July 21, 2019
In Victoria: to Willis Point
Today’s ride
Today’s ride was based on another of Dave’s suggestions Friday night. He thought we might enjoy a loop up the west side of the Saanich Peninsula, and said we’d be riding through some of his and Anne’s favorite training area. To which I say, Helmets Off! It’s no wonder that they breeze over those passes in Europe if this is their training ground - it’s hilly over here!
Our first plan for this ride was a thirtyish mile ride (or I suppose I should say about 50K, since we’re in Metricland for a few days) that loops north past Prospect Lake. At the last minute though, Rachael looks at the route and suggests we could extend it a bit further north and a few miles along the water. Without thinking about it further, I quickly add a loop out to the tip of Willis Point and then back by way of a shoreline path through Gowlland Tod Provincial Park.
A rookie mistake - in our rush to get out the door we didn’t look that closely at the just-added loop or check its elevation profile. Had we done so we might have thought again, since we were adding almost 2,000’ of climbing and about ten miles of gravel trail, including a two mile stretch that climbs about 10%. Not exactly the type of terrain we favor.
The ride out to Willis Point was quite pretty, starting with a lovely ride west along the Galloping Goose Trail. Leaving the trail and turning north toward Prospect Lake, we enjoyed a carnival ride of about five miles of low-profile roller coaster - one short, steepish little rise after another. Not bad at all, until you string a dozen of them together.
Thirteen miles into the ride we turn off onto Willis Point Road, and almost immediately begin climbing a more significant lump - about a mile at 8%, which gets our attention. Looking at our Garmins, we were surprised to see this climb coming and another one about twice as high a few miles further down the road.
Over the top, we face a steep drop to Willis Point and then follow the shore as it bends to the southwest along Saanich Inlet. When we enter the provincial park, the pavement ends - just shy of the start of the largest climb of the day. Uh, oh, thinks us. It’s time for lunch anyway, so we decide to stop and eat our turkey sandwiches, stare at the bay, and consider our options.
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Thinking it over, we both think that a two mile 10% climb on a rough rocky path is a pretty terrible idea. That’s a hike in the mountains, not a bike ride; and sadly we didn’t bring our hiking shoes with us. We don’t really relish backtracking and climbing back over the steep hill behind us either, but that’s obviously the only sane choice.
Once over the top again, we turn off onto Ross Durance Road and follow a different - and hillier - ride back toward the strait than the road we took out. It’s a beautiful, lumpy ride through dense woods on a narrow twisting road barely wide enough for a single car. I’m not sure about Willis Point itself, but if we’re back this way again I’d definitely return to Durance Road.
We end our day at Il Terrazzo, an Italian restaurant a few blocks from our apartment. Coincidentally, it’s the same name as my mother’s favorite restaurant in Seattle, the one we had planned her birthday dinner for before it was scratched from the schedule. It’s great - we have a delicious wild mushroom salad and Rachael raves over her tuna serving - and we’d definitely like to eat here again on a repeat trip. We walk back to the room fantasizing about a return visit to Victoria some year soon - maybe taking the Classens up on their kind offer to put a roof over our heads, and then staking them to a meal at Il Terrazzo in lieu of rent.
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Playing the tourist
As I said yesterday, while Rachael was out riding I took my time wandering through Old Town and its surroundings, soaking up the ambience of a beautiful city I barely know even though I’ve been living near it my whole life. When there’s time I’ll come back and caption some of this, but for now it’s just a photo dump and a reminder to us that we want to come back soon.
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Ride stats today: 41 miles, 3,500’; for the tour: 175 miles, 8,200’
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 176 miles (283 km)
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