The site is part of the Stave River hydro-electric project and is essentially a reservoir that has a dam for generation, leading in to Hayward Lake reservoir and Ruskin Dam. The whole area seems littered with these hydro created recreation areas and people take full advantage of easy access to the water towing mainly speedboats to launches and simply chilling out on the lake. With the mountain backdrop it’s easy to see why messing about on boats is so popular here.
Bike wise, the Ducati performed flawlessly and there’s power to spare even with 2 up. 
The only downer about these rides is ending up at the destination in jeans rather than shorts. Having said that, it never ceases to amaze me to see so many bikers out in T-shirts and shorts. Maybe I’m just too risk averse (wimpy) to do it, or maybe I just know my limits.
Having chilled whilst others launched and landed their boats we headed back for a delicious Gelato at Matteo’s. The Dine Here reviews say it all. Great Gelato, great people.
Life in BC – brilliant.
Sorry iPhone and iPad users, the slide show is Flash, but you can view the full set of pics on Picasa
Jul
11
Road trip Day 4 – I only use awesome sparingly
Filed Under Scenery, Travel, bike, riding | Leave a Comment
The word awesome seems to be well overused in Canada. I’m not a great user of awesome, but Crater Lake fully deserved the superlative. It was indeed awesome.
Time to hit the road again. I followed the 138 to my next port of call Crater Lake. En-route I pulled over several times to take in the gorgeous scenery along the Umpqua river. With numerous curvy bits and enough straights to check out the views, the ride was pretty special. I even had time to think about all the stuff that’s not had a mention yet as well as “why on earth was this road built in the first place?” 
Anyway, on to the collected thoughts and musings of a chilled biker.
Large birds. I’ve been seeing plenty of eagles and probably other varieties of raptor, mostly just gliding over fields ready to drop on some unsuspecting meal.
Slapping Salmon. At one of my stops today I heard a slapping noise in the water. I waited long enough to catch a view of a Salmon leaping and slapping back in to the river. Wondrous.
Bikers wave. I can’t remember the official gesticulation for UK bikers, but the Canadian bikers acknowledgment travels across the border well. There’s probably a 95%+ success rate in greeting other bikers as we pass each other. Great camaraderie.
Bungees are a bikers friend – wind is a bikers sworn enemy.
Similar but not the same. The Pacific coastline that I’ve travelled reminded me (when I got to see it) of Devon and Brittany. My ride through the Umpqua river valley reminded me at times of Kamloops, with more rolling hills and probably a touch greener.
What ‘make/brand’ are those enormous yellow butterfly’s?
Peace. Despite the engine and wind noise, riding is peaceful. Someone mentioned to me that you’ll never meet a stressed biker. I’m starting to understand why.
Road trip. Is the whole purpose of a road trip to be a transient being? Surely that’s what a road trip is – being on the road just taking ion the sights, sounds and smells around you and feeling the trip through the road surface. Sure I haven’t stopped at all the places I could have, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t experienced anything. I’ve dipped in to other people’s stories as paths intertwine with both parties moving on knowing just a tiny bit about a stranger that crossed their path.
Ducati GT 1000. Until today I’d never seen another bike like mine on the road. Today I stopped to refuel in a small town called Crescent on the 97 towards bend. To my amazement another GT1000 owner had just finished refueling. He was from California, had had the bike for a couple of weeks and was heading back to San Francisco from Seattle. A rare moment of GT1000 togetherness.
I’m not a real biker. Even in the UK I was not a hardened biker. My longest ride in the 2 years of riding in Canada was to Harrison and back. Over the last 4 days I’ve covered some 1350Km (840 miles) and I think I’ve coped pretty well. Today I ached, the shoulders and feet in particular, but I’m not saddle sore or feeling stiff. I soon recover after a short break. Am I a real biker now? Probably not, but I’ve certainly improved.
Today’s highlight was without a doubt Crater Lake. I don’t tend to use the word awesome, it’s far too liberally spread about over here. However, today I am happy to use awesome as that’s exactly what Crater Lake is. So awesome that it needs video to start to get a sense of the splendour. It’s around 5 x 6 miles across, some 7-8000 feet above sea level and was formed after a volcano exploded around 7500 years ago. The ride up to the rim was fantastic. Snow still on the ground but not the road, the air tasted pure and fresh and the sunshine kept temperatures respectably warm. I was mightily impressed with just the appetizer, the main course was mouthwatering.
The video is Flash based so sorry to iPad and iPhone users.
Suitably awesomed out and chilled I left Crater Lake and head north. My overnight stop was to be Bend.
The full set of the days pics are on Picasa
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Jul
11
Road trip Day 3 – Sometimes good things just happen
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Road trip day 3 was a day of contrasts. From the spectacular Pacific coast to gorgeous rivers and finishing with a major cruise of the car variety. The day had it all. Sometimes good things just happen.
Having dipped in to road tip USA I decided to look in on a couple of places en-route to Florence. My early morning planning was thrown when I managed to miss both intended stops. On to Florence it was. At one of my road side photo stops another couple on a Victory pulled up, complete with trailer. It turned out they’d travelled from Edmonton, Alberta. Having made the trip before they’d decided to head inland as the coast was likely to remain misty with low temperatures. The seed had been sown.
The 101 stayed close to the ocean from Newport to Florence and the views, even allowing for the mist were simply stunning. It makes me wonder how much more impressed I’d be if I could have seen the full picture, not just the close up.
Lunch and a coffee in Florence led to my replan. California would now have to wait. The temperatures were too low to make for enjoyable riding and the mist was rolling in once more. I’d learned my lesson and the jacket and pants inners had been fitted, no more chilly riding for me. However, I wanted to chase the warmth and so I was going to head inland, my target for the day was Roseburg as it was within striking distance of Crater Lake.
I turned inland at Reedsport and within a few short miles the rugged Pacific coastline was a thing of the past, replaced by the beautiful Umpqua river. The other major change was the temperature. Things were looking up. My route, Highway 38 on to the 138 took me to Sutherlin. From there, a short sprint down I5 and I was at Roseburg.
I booked in at a Super 8 and the guy on the desk asked if I was interested in cars as there was an event going on downtown that evening. An hour or so later I headed in to town and boy, what a shock. 
This was Grafitti weekend. I was totally taken aback. Here I was in the middle of Oregon on the day that a massive cruise around town for 1965 and earlier cars was on. Sometimes good things just happen. Even though I’m a corporate treehugger, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying a real petrolheads night out.
So, the day really did have it all. Temperatures up to the 90′s F, more stunning scenery and metal mayhem to round the day off.
The full album of the day is on Picasa.
Jul
1
I’ve recently changed the commute. The second car has gone and in it’s place is transit and a scooter. It’s been a mixed experience, but on the whole a good one.
After a year of driving to and from Richmond I decided that I’d have enough of the line-ups along the Mary Hill Bypass and to get across the Queensborough bridge. A change was needed. It’s amazing how quickly one’s perspective changes. My final UK job involved a two and a half hour each way commute, not getting home until around 8pm. After a year of travelling to Richmond, I’m fed up with travelling for around 1 hour. Actually, another factor in the decision was the cost of running a second car.
Despite the cost of fuel being around 2/3rds of UK prices, when the maintenance and insurance are added in, the whole 2 car thing becomes a financial drain, or maybe more of a dollar diversion as the funds could be spent, saved or donated elsewhere. However, I wasn’t expecting to make the change quite as soon as I did.
My employer is moving from Richmond to Vancouver in November of 2010 and this was always going to be the prompt to review my commute. One weekend in May I decided that I’d sell the 2nd car. As the car was a manual transmission (we were a bifocal family with black and silver Focus’s/Foci?) and let’s face it, manual transmission and North America are 2 terms that don’t sit together comfortably, my thought was that the car could take an age to sell. So, on a warm Saturday morning I took a few snaps, and the Focus was duly put up for sale via Craigslist. I was not expecting to be car-less by the end of the weekend. First viewer, close to the asking price and that was it, no car.
So began a month of transit which became and still can be a slog. Life from Lesley to Loughheed or Braid Skytrain. Skytrain to 22nd St. Bus to work. The transit journey can be around an hour a a half, longer than by car, but at least I can sleep. During this time I developed a Plan B. Scoot.
I’d actually ridden my Ducati to the office a couple of times and as much fun as it was, the journey home was very heavy on the clutch hand as traffic could be very busy through New West. Wouldn’t life be easier with a scooter, no clutch and very manoeuvrable. Having decided to go for it I found myself torn between a classic Vespa and the modern Kymco Frost. In the end, the Kymco won out as I couldn’t justify the Vespa price tag and I managed to find a year old Kymco for a good price.
So, I now have options. The scoot’s a real hoot and I’m smiling on the ride. Not only that, I’m exploring other routes to work to keep me off the highways. My recent find has been River Road in Richmond. On a sunny morning, or late afternoon, the ride along the bank of the Fraser is wonderful, peaceful, scenic and a word away from the bustle of Highway 91.
I’ve changed the commute and it’s actually for the better as I’m smiling more and I get the chance to stop and take pics like the ones below.
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Sep
21
Sicamous
Filed Under Life, Places, Scenery | Leave a Comment
It was late in August and our first trip to the interior of BC was to Sicamous, about a 300 mile drive from Vancouver. Why Sicamous? Well, it’s a bit of a long story, but a couple of months prior to the trip I’d had a mail from someone I was at secondary school with.
You may be familiar with the web site Friends Reunited. Its aim is simply to get friends back together again. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. I received a mail from Belinda, someone from the same school, same year group as me. Her name was familiar, but I really couldn’t remember too much about her. Belinda it turns out. had lived in Canada for 28 years and was currently in Alberta, near Calgary. Having noticed that I was living in BC, she mentioned that she would be on holiday in Sicamous with her partner mid to late August, and how about meeting up. So, my thoughts initially were something like, “Okay, here’s someone I can hardly remember that I haven’t seen for over 30 years suggesting that we could meet up. Let’s do it.”
Plans were made and I headed off with the family to the Interior. The drive was actually a great part of the time away. It meant leaving the more urban lower mainland, heading along the Fraser Valley to Hope and then in to mile upon mile of nothing but mountains and rivers. Our route took us along the Coquihalla Highway past Merritt to Kamloops. Having spent many years in the safe environment of South East England, coming across chain-up areas, landslide warnings and gates that obviously close off the road really brought home to me that I was living in a very different environment. Once past Kamloops, it was back on the Trans-Canada Highway toward Sicamous – the houseboat capital of Canada.
We’d booked a bed and breakfast near Salmon Arm, and what a fantastic place to stay. The room was large, very well furnished and spotlessly clean. If you’re every exploring the area I can thoroughly recommend ‘The Inn at the Ninth Hole‘ The Dutch couple that run the inn are really friendly hosts and the breakfasts are wonderful. A major plus for me was that they source as much food as possible locally, a real sustainable approach to B&B.
And so to the meeting. Actually, things worked out really well. It was an opportunity to dip back in to school days, muse over the teachers and discuss the probability of hair pieces. Belinda is one of those people that flourished outside of the formal educational environment, or to put it another way, she bunked off school a lot. But, she’s carved a life out for herself and is enjoying the delights that Canada has to offer, and it really made me question “what’s a fulfilling life?”, particularly as Lesley and I continue to battle to either generate income from self-employment or find suitable employment (that’s a whole different story, particularly if I get on to the ever-increasing income gap in BC and how earning have actually decreased in real terms over the last 25 years).
We only had a short break due to other commitments, but we had a chance to get out on the Shuswap Lake on a couple of occasions and visit nearby Vernon. Standout moments. The sheer, mostly unspoilt beauty of the area. Witnessing the devastation being caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle as many, many tress are killed off. Experiencing tubing off the back of a speed boat for the first time (despite there being no photographic evidence of me having a go – believe me, I did, and had a great laugh). Weirdest feeling of the break. Five former pupils of a now closed Secondary School in Thurrock, Essex, UK stood on a beach on the Shuswap Lake. Somewhat surreal.
Thank you Belinda and Lavern – you were great hosts.
Sep
16
Celebration of Light
Filed Under Life, Scenery, Vancouver | Leave a Comment
Since 1990, Vancouver has seen an annual fireworks ‘shoot out’, normally between Canada, the US and China, the Celebration of Light. Each country has one evening to themselves and then there’s a grand finale evening. This years event took on a special significance as the finale also celebrated BC’s 150th birthday. It was in 1858 that this part of what we know as Canada became a Crown Colony.
The actual fireworks are set off from barges in English Bay, not far from downtown Vancouver. However, we’d been told that the area usually got very crowded. Someone suggested heading along the coast toward UBC as the views were pretty good and we’d have breathing space. We ended up at Locarno Beach and what a fantastic find. Great views of downtown Vancouver with the added bonus of memorable sunsets across West Van.It was one of those “That’s why we came here” moments. Sitting on a log on a beach, a warm west coast evening, people just relaxing, no trouble at all, watching a fireworks spectacular with the city of glass that is Vancouver as a back-drop. Simply gorgeous.
I took along my new ‘point ‘n click’ with super 10x zoom and started to play with the manual settings. Some of the pics turned out a touch dark, but overall I was really pleased with a number of the shots.
A mix of people, scenery and fireworks. Taken on Locarno Beach during the Celebration of Light.
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No fireworks on this set, just views on the beach.
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