2nd annual epic bike ride: Vancouver to Hornby
Scroll down for updates along the way.
Photos from the ride
Okay, its a go! Our tandem is all tuned up. We are heading out for our annual bike ride to Hornby Island. I wrote about the process of convincing my wife to do this trip here.
We will do the ride in two days stopping at Qualicum Beach first day which is about 75 km from Vancouver. The total mileage will be around 12o km one way. The real tough part is getting to Horseshoe Bay in the morning with the bikes loaded down.
My wife and I will be riding with our daughter Saffrin and with her friend. I will ride the tandem with one of the girls and they will take turns riding my mountain bike which I have equipped with road tires. Much easier to ride on the tandem for a little break. Anita will ride a touring bike loaded down with bags both on the front and back racks.We did the ride last year, so everyone knows they can do the mileage.
Update August 10: a Vine post from the start of the day at 6 am shot by Silke who is a friend of Saffi.
We made it to Qualicum Beack-km 72 in our ride to Hornby Island. Everything went well, except one pannier jumped off in West Van when I hit a little bump. Tough part of the ride is getting to Horseshoe Bay in the morning. The hills on South West Marine drive are challenging with the bikes loaded down with panniers on the front and the back. Everyone did well and we arrived with time to spare.
There was a little rain in Nanaimo, but it was cooling. Worst part of the ride is out of Nanaimo before we can get over to the old Island Hwy, particularly just before Nanoose Bay where for some reason there are a lot of big pickup trucks pulling trailers that seem to go to close to our little part of the road. We made Qualicum Beach in about 4 1/2 hours of riding. We left the West End of Vancouver at 6 pm and had lunch at 2 pm at the Beach Hut! Everyone has passed out now having a nap and we will head out for a little meal in a while.
Update August 12: We made it to Hornby Island.
We had a very comfortable second day of riding. We left Qualicum Beach around 9am and had breakfast at a little place around 10am. This part of the ride in all on the Old Island Hwy and is pretty relaxing with good shoulder to ride on. There are also some long sweeping descents that are really sweet to ride.