October 16, 2018
Victoria - Beautiful Weather
Victoria
The trip home was smooth and uneventful. Our scouting out the airport the day before meant we knew exactly where we were going, and we were able to help a bewildered pair of travellers looking for the United counter which happened to be right next to Air Canada (and two levels up from where they were looking). The large elevators made getting to check in and getting rid of the boxes easy. We had a giggle after the boxes started their journey down the oversized luggage chute. We generally put heavier stuff in the pannier we use as a carry on and lighter stuff in the bike boxes so that they won’t be overweight. When we checked in the woman didn’t bat an eye and didn’t weigh them. I said to Keith that my carry on pannier would have been a heck of a lot lighter had I known that she wasn’t going to weigh the boxes! We loved arriving and leaving from Zurich. The airport was simple to negotiate and had bicycle sized elevators. The Movenpick Hotel was incredibly accommodating and comfortable.
Our flights were on time and smooth. We had bulkhead seats in the middle and the third seat was empty so we could really spread out. I read my book club book and was able to finish it (All We Leave Behind by Carol Off - I recommend it and so do the ladies of the club). Before we knew it we were in Vancouver waiting for the little puddle jump flight home. We did a little time travelling. We pulled out of the gate mid morning in Zurich, flew for 10 hours and arrived in Vancouver mid morning. We had lunch while we waited for our Victoria flight and before we knew it there was our friend Nick waiting to pick us up. Without a camera we forgot to take a picture the entire day.
So we are home. The laundry is done. The lawn is mowed. There are a million other things to do but lots of time to do them. The weather is absolutely beautiful and we are grateful for that. It was very hard to leave the summery conditions in Zurich and very hard to end the tour. Great weather at home helps. We arrived home on Sunday evening and were out for our shakedown ride Monday afternoon. We had a good long ride today and as we came over a rise and the ocean came into view we were reminded that we are pretty darn lucky to come home to such beauty.
It was an amazing experience. We really enjoyed tackling some of the iconic passes and Stelvio and the Sella Ronda were real highlights. Switzerland, while very expensive is worth it. It is so beautiful and the bike routes are incredible. Slovenia was fantastic and had such a great vibe. The Dolomites in Italy was like riding through a highlight reel. The route from Verona to Brenner was as good as it is possible to get. We love Austria. We met amazing people everywhere we went. The weather gods looked after us. So did all those wonderful women in the breakfast rooms who kept fetching us cappuccinos.
I thought I would have some fun with a tour by the numbers:
- Total kilometres 2,279 (1,415 miles)
- Total elevation: 35,709 m (117 155 feet...and 6 inches 😜)
- Summit photos: 10
- Hiking days: 3
- Stitches: 7
- Gelatos: more than we can count and ditto for cappuccinos
- Cell phone deaths: 1
- Camera deaths: 1
- Wheel replacements: 1
- Forgotten power adapters: 2
- Flat tires: 0 (Schwalbe Marathon Plus)
- Days with over 1000 m of climbing: 13
There really isn’t anything we would change about this year’s tour in terms of route. We just wish we had had more time! We are already thinking about next year. I love that part...dreaming about the possibilities 🚴♀️🚴🏻♂️😀.
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