June 4, 2025
Day 7 - Tsawassen to Blaine
Back to the U.S. of A.
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Another short day planned for today. The original route would have been around 34 miles, but we ride on the highway for much of the way, so Jim created an alternate route that keeps us on the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail for the first 10 miles or so.
This part of the ride is fantastic. The crushed gravel trail is well maintained and easy to ride. The tide is WAY out. The mudflats contain a rich diversity of wildlife and plants. At one point, we are delighted to see a flock of bald eagles out in the fields, with a few sitting on wires and keeping watch from above. I have only seen a few bald eagles in my travels before and am astonished to see so many together. Turns out this is Eagle View Farm — boy, did they name that aptly.
After leaving the Bay Trail, we turn onto Railroad Rd., leading to the King George Blvd, which we discovery is a major highway. At this point, Jim leads us on an alternate route to the alternate route, totally confusing both my and Gen’s navigation devices, which are constantly rerouting and trying to get us back to the original.
We end up going through downtown Surrey, Canada, with narrow streets, lots of parked cars, and red lights. Both Genny and I are stressed out by the traffic and I keep questioning Jim about the route. He assures me we will end up at the right place, and we do.
We rejoin the King’s hwy just north of the border crossing. At this point, I hear what sounds like a crow squawking, but it turns out to be Genny, yelling “F*ck, F*ck!” She had been stung by a wasp or something like it, just under her eye and it hurt like hell. Her eye was already swelling, so she applied some ice (from Jim’s water bottle) and took some Benedryl, which seemed to help after a bit.
As we approached the border check we looked for signs for cyclists and pedestrians, but other than one big sign that appeared to direct cyclists into the car lanes, we didn’t see any. So we got into line with the cars.
An hour and a half later, as we were being checked through, the officer told us we could have just taken the sidewalk (which was cordoned off with cones) and checked ourselves through inside the building and been done quickly. None of us saw signs for pedestrians. So, oh well. Now we know for next time.
In the meantime, Rich was waiting for us at our motel in Blaine. After we arrived and Jim and Gen got checked in, we went down to a local Mexican food restaurant. It was so late, we decided to make it an early dinner and then stroll up and down the old town area before heading back to the motel to call it a night.
Tomorrow, we will ride from here to Bellingham. We have several routes to choose from, ranging from 27-35 miles, depending on what type of traffic we’re willing to endure.
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Today’s Video:
Today's ride: 25 miles (40 km)
Total: 138 miles (222 km)
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4 days ago
I'm feeling very sorry and apologetic that I did not post a note to you about walking your bikes up to the US control point. I had thought about it, and thought you'd run into other cyclists who have local knowledge or just see them going to the door and taking their bikes inside.
Anyway, you've had good weather, and it was nice for you to have the low tide to expose the tidal flats.
Thanks to both teams for taking time to post for us. It's great to see home turf through your cameras and commentaries!
4 days ago
2 days ago