CCCT 2012 - May 14-20

 Monday, May14, we finally managed to get away at 10:50 AM and headed for Belwood, ON, a small town near Kitchener-Waterloo where we planned to spend an evening with Beverly's son, Clayton and family who live there as she wanted to leave her car with them for the summer. I had to unpack one of the bike boxes that we had packed most of our panniers in so that I could add my bike tools as they would be confiscated if I tried to carry them on to the plane. When we opened the trunk we discovered "Serbio" who had stowed away in one of the bike boxes. I found "Serbio" on the highway in Serbia while cycling across Europe last year and had rescued him. He accompanied me all the way to the Black Sea and returned home with me. He is now an honorary Canadian. Well what could we do! We couldn't send him back home or leave him behind! He would just have to come along with us for the rest of our Cross Canada Tour.

We had a lovely visit with Beverly's family and friends in Belwood and even found time to go into town where we bought ham, tomato, cheese, lettuce and mayo sandwiches at the local convenience store and found a lovely spot by the lake to have a picnic.

We flew out of Waterloo Airport on Tuesday, May 15, with WestJet to Calgary/Vancouver. In addition to our airfare, $321 each, we also had to pay 3 x $50 per bike box and $50 for the overweight bike box that we had packed most of our panniers in plus $20 for the extra box  plus taxes for a total of $248.60. Had a bit of a scare going through pre boarding security as the X-ray machine picked up some strange looking metal objects in one of my front panniers which I had to carry on board with me as there wasn't enough room for them in the extra bike box. Turned out it was the tent pegs!!! They let me take them on board as I didn't seem to present a threat to on board security. Whew!!!

We arrived in Vancouver at 10:00 PM after leaving Waterloo at 7:00 PM including an hour's stopover in Calgary. So, after doing the math I figure it only took us 2 hours to fly from Waterloo to Vancouver??? Go figure. We deplaned and proceeded to "Oversize Luggage" to collect our bike boxes. After a short wait they were dropped off by the baggage handlers and were found to be all in good shape. Beverly's daughter, Brandy, soon arrived and helped us wheel our "luggage" out to the taxi stand. An airport security person got on her walkie-talkie and called for a "Disabled Person" van which arrived a few minutes later. We had a bit of a struggle getting all 3 boxes in the back of the van but by putting the middle rear seat down we were eventually able to get all our luggage on board. It was a half hour ride from the airport to Brandy's downtown apartment at Denman and Barclay which cost $40 plus a $5 tip for a very patient driver. It was now going on 2:00 AM Ottawa time and both Bev and I were quite exhausted as was Serbio for that matter. He made himself comfortable in Brandy's bed!!!

We spent 3 days in Vancouver and during that time we had a picnic at English Bay which is a short 2 block walk from Brandy's apartment. We also unpacked and put our bikes back together. We had had to take the rear fenders off both bikes; the front racks off Bev's bike; remove the pedals; loosen the handlebars and remove them. After removing the wheels and deflating the tires they were ready to be packed. On Thursday, May 17, we decided to go for a bike ride around "The Sea Wall" which is also a couple of blocks away from Brandy's apartment but first we had to get the brakes on Bev's bike adjusted and rent a bike for Brandy. Fortunately there are several bike shops on Denman a short walk away from where Brandy lives. After getting the brakes adjusted and the tires pumped up on both our bikes and renting a bike for Brandy we were ready to go riding.

Friday, May 18, Bev's friend, Aprille, picked us up at 10:00 AM and drove us out to Whistler with stops at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls on the way. We saw a mother bear with her 2 cubs along the road. There are signs posted all along the road warning people not to stop to take photos or feed the bears. It was a very long day especially for me as I'm not used to doing so much walking. Aprille had packed several sorts of sandwiches, curry puffs, drinks, etc so we were able to enjoy a delicious picnic after visiting Shannon Falls.

 

Saturday, May 19, I was up quite early (6 AM) in order to load our panniers, etc on our bikes. We planned to take the bus to Horseshoe Bay and the ferry from there to Nanaimo. We were ready to go at 8:00 AM and made our way to Denman and W. Georgia to wait for the 257 Express bus to Horseshoe Bay. The first bus to come along was FULL so we weren't able to get on. The 2nd one was a slow bus and the driver told us another Express would be along in 6 minutes so we let it go. While we were waiting for the 3rd bus to come along 2 other bikers turned up. They decided to go to the previous stop to get on ahead of us. We were a little ticked off about their rudeness since by now we had been waiting almost an hour. Sure enough the next bus to come along was FULL and our 2 rude bikers had managed to get their bikes on the front racks. We waited for a 4th bus to come along and luckily the bike racks were unoccupied. When I tried to put my bike on I couldn't get the front wheel clamp to fit over my front rack so the driver wouldn't allow my bike on as it was not safe. He was worried my bike might fall off and damage the bus!!! While I was struggling to get my bike on the front rack the girls had loaded all our panniers on the bus. They all had to be unloaded!!! We were pretty frustrated by this time and so decided that we would be better off to cycle to Horseshoe Bay. We said goodbye to Brandy and set off for Horseshoe Bay at 10:30 AM. After crossing over the Capilano Bridge we arrived at Hwy 1 but weren't able to continue cycling as there was a "no bikes allowed" sign. I had learned my lesson in France so I wasn't about to take a chance here in Canada. While we were stopped at the side of the road trying to figure out which way to go a "good samaritan" pulled over and being a cyclist herself was able to point us in the right direction. Just around the corner there was a ramp to get on the bike path that would take us along the highway all the way out to Horseshoe Bay. I had dressed for riding on the bus and ferry so soon had to take off a layer of clothing as it was a lovely sunny day with no wind at all. We arrived at the ferry at 11:40 AM and were able to get on the 12:00 PM ferry sailing for Nanaimo after paying $14.95 each and $2.00 each for our bikes plus a "fuel surcharge" of $1.40 and port fee of .30 cents.

After getting off the Ferry we cycled up several rolling hills to 5112 Hammond Bay where we are presently spending a couple days visiting Beverly's childhood friends. Total distance cycled was 31.47 kms in 2 hrs 36 mins at and average speed of 12.09 kph. Some of the hills were quite challenging especially since our bikes were fully loaded. Tomorrow we set off for Cobble Hill near Duncan to visit with Al and Shirley Hardy.

Bev and Roly