• British Columbia (and nearby),  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Metro Vancouver & North Shore,  Trip Reports,  Urban

    Boundary Bay to Mud Bay: Cycling Along the Dike

    Delta has crowned itself the “sunniest place in Metro Vancouver”, and it sure was sunny there on Sunday. It’s been a cool, gray and rainy spring in Vancouver, so we’ve been trying to soak up every last drop of sun that we can get. What could be better than a sunny bike ride along Boundary Bay? We started our trip at Centennial Beach in Delta, which was teeming with suntanning action, but not much swimming action. The gravel trail that connects Boundary Bay Regional Park and Mud Bay Park is scenic, flat, quiet and a joy to ride! It runs along a dyke, giving a good view all around, of…

  • British Columbia (and nearby),  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Metro Vancouver & North Shore,  Trip Reports,  Urban

    Vancouver-New Westminster Loop: Central Valley Greenway and BC Parkway

    I’ve heard some people complain about the lack of off street bike routes in Vancouver. But there are two excellent off street bike routes: the Central Valley Greenway and the BC Parkway (AKA the 7-11 trail). We decided to connect them together to form a neat loop leading from Vancouver to New Westminster and back. We headed out from UBC along the bike route on 10th Ave., passing by the street library near the corner of St. George. Not a traditional library, there are no library cards or fines for late returns, rather take what you want and donate what you want. I think it’s a great idea: a fresh…

  • Urban

    Bike Adventures in the City: Velopalooza, Car Free Day & More

    This year we are suffering from a cloudy and gray June, people call it Junuary. So last weekend as the forecast was calling for rain on Saturday and showers on Sunday, we decided to stay in the city. It wasn’t too bad as we were also tired from the last two weekends and there were some cool things to do it the city. It is now Velopalooza, which is a cycling festival with different rides and events related to bikes all around the city. On Sunday it was also Car Free Day, an annual event in Vancouver, where bikes and pedestrians take over the streets and cars are not invited.…

  • Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Trip Reports,  Western USA

    Ellensburg-Vantage-Yakima Loop: The US is a Funny Place

    Our desire for sunshine took us far and away last weekend. We set our eyes on an area in Washington State that we visited before, but many years ago. It’s hard to believe but it’s a real desert, very dry and most importantly warm and sunny. Gili managed to dream up a three day loop that looked neat, so on Saturday morning we found ourselves again waiting in the long line-up to cross the border to the US. Finally we were on the other side but still had a few more hours to drive. The roads we took were very green with snowy peaks and it was cool and gray,…

  • British Columbia (and nearby),  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast,  Trip Reports,  Vancouver Island

    Salt Spring Island: An Unexpected Trip

    Originally we had other plans for the weekend, but when Gili took the car to the mechanic on Friday it turned out that we needed new tires. We didn’t want to buy anything while being rushed, and since it was claimed to be unsafe to take the car on the highway we had to come up with a different plan. So at about 10pm on Friday we started looking at different options. We came up with this idea of going to Salt Spring Island but via the long way (for variation) and maybe continue from there to another island or two, but eventually we just stayed on Salt Spring. Our…