Woke up in the beautiful city of Victoria today. We arrived yesterday via ferry yesterday and took the short ride from the ferry landing to the Chateau Victoria Hotel. I'm not here to do hotel reviews, but it is without a doubt the one of the nicest hotels that I have stayed in. Huge multi room suites and wonderful staff. This morning breakfast was on the top floor surrounded by bottom to top glass windows looking out on the inner harbor.
We started our ride today on the Galloping Goose Trail. It passes within a short block from the hotel and took us from the inner harbor through the dense inner harbor through the city to the outskirts of the city. I should have talked photos of the path because it was so much of a pleasure to ride, safe, well maintained any heavily used by the morning commuters. Maybe that is one of the key indicators of a good bike paths. If you can design a set of interconnecting paths that commuters would prefer to use than climbing into a car, then you will have a successful system.
Our ride today was, by our touring standards, fairly short and involved a 30 minute ferry ride. We have 10 ferry rides scheduled for this trip and this one was number 3. The Galloping Goose Trail took us 4 miles from the start and our route took us off the trail on to well marked residential streets toward our ferry almost 15 miles from the start. At 7 miles the path turned into a tree covered winding dirt path which many of our riders were looking for an exit back onto asphalt roads while the rest of us found the path to be pretty fun, it not challenging. If I was to route the ride again, I would have had an alternate ride for the asphalt riders though we would have to share the road with morning traffic.
In about and hour and a half we arrived in time for the ferry. When taking the ferries we need to arrive early enough to queue up. Some ferries require reservations, some ferries don't. Today, it was first come, first served. It was small compared to the two huge ferries we have taken so far. When it was time to board, the bikes and passengers were first followed by the cars. The 30 minute trip was enjoyable as we seated on the upper deck bench seats, taking in the view while chatting with other passengers.
On the far side, Mill Bay, lunch awaited us. Rick had selected a new lunch spot for us since the original location was not suitable. After a short 10 miles, including another dirt path, we all arrived safely. After lunch, the two main attractions were still in front of us, the Kinsol Trestle bridge and totem poles in the town of Duncan.
The Kinsol Trestle bridge must be pretty famous because if you google "trestle bridge" a picture of the Kinsole Trestle shows up. It's huge and imposing and we were able to ride across it. The height can make you dizzy if you look down from mid-span.
Our next stop was the town of Duncan. If you google; "What is Duncan BC known for" it will tell you that it's the "City of Totems". Take some time in the town and learn about the art of the totems and how each tells a story. I set up a Totem Pole album to capture some of the ones we came across.
Found a very nice bike shop. Very handy, my front chain ring had not be shifting properly and the shop, Cycle Therapy, was able to fix me up in no time. If you are in town, be sure to stop in and say hi to the helpful and knowledgeable staff. From there is was only about 6 miles to the hotel. A very nice day on the bike indeed.
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