Another double day. The first part is confirmation that what goes up must come down. The run from Whistler to Squamish is all downhill. That ought to be fun. And from Squamish to the ferry terminal is rollers. While the overall distance is significant on the day, it shouldn't be too bad given the amount of downage.
Our first leg:
From Horseshoe Bay we catch the ferry to Nanaimo. That will be a few hours of rest. Then, once back on the island we head south for a few miles to Ladysmith. Here's the day's second leg:
We were
pleased to have done the Sea to Sky (Vancouver to Whistler) and then easy part,
Sky to Sea (the opposite). We did the
downhill part fairly fast, keeping it civilized, but the total time going down
the road was nearly 2 hours less than the time going up the road. It is one of the prettiest rides we have done
but the volume of traffic is pretty high and that is a distraction. Still, the shoulder on the road is good and
the big trucks are all courteous. All
things considered, we’d recommend the ride.
We were pleased to have done the Sea to Sky (Vancouver to Whistler) and then easy part, Sky to Sea (the opposite). We did the downhill part fairly fast, keeping it civilized, but the total time going down the road was nearly 2 hours less than the time going up the road. It is one of the prettiest rides we have done but the volume of traffic is pretty high and that is a distraction. Still, the shoulder on the road is good and the big trucks are all courteous. All things considered, we’d recommend the ride.
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| Black Tusk |
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| Cheakamus River |
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| Tantalus |
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| Tantalus |
The first
three hours out of Whistler we were “light,” without two of four panniers. But we stopped in Squamish to grab the bags
that we’d left and we were instantly “heavy” again (and it made a big
difference)!
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| South of Squamish, heading toward Vancouver |
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| Howe Sound |
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| Shannon Falls |
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| Mt. Garibaldi(?) over Howe Sound from Brittany Bay |
We hopped
on the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry and after about a 1 ½ ride across the
Georgia Strait we were back on Vancouver Island. The ferry always lets the walk-on passengers
and bikes off the ferry first (to avoid conflict with the cars, which tend to
be in rather a hurry to get off), so we were on the road to Ladysmith, our stop
for the night, in no time at all.
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| We had time for ice tea in Horseshoe Bay before the ferry boarded -- it is hot outside |
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| Horseshoe Bay |
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| Our ride for the afternoon |
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| Heading out to Vancouver Island |
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| Preparing to dock in Nanaimo |
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| An old, no-longer-used lighthouse |
We had 45
km still yet to ride to Ladysmith, and already had 120 km done on the day. So at over 100 miles this was our longest day
ever on the tandem. Fortunately, a lot
of it was downhill but still we had a ton of climbing. But we were in our place in Ladysmith by 1800
and, being tired and wanting to get cleaned up, we called the local pizza
delivery joint.
We are taking it easy this morning with a short ride to Crofton, then a short ferry ride to Saltspring Island where we are hanging out for 3 or 4 days. Our hard riding is pretty much done. An odd and kind of sad feeling for us since we love the daily rides. But on the other hand, we're ready for a break and especially since our daughter is meeting us on the island.
Cheers!
