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 The people responsible for putting all those bike signs
on the road.
Victoria to Duncan via Ferry
Tuesday, June 14th 38 miles riding This morning started out with beautiful weather, the ride out of Victoria was very nice experiencing very light rain a couple of times on the Galloping Goose Trail/Lochside Regional Trail. The night before Norman gave me instructions to head north, but somehow we managed to miss a turn. We stopped for directions and soon got back on track. We left Victoria without having a WS host for the night, but by lunch time we had a welcomed reply from Josh who lived just past Duncan.
By mid-morning we reached Brentwood Bay which was only 15 miles (after getting lost) and took a sea-bus to cross the lake into Mill Bay, with Duncan another 15 miles or so, we had been told to avoid going directly on the roads, which had a lot of heavy traffic of loggers carrying lumber to be processed with very little shoulder to ride on and also we would avoid a lot of climbing.We were in a great mood, it was beautiful 50+ degree weather, we were sitting high atop the sea-bus enjoying the sandwiches we had bought that morning at a Farmers Market. |
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After the sea-bus we rode north passing several small towns but once we reached Cowichan, we had to stop to have an afternoon snack. After lunch our bodies were stiff, Carmen's knees were hurting, my calf on my left leg was very tight, I had taken a couple of pain killers but it was not enough, it was painful to peddle,all that was keeping me going was our destination for the night.
About 2 hours later we finally made it into Duncan, my last half hour was using mainly my right leg to do all the work because of the tightness on my left calf. We got a little lost as the Google directions took us to a dead end and none of the 3-4 people we asked had ever heard of the street we were looking for. Finally with the help of Siri we were able to do a hard uphill climb to get to Josh's house, his house was in a very secluded neighborhood with his house being at the end of a gravel driveway. What an awesome house it was, vary artistic large house with large exposed beams and a wonderful basement/media room. We met Josh and rode our bikes around the back of the house into his garage/basement and unloaded the panniers and a bit later rode back into town to get some items for dinner , this time with shortcuts from Josh's recommendation.
That night we sat around the dinner table telling stories of travels where we had been and places we wanted to go. Josh wife was also with us that night, she told us of her planned four month trekking of New Zealand with friends.
That same night with us was Graham, he had been on the road for months, his tour began in London, he headed east, pass all of Europe , months in China and down Southeast Asia. From there he flew to Alaska then down the coast to where our paths crossed on Vancouver Island. From there his plans were to ride down the California coast, through Mexico, Central America and eventually all the way down to Ushuaia which lies at the southern tip of Argentina. He did not like labeling his trip as " around the world" because he was not going in a circle but more up and down each continent.
Even though we both had pain today we had a very nice day and were happy to be on tour together.
About 2 hours later we finally made it into Duncan, my last half hour was using mainly my right leg to do all the work because of the tightness on my left calf. We got a little lost as the Google directions took us to a dead end and none of the 3-4 people we asked had ever heard of the street we were looking for. Finally with the help of Siri we were able to do a hard uphill climb to get to Josh's house, his house was in a very secluded neighborhood with his house being at the end of a gravel driveway. What an awesome house it was, vary artistic large house with large exposed beams and a wonderful basement/media room. We met Josh and rode our bikes around the back of the house into his garage/basement and unloaded the panniers and a bit later rode back into town to get some items for dinner , this time with shortcuts from Josh's recommendation.
That night we sat around the dinner table telling stories of travels where we had been and places we wanted to go. Josh wife was also with us that night, she told us of her planned four month trekking of New Zealand with friends.
That same night with us was Graham, he had been on the road for months, his tour began in London, he headed east, pass all of Europe , months in China and down Southeast Asia. From there he flew to Alaska then down the coast to where our paths crossed on Vancouver Island. From there his plans were to ride down the California coast, through Mexico, Central America and eventually all the way down to Ushuaia which lies at the southern tip of Argentina. He did not like labeling his trip as " around the world" because he was not going in a circle but more up and down each continent.
Even though we both had pain today we had a very nice day and were happy to be on tour together.
Carmen - Today was a beautiful ride, having it rain lightly on us gave us a new experience. The Cowichan Valley area is simply beautiful...the row of colorful boat houses on the bay were so simple and beautiful....much more personality than the grand yachts we have seen. There is beauty in simplicity....because the eye can see the personality of the owner. I realized today that we do not have enough time....enough days to do all that we had planned. I took a picture of Robert standing next to the Kayaks....because one of the items to do that was suggested to us by Robert's friend, Mark, was to ride a Kayak. We also rode past the turn off to go to the Butchart Gardens....one of the items that was on my list of "to do". I imagine that the gardens must be beautiful and it would take me hours to walk and see everything, so we decide to keep riding so that we can make it to our destination for the night. When we reach "The Magical house". we are greeted by our host, Josh. His home is a very special place, one that any child would have loved to grow up in. A beautiful colorful Origami wind chime with a thousand and one paper cranes hangs in the big living area. Later I find out that it was made by our hostess as a graduation present for their son, creating the art piece was much like our tour....an act of transition from one stage of life to another. The act of letting go of our loved ones is a hard one.