Vancouver to Chemainus: The Boy Who Biked 72km in a Day
Neil woke up, and exclaimed, “I want to ride the whole way to Chemainus”. We tried to convince him that maybe it would be best to catch the bus part of the way, as we had planned, but he would have none of that. Finally, we decided it would be easier to go along and see what happened. The problem was that we had timed everything based on Maya and the kids catching the bus, so we had to hurry.
We skipped breakfast (?!) and headed straight out, with Kai biking on his own till the Burrard Bridge. There I finally managed to convince him to get on my bike instead. Kai and I headed to a bakery downtown to buy some pastries for breakfast, while Maya and Neil kept going. We only managed to catch up with them on the other side of the Lions Gate Bridge, when we finally wolfed down our breakfast in a couple of minutes and got back on our bikes. That was our last stop till the ferry – we just didn’t have time. We arrived literally one minute before the cut off. But we made it!
After those 30km of hilly riding, the ferry ride was a good chance for a rest for all of us. Anticipating a long day, an ice cream was in order. We had lunch and congratulated Neil on riding to Horseshoe Bay for the first time. Although we knew that there were still 40km to go, at this point we were starting to believe that he would actually bike the whole way.
In Nanaimo we marveled at the beautiful sea wall and separated bike path right through downtown – it’s been a while. We then rode on small streets out of the city and through rural areas, with just a few mandatory and only slightly unpleasant kilometers on the highway. Then we connected with the lovely Cowichan Valley Trail, a rail trail. Kai rode the trail to the whole way, and fast – he must have been in dire need of burning off some energy. The trail took us right to Chemainus, and the home of our good friends Jan and Warrick, where we stayed for two nights.
Neil made it! It was by far the biggest day we’ve all ridden for a while, and we definitely had some sore legs. Neil was the only one still running around… Kai also did very well, despite having to sit tight for a good few hours. Back in downtown Vancouver we had found a little abandoned kids’ toy, a parachute. This thing kept Kai busy the whole day. He held it out from the back of my bike, hoping for me to get some speed so it could fill up which delighted him over and over again.
The next day our friends the Finzis came over, and it was a full house. We had a good barbecue, a game or two of chess, enjoyed the awesome view from Jan and Warrick’s deck, and a walk down to their local beach. Too soon, it was already the third day, and time to head home. Jan and Warrick joined us till the highway, and then it was just us, flying along till the ferry terminal. On the ferry, we lounged in the sun at the back of the ship. A wild assortment of guys kept singing songs which at least kept the kids entertained.
Back at Horseshoe Bay, Neil wanted to catch the bus back this time, so it was just Kai and I on the bike. We stopped at Ambleside Beach to enjoy the beautiful views and sunshine. Just then a Disney cruise shop rolled by. We took the scenic road back – through Stanley Park, and Kai zoomed down the big hill, ecstatic.
