Lake Michigan Loop: A Trip Full of Surprises
This trip was full of surprises. The first surprise was the very reason for the trip. It was the news that my aunt was getting married, in one month’s time, in Chicago. Originally we had planned to go cycling in Oregon for two weeks at that time, so a new plan emerged – go to Chicago for the wedding, then do a cycle touring trip near Chicago. But, wait a moment, “cycle touring near Chicago”, never heard of that… Fast forward some time spent staring at online maps and searching, and we made two key discoveries: 1. There is a ferry across Lake Michigan (in fact, two ferries!), and 2.…
- Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids, Vancouver Island
Gabriola Island: A Relaxing Weekend on a Quiet Island
After our success on the previous weekend in Victoria we decided to head to Gabriola Island. As is typical for us, we didn’t check the ferry schedule and discovered in the morning that if we don’t leave within half an hour the next ferry would only be at 1pm. We probably broke our all time record for leaving home, biking downtown just in time to catch the bus to Horseshoe Bay. Luckily there were no other cyclists waiting for the bus. The waterfront in Nanaimo is awesome, but for some reason bikes are not allowed to use it for part of the way… Neil rode his bike, and we arrived…
Victoria: A Three Year Old Pedaling the Bike Trails
Spring seemed to finally arrive to Vancouver just on the week before this trip, but alas on Saturday morning we woke up to rain. We contemplated what to do, not too excited about a whole day of riding in the rain. In the end we decided that it would be an important lesson for Neil, not to cancel the trip because of the rain… Neil started riding his own pedal bike about a month and a half before this trip, and we wanted to see how far he’d be able to ride on his own. A few days earlier Gili bought a trail-gator, a pole that connects a child’s bike…
A Mini-Guidebook to Cycle Touring Maui: A Figure Eight From Heaven
When we started planning our trip around Maui, we found it difficult to find information online. This mini-guidebook should hopefully answer most practical questions about cycling around Maui. For the story of our trip, see our other blog post. Basically, if you are already inspired to cycle around Maui, this is the place to get the nitty gritty details. If you are looking to get inspired, read the other post. On Maui the weather changes far more when you go from one end to the other, than it does when the seasons change – it rains about 20 times as much on the wet side (the Eastern side) than it…
Hawaii: Maybe Not the Maui You Had in Mind?
A few times during this trip I had to stop, rub my eyes and ask myself where were we? Were we in Maui when I encountered a cow on the side of the road? Were we in Maui when the road became narrow, unpaved and deserted? Were we in Maui when already on the first day we found a hole-in the-wall place for our first poke bowl, or when we climbed out of the city into the countryside, with beautiful views and very few people? This is definitely not the image of Maui that I had in mind. We booked our tickets to Maui a couple of months before since…
Looking for America while Cycling in Washington and Idaho (Video)
In May 2017 we went on a two week road trip from our home in Vancouver, British Columbia. We crossed the border to Washington and drove to Clarkston, at the south-eastern corner of Washington. We did two bike trips – a five day trip which we named the Snake River Loop, which was very scenic and included quiet roads, bike paths and small town America in both Washington and Idaho. On the second trip we followed the Centennial Trail from Spokane, Washington to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and back over three days. It was our first trip to the States post Trump and in a way we went to “look for…
Family Cycling Close to Home: Vancouver Island, Hornby, Denman & The Sunshine Coast (Video)
In September 2017 we left our home in Vancouver on our bikes with our toddler in tow and cycled for ten days on Vancouver Island, hopped over to Denman and Hornby Islands and went down the Sunshine Coast. We took eight ferries, stayed with three Warmshowers hosts, camped, swam at many beautiful beaches and ate an endless amount of blackberries. There was something very magical and yet simple about leaving home on our bikes and returning ten days and 330 kilometers later on our bikes. This video gives a taste of this amazing trip.
- Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids, Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island-Sunshine Coast Loop: Blackberry Summer Ride
All great trips start with a single idea, and we had been thinking about this one for quite some time. Although we have visited most of the southern Gulf Islands, many of them several times, we had yet to explore the northern Gulf Islands. They are a bit farther away and more complicated to get to from Vancouver. In addition, a weekend, or even a long weekend is not enough time to do a decent bike tour there. The stars finally aligned in early September when we decided to take off for ten days. While it didn’t make sense to fly anywhere, combined with the fact that we don’t have…
Steveston: Along the Arbutus Greenway and the Dike
The ride to Steveston is one of our favourite local rides, but it just got a whole lot better. Now, with the new Arbutus Greenway we can leave our place and to ride all the way to Steveston, 25 km away, almost all on designated bikeways, aside from a short section in Richmond. It’s been a while since our last ride there, and so we decided to make it into a day trip, which was also good preparation for our longer cycling trip starting the weekend after. Neil also enjoyed riding a long section of the Arbutus Greenway. The opening of this Greenway is one of the best things that…
Pemberton & Whistler: The Art of Moving Slow
Once again we decided to do the Slow Food Cycle Sunday in Pemberton. Our last time was three years ago, and this time Neil joined us, which made the ride even slower, which I didn’t think was possible after last time. We also didn’t exactly start early. We only left Vancouver at around 9am, and made it to Pemberton around lunch time. It actually made more sense because by the time we got there we were ready to eat. It didn’t take long to get the bikes and trailer set up and we started riding from our car, Neil on his balance bike. We had a lot of good things…
