Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 942Location: Little Addis Ababa
I'll be leaving for Vancouver in the early morning next Wednesday (10/17 ) with my brother. I thought we would do the prototypical two day. A 100 miler the first day and then the rest of the mileage the remaining day.
I really have no clue as to route (other than maybe taking the RSVP route).
Route?
Best stopping point?
Best lodging at stopping point?
Best lodging in Vancouver?
Depending on circumstances, I'm either taking the train back or riding over to Victoria and taking the ferry to Port Angeles. Any advice on the getting to the Victoria ferry is purely appreciated as well.
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MikeOD
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:06 pm
Joined: 04 Feb 2006Posts: 545
To get from Vancouver to Victoria you take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Sidney. There is a nice bike route/trail all the way from Sidney to Victoria, the Lochside Trail, which becomes the Galloping Goose near Victoria. It meanders a little bit but it's well signed and easy to follow, a very nice ride.
To get to Tsawwassen from Vancouver I rode across the Alex Fraser Bridge / Route 91 (has a sidewalk/bike path on the bridge), then rode west on River Rd. and used back roads (68th St. I think) to bypass Ladner. I don't remember the exact route, but it wasn't tricky.
Route 99 can also be used to get across the water to Ladner, and might be more direct then 91, depending on where you're coming from in Vancouver. But it's a major highway and goes through a tunnel under the water, and bikes are not allowed in the tunnel. There is a bike shuttle though, a van with a trailer that can carry 8 or more bikes. The pickup point is at Rice Mill Rd and Hwy 99, on the east side of the highway. It runs every couple hours or so, maybe more frequently during weekday commuting hours. I think it's free, but I didn't find out for sure. When I got to the pickup point I would have had to wait an hour for the next run, so I opted to ride the 20 miles around to the Alex Fraser bridge instead of waiting an hour to be driven a mile. Overall from UBC to downtown Victoria it was about a 70 mile day, including the 20 mile bridge detour.
I picked up a useful bike map of Vancouver at MEC on Broadway, and a map of Sidney/Victoria on the ferry.
MikeOD
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:20 pm
Joined: 04 Feb 2006Posts: 545
If you're banking on taking the train or bus back you might want to book in advance to make sure you can get seats, and spots for your bikes. It might be different in October, but in August I played it by ear and all buses and trains were booked by the time I called, 2-3 days in advance. I seem to remember something about the bike racks not being in service on the trains, requiring bikes to be boxed and checked as luggage. And on the buses at least, a limited number of bikes are allowed.
zuvembi
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:28 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 942Location: Little Addis Ababa
MikeOLD wrote:
If you're banking on taking the train or bus back you might want to book in advance to make sure you can get seats, and spots for your bikes. It might be different in October, but in August I played it by ear and all buses and trains were booked by the time I called, 2-3 days in advance. I seem to remember something about the bike racks not being in service on the trains, requiring bikes to be boxed and checked as luggage. And on the buses at least, a limited number of bikes are allowed.
Ah, good to know. I'll makes sure to get my arrangements sorted out sooner than later then.
_________________ When the revolution comes, we're going to need a longer wall
Eric_s
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:06 pm
Joined: 07 Mar 2007Posts: 1691Location: the dirty south
Def book in advance for the trains, but by "in advance" I mean at least 24h. The last times I've been on the train the talgo has been back in service, and that's the one with the bike rack for $5 extra.
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gsbarnes
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:11 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
The tunnel shuttle is free, or at least it was when I took it last May. I agree that the wait isn't really worth it, unless you start out in the Western portion of Vancouver (like UBC), in which case you want to time it right. The next bridge to the east (Portello? gah, I forgot, but the one next to the Skytrain Bridge) is the nicest of the crossings, but still pretty crappy.
Scratch that, the nicest crossing is to just take Skytrain across the River, get off at the first Surrey stop, then leave that craptastic town ASAP.
Vancouver bike maps (of the area, not the city) are awesome and worth whatever they're selling them for. Vancouver City bike maps are, I believe, free, and you get what you pay for. If you really want help with this, I have both in my box of maps, and I surely won't be using them any time soon.
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gsbarnes
Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:18 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
I haven't seen an answer to this one yet, either: Let's assume you cross the border at the Peace Arch crossing. You don't have much choice for getting out of town, but once you are out of town, you can continue north on 99A (I believe) into Surrey. This involves a large hill climb next to a freeway that spits you out in the previously-reviled suburban hell of Surrey. The main advantage here is that you're on pavement and you get to cross the Portello Bridge.
Your other option is to head west a bit, which is easiest done on the shoreline gravel trail. After a bit, you can head north to the Alex Fraser Bridge, and mostly avoid the hillclimb up to Surrey, or at least do it on a much nicer set of trails/roads.
This is all from hazy memory; best to get that Vancouver Metro bike map.
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Joined: 24 Jul 2005
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Location: Little Addis Ababa
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007
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