Wednesday, June 1, 2011

BC = Bike Country

British Columbia was amazing for biking! Everyone we met -gas station attendants, lots of people on the ferry, other campers, folks at the grocerty store - were excited and supportive of our bike trip plans. Not one person said they thought it was crazy or dangerous that we were planning on biking about 1500 miles. And, many people that we met in B.C. had themselves done bike tours. Most highways, including the one from the airport, had wide bike lanes and great signage; bike racks could be found on every corned and there was a very visible bike culture - even in the rain people of all ages were out and about with their saddle bags and fenders.


Probably the highlight was biking from the ferry to Victoria - about 20 miles, completely on bike trails and lanes. When we got off the ferry we were greeted by a sign proclaming Victoria "Canada's cylcing capital" a tall order to fill after the amazing views, friendly drivers, generous bike lanes. But, as we biked down the first steet people on the sidewalk cheered and nice folks in orange vests stopped traffic for us. Turns out our route conincided with the Tour de Victoria a 140 km bike tour. The whole ride to Victoria we got to chat with other cyclists who gave us props for doing the tour wth so much gear! And, we got free bananas when we got to Victoria. Despite the rain (notice the plastic bags on Farah's feet!) B.C. was awesome for bike touring!

1 comment:

  1. You guys are missing some intense heat in dc. in the 90's the last 3 days.

    Biking in BC sounds awesome! What will you do without those bike lanes on the highways in the USA?

    Have you crossed the border yet?

    How are the bikes holding up? Comfy?

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