Spring Local Bike Rides at a Six Year Old’s Pace

Spring. The season of change, the season of bloom and for the past two years the season of COVID-19 restrictions. Yes, in spring 2021 COVID-19 was still a big part of our lives. The number of cases was rising daily, anxiety was in the air and a travel ban was in effect. We spent much of last spring doing local bike rides around Vancouver. This year Neil was able to do longer distances, often challenging himself to ride farther. So we rode our bikes – a few bike rides were old and familiar, things we’ve done frequently. Quite a few rides were new to us, and we discovered a whole new world of biking close to home.

Steveston: The Challenge Bike Ride

A few times during the winter Neil mentioned that he wanted to ride to Steveston and back all by himself. He almost did it last year, but he got tired on the way back, sat on Gili’s bike for about two kilometers before gaining his energy again to complete the ride. This time is was all “I can do it on my own, I don’t need you to give me a ride” and he sure did.

We waited with this ride till spring, because we knew it would be better to do it when the days are long. It was an unseasonally warm day in April and two friends joined us for the ride. We took the Railway Greenway there and back, which is less scenic than the dyke, but it’s easier and faster. Actually, later in the spring we rode to Steveston again (no help for Neil that time around either) and we noticed that a new bike park was being built by that greenway. Since our kids love bike parks, we’ll probably ride to Steveston again, sooner rather than later, to check out the bike park.

The ride to Steveston is just shy of 50km round trip from our place and we didn’t even get back that late. Neil is keen to go again soon – not just to check out the new bike park, but for the fish n’ chips and frozen yogurt, of course!

New West Loop: Central Valley Greenway and Along the Fraser River

This was another long bike ride of about 45km from our place. First we rode to East Van, then along the Central Valley Greenway. We stopped in Central Park in Burnaby for a picnic lunch and between the cherry blossom petals Neil noticed a $50 bill. He pointed out that there was “money” on the ground, but at first we didn’t pay attention as we thought he noticed a coin or something. He gave the money to Gili saying he doesn’t need it, and that we can have it. A few days earlier Neil lost his first tooth and the “tooth fairy” left him a toonie. Needless to say he was much more excited about the toonie than the $50 bill. Later on that week we got some Indian food takeout and Rain or Shine ice cream, Neil’s treat.

At the Burnaby-New West border we looped around an industrial area till we reached the Fraser River. From there we rode west on a really nice bike path along the river, mostly new to us, with many playgrounds, restaurants and bars along the way.

North Van: The Two Bridges (well, actually three) Ride

We’ve done this lovely loop many times as this is a family favourite. The main attraction of this ride is the halfway point at Moodyville Park. Not only does the park have an awesome (but small) bike park, there is also a very impressive playground there. We always called it the two bridges ride as we cross over to North Van on the Lions Gate Bridge, then ride the Spirit Trail and connect back to Vancouver on the Second Narrows Bridge (about 35 km total). Recently Neil pointed out that we actually cross three bridges, as we need to cross the Burrard Bridge, so now it’s the “three bridges ride”.

On that particular spring ride I actually didn’t join the guys as I had to complete a project at home (a photo book present for my mom’s birthday). It was also Mother’s Day weekend so a day to myself was an extra special rare treat.

Poco Trail: A Mother’s Day Ride

If you have young kids, you’ve got to love bike rides that start in a playground. This bike ride was a little too far to start from home, so we drove to Lions Park. There we randomly bumped into friends who used to live our our neighbourhood but moved to the suburbs a while ago. The kids enjoyed the park till Gili sorted out our bikes, then we had a quick lunch and headed out on the nice trail.

We did a 25km loop along the dykes, bike trails and very little on the road, so it’s really a perfect ride to do with kids. Kai also rode a lot on his own. Neil was a bit tired because of his long ride to North Van the day before, but he still managed to complete the ride. We decided to skip a short detour that appears in the Let’s Go Biking guidebook, where we got the idea for the ride. We finished of course at the same playground before heading home. It was the perfect way to spend Mother’s Day.

Boundary Bay: Giraffes in the Savannah

We’ve done this ride a few times, years ago. Of course, back then we didn’t even notice the impressive playground at Crescent Beach. It was a bit difficult to drag the kids away from the playground and start riding. The ride is nice, but it’s all on gravel and a bit monotonous so Neil wasn’t so impressed. He rode some by himself, but he sat more on Gili’s bike than he usually does. It’s 20km each way and we stopped for a long break at Mud Bay where the kids enjoyed exploring at low tide.

On the way we noticed two giraffes made of of wood which we thought was funny. I could almost picture ourselves riding in Africa or somewhere far far away and spotting some giraffes. Maybe one day…