Day 0: Cobble Hill to Vancouver

November 24, 2021

Racing Ahead of the Storms

Our flight only leaves the day after tomorrow, but we have raced over to Vancouver to make sure we will be there for the flight, assuming it flies. Lots of times before, weather forecasters have made dire predictions that came to little. But with the Province still in a state of emergency from the last weather bomb, we are inclined to play it safe.

Fortunately our friend Marvin was also able to change gears, and to boost us up to the Nanaimo ferry terminal today. Marvin showed up at our place in the early morning, so we could get on a early enough ferry to not have to do any part of our trip to the Vancouver Holiday Inn in the dark. Marvin had the get up and go to do that, and to get our bikes on his rack, while we remained a little dopey from too little sleep.

I can show you what the scene was like, but not without confessing that after all our planning, I left the chip out of the camera. The camera has a small amount of on board memory, and still took the photos of our departure, but at first I had no idea on how to get the photos into a place from which they could be uploaded to here. For those geekily inclined, let me say that I downloaded the Nikon wifi app to my Android phone, used it to connect to the wifi enabled Nikon, and then used Bluetooth to transfer the photos to the Windows 10 laptop where I usually keep the blog photos, and from there here you have the image of Marvin loading the bikes!

OK Marvin, load those bikes:

What a good friend. (Fuzzy low light photo accurately represents what things looked like to me!)

Here we are, then, at Duke Point ferry terminal for our official starting off photos:

All these messy bags represent what things will be like as we move our gear onto and off planes and taxis.

But things do come together when it is time to move.

One of the perks of being old and of living in British Columbia is that we and our bikes can get on a ferry free of charge most weekdays. This was a two hour free ride.

The bikes got stashed with the other heavy equipment. When we were still using BoB trailers I used to quip that we were in the same league as the other tractor trailers. We certainly did also eat in the same truckers cafes.

Truck deck ferry worker models ultra stylish (we think) matching yellow hat, earphones, and jacket.

Speaking of the truckers' cafes, here is our first breakfast on the road, prepared by BC Ferries. They call this one the "All Abord"!

All this stuff is for me, except the plain old oatmeal, which is actually Dodie's preference.

The idea that we have so much stuff along that not a single thing more could be added was put to rest as Dodie spotted these nifty bicycle themed long socks in the ferry gift shop. They will be critical in keeping the sun off, she says.'

The trip down to Cancun has a few "pinch points" at which things could fall apart. The first, though least risky, was to have Marvin appear and succeed with tying on the bikes. The next, after our ferry would arrive at Tsawwassen, was to get the bikes onto the Translink bus rack, securely, and fast enough for the bus driver and passengers not to get crabby. Fortunately we got a lovely driver, who explained how the rack operates, and was very patient. We also appreciated this man, who lectured a few passengers on the need to wear face masks, not to mention that he had the same pleasant Nigerian accent as our doctor. We will be writing to the company to send him a little praise.

The bike racks on the busses are simple but remarkably secure.

The bus was essential for us in this case, because the impassable Massey Tunnel lies between us and the airport. Sometimes we have heard of a bike shuttle through the tunnel, but it remains a mystery to us. It's a 50 km detour to get around the tunnel - too far for the available time and daylight!

A perennial Vancouver ferry/airport problem

I watched the handlebars wiggle as the bus bounced along, but in fact the bikes stayed put and I was eventually able to relax.

The bus arrived at Bridgeport station, from which we would have a short cycle to the hotel. At the bus stop we observed a lesson in how determined bicycle thieves can be, and in how not to lock your bike. In this case the bike owner had a very tough hardened chain, but look what happened:

Dodie very quickly managed to get our bags out of on-the-bus mode and back into on-the-bikes mode. We will now head to the hotel, where she will have the luxury of an extra day to switch into on-the-plane mode.

The airport area features a lot of big and unfriendly roads, but the routing program did find this nice bike path to take us part of the way to the hotel.

Bike and rider inside the elevator of the fairly glitzy hotel. We did not ask if they had any rules about riding in the elevators and stashing bikes in the room. They did however take a security deposit!

Dodie claims to be able to survive on oatmeal for many hours, but around 6 it occurred to her that she was starving. The hotel has a quite generic restaurant, but in fact it covers most of the bases. Among these were some Mexican dishes, and we figured we should give them a try. In fact the fajitas and burrito were remarkably good. Here they are, but never fear, you are not going to have to look at 90 meals over the next 30 days. No, it will be only the poc chucs and anything else remarkable. That could bring it to little more than 50 food photos!

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 22 km (14 miles)

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Scott AndersonI’m not positive now, but I’m pretty sure my ex-wife and I (we were already divorced at the time, but reconsidering) biked through the Massey Tunnel one night back in 1987, just a few months before Rachael and I first met. We were on the way to the airport for a flight to Prince George and the start of a bike tour through the Icefields Parkway to Calgary. Our car broke down south of the tunnel so we left it at a gas station with a note on the dash and started biking in the dark, knowing nothing about the tunnel ahead. One of my scariest bike experiences ever. I really should key in that journal someday.
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Scott AndersonI was watching carefully as the bus passed through the tunnel today. I would say it goes beyond scary and is in the realm of almost certain death. Perhaps things were calmer back in the "old days" you are describing. There has been talk for some time of replacing the tunnel with a bridge. Perhaps planners for that will have a "duh!" moment and add a bike lane to the structure!
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesI’m sure it’s nothing now like it was 35 years ago. There really wasn’t much traffic in it in the early evening, but it was bad enough. I see that the project to replace it with an 8 lane tunnel was approved this summer, and with provision for bikes from the sounds of it. It should be ready by 2030.
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2 years ago

Kathleen ClassenWe have taken the shuttle several times, but it only runs all day in the summer, because of course, in the eyes of those who run the shuttle, people only ride bikes mid day in the summer 🙄. Last time we were through we took the bus as the shuttle was operating, but only at peak periods. Scott, I simply cannot imagine riding through that tunnel!!! These days if a car doesn’t get you the fumes will.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kathleen ClassenI can’t either, looking back on it now. Guys are so stupid when they’re young, aren’t they? Really, it’s hard to believe that any reasonably adventurous man lives to die a natural death.
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2 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Scott AndersonRe-reading your comment, I am more fully appreciating the problem of encountering the unexpected tunnel in the dark.

Except for some bridges over the Po, I can not think of any cases in Europe where road designers would not provide for pedestrians/bikes when building a crossing. No, actually, I think there are lots of tunnels like that - bridges not so much.

My other favourite example of getting screwed while cycling on something that seemed safe enough is where a two lane road with shoulder becomes a four lane with no shoulder when entering a town. In such cases, if you are lucky, a town sidewalk will appear, but that is not always the case!
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesAnother thing about that tunnel is that I don’t think it was signed back then to prohibit biking - maybe because there were just fewer bikers and less traffic yet, or maybe they just hadn’t had enough catastrophes yet to be aware of the problem.

So that makes two tunnels I was lucky to survive decades ago where biking is now strictly prohibited, obviously for very good reason: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/utah1987/hatch-to-zion/.
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2 years ago