Ride With Me On My Vancouventure

Last weekend I took a quick ride to Vancouver. On the map it’s just a short distance, most of which is a ferry ride to the mainland anyway, so it didn’t look like a big deal. In the end, it included a good 200 kilometers both ways, so I got good and tired when I returned to the property in Qualicum Bay, on Vancouver Island.

The reason for my trip was to see my parents. Since they live in New Zealand and I in Mexico, we don’t get to see each other every weekend. So it’s even more ironic that they happened to go to Mexico for a conference just when I wasn’t there. However, we tried to be accommodating on both sides, so they booked their flight to have a day-long layover in Vancouver, and I pedaled my bike over to see them. Another reason, though no lesser by any means, was to make my first real-time encounter with a fellow Steemian: @edouard, an administrator of Steemit Dreamit lives in Vancouver, and we arranged to meet up the night before my folks arrived.

The weather-forecast predicted rain for the entire weekend, but fortunately it was only cloudy, windy and generally cool. All right, I didn’t have to worry about sun-strokes, and during my breaks I kept having this nagging feeling that I should jump back into the saddle as quickly as possible, as the clouds were hanging quite low. So ultimately I didn’t spend too much time enjoying the scenery, though I did try out some short-cuts on alternative routes. To the largest extent they turned out to be pleasant country roads, albeit not shorter one to the highway.

The first leg of my ride took me to Departure Bay in Nanaimo, where the ferries leave for Horseshoe Bay, just North of Vancouver. It took me 3:30 hours to cover the nearly 70 km distance. The ferry ride was a welcome long break, where I indulged one of BCFerrie’s famous salmon salads. On the other side I was greeted by high winds and evidence of rain. But no water was falling from the sky, so I set out quickly to make the most of this unstable weather. Horseshoe Bay is almost Vancouver… but not quite. Before reaching the Loins Gate Bridge, I had to ride through the steep ups and downs of the low-road following the coast, and then cruise through the ritzy neighborhood of West Vancouver. Eventually, after a good 93 km ride I checked into a hostel downtown, took a glorious hot shower, and relaxed with a fancy beer. Then it was time to meet Edouard.

Edouard lives around Main Street. Interestingly, that part of town is nowhere near the city center, but a bit off, South of the World Fair Science Center. It’s a cool neighborhood, with some incredible murals. Okay, I keep saying this about murals in general, so let me specify: Murals in that area are not only to be found more densely than in any other place, they also tend to be enormous, often spanning over entire corners, and most of all interesting! Walking around Main street and 15th is a lot like visiting a gallery. But it gets better!

I can’t remember what I expected from meeting another steemian, but hanging out with Edouard turned out to be a lovely and very memorable experience. We didn’t do much, really: had a beer in a park, walked around the neighborhood, and sat down in a pub for some delicious poutine and some more wonderfully local brew. But our conversations went all over the spectrum of exciting topics: from robots to fasting, from ancient cultures to the inner workings of steemit, and from spiritual animism to the recently held mural festival in that area. So that explains all those amazing wall paintings! In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that they are the best I’ve ever seen, in such a dense area. I took some pics, in spite of the darkness that had fallen around us, but I’d have to return and pay those murals the proper attention they deserve.

The next day I went to pick up my parents at the airport, and then we spent the day together. We did a bit of sightseeing, went out for some tasty lunch, but ultimately focused on each other. In the end we hung out at their hotel-room in Richmond, just having long talks over a bottle of wine. The next morning they took the airport shuttle to catch their flight, and I set out to ride back. Instead of taking the Sky-Train, I took advantage of the early hour emptiness, and rode my bike all across Vancouver.

Making use of a wonderful bike map, I took a non-motorist bridge to Vancouver, close to Cambie street, and then followed Ontario street to the Main street area to have breakfast. The neighborhood seemed quaint with trees planted in the middle of intersections, and front-yard food gardening, as can be seen in this photo:

Getting to Edouard’s neighborhood, I realized how early it still was. All the craft bakeries and indie cafés were still closed. Oh no! So I set out to take a couple of mural pics in the early daylight. But then I ran across JJBean: a coffee-shop that was open at 6:30 a.m. with people hanging out in front of their screens. Just what I needed! So in the end I spent a good hour and a half in there. I probably could have stayed much longer, but eventually I realized I was still in Vancouver, and had most of my ride back home ahead of me.

Taking the bike-trail along False Creek, and eventually through Stanley Park provided some more cool views. Then once I crossed Loins Gate Bridge, I opted for the highway, so I didn’t have many more scenic views, and yet more cool gigantic murals. But the weather was once again gloomy, windy, and cold, and I just kept riding and riding.

My adventure wouldn’t have been complete if I hadn’t gotten soaked in the end. In the last 30 minutes of my ride, as I was about to arrive, the rain caught up with me. I arrived cold and wet on the property, so I used some hot water from the tea-kettle to make the cold solar shower a bit less uncomfortable. But looking back at the 200+km bike-ride and the wonderful time I spent with my parents and Edouard made it a wonderful experience with memorable moments I would repeat in a heartbeat.