Day 2 | ken brings us home

Ken and Lars - matching!

Distance

52.3 miles

Elevation Climbed

1,712 ft

Landscape

Rolling, winding, hills alongside tree-lined farmland/ bays with mountains on horizon

Weather

Sunny and windy, 55 F

Kirsten’s Notes:

The words ‘Easy and Breezy’ were on my mind for the first 30 miles of this ride. We started later in the morning so the wind had picked up more than yesterday but it was a pleasant contrast to the warming sun. Soreness was tolerable and I was thankful to have Dad accommodate a slower pace today. We saw tens of birds of prey soaring above us throughout the ride, many of which were magnificent bald eagles. We enjoyed listening to 80s rock while admiring a landscape that was very reminiscent of the rides we trained on around CT with the rolling hills alongside farmland, orchards and rocky ridges like Sleeping Giant.

The sentiment for the last 25 miles turned to ‘OOOF’: the slow and steady pace we were enjoying picked up so we could stay on track to make a ferry across the Saanich Inlet that runs every 1hr10 and to keep up with our new norwegian hat and bug-eye sunglass clad friend Ken. He not only offered us a bike route map of the area but to lead us along the well-defined bike paths most of the way to Victoria…on an e-bike. Ken is cruising out in front, Dad seems to be managing pretty well close behind him and all I think about is how I can motivate my fatigued muscles to push harder and not hold up the kind man who has already been generous with his time as I watch his small face in his rearview mirror get smaller and smaller and smaller… Fast forward not so quickly and we are in the beautiful port city of Victoria, very ready for our first rest day 🙂

Cowichan Bay, British Columbia
Ferry across Saanich Inlet
Great Blue Heron on Cowichan Bay
Unknown Orchard

Lars’ Notes:

Day 1 was entitled “Working out the Kinks”, I’d say Day 2 should be labeled, “Lars should have done his homework”! I would have graded our day 1 navigation as a D; Kirsten gave it an F! The teacher in me found some points to not give me a failing grade…my start and stopping points were right at least. Maybe we settle on a D- for navigation. Today, things were better, having the GPS work well for a little more than half the ride; a C. We also had an incessant beeping and blinking message; we had no idea how to stop it or comprehend what it was trying to tell us, so maybe C-. Hindsight…buy the GPS before you send your bike away on a two week cross country trip so you can test it out beforehand…do your homework!

 

While the navigation scored poorly, the route was awesome. Starting in Ladysmith, we hugged the coastline for about 12 miles, rolling hills that meandered through many coastal inlets. We then headed inland through a rural farming landscape. Lush hills with orchards and fields along with several cattle ranches. Our route took us through moderate hills, alternating from the farmland to forest. About 25 miles into the ride, we exited the inland section and arrived at Cowichan Bay and stopped for lunch. This appeared to be an active fishing and logging community with a huge tidal flat…it was low tide and it smelled like it. The mud flats must be a great place to dig for clams! From there we had to high tail it to Mill Bay to catch a three O’Clock ferry to cross the Saanich inlet. Our leisurely sightseeing pace of the morning needed to step it up a notch. We met the challenge and made it with 15 minutes to spare. While on the ferry, we met a very kind local retiree named Ken. When he heard we were heading to Victoria he offered that we follow him into town as he lived in North Victoria. It was a great offer that we readily accepted. Now Ken was probably 75 and in conversation, he shared with us that he had needed to be careful biking because he had a heart condition. We both internally questioned whether this offer was a wise one to accept, but then we noticed he had an E-Bike. “Don’t worry”, Ken said, “I’ll take it easy on the hills so you can keep up” Kirsten and I could barely keep up with Ken. He graciously led us to the InterUrban parkway that would lead us into Victoria and we parted ways. (after a picture of course)

 

Kirsten located a wonderful paved bike path that led us right into the center of the city. Day 2 complete. We met Lise in a really nice AirB&B in the heart of the city. A shower, some food and a glass of wine completed the day.

Victoria
Day 2 Complete