Cycling the Lockside Trail to Victoria

Our two boys are attending the University of Victoria and this summer the younger is taking summer classes while the older has a summer job in Victoria.  Lisa and I love to combine a visit with a cycle trip into Victoria on the fantastic Lockside Trail as have done this many times.

This is a mostly flat cycle route from the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay to the outskirts of Victoria where I intersects with the Galloping Goose trail which branches to either the Victoria Inner Harbour or Sooke.

The trail is either traffic free or along very quick roads with well marked bike lanes and is approximately 35 km in length.  Lots of things to see and places to stop along the way.

https://www.crd.bc.ca/parks-recreation-culture/parks-trails/find-park-trail/lochside

A few photos from our weekend...

Wildlife Spotting

Brett trestle

Quiet Victoria streets

Our Air B&B Trailer for the night!

Sam joined us for the ride back on Sunday

Seat Post Rack

For my Montague Paratrooper evolution rebuild I tried to keep the weight down which is one of the reasons I did not install a rear pannier rack.  The logic there is that if I needed to take my full panniers I would use my rack equipped Bike Friday.   The reality is that for all day rides or light over nighters some form of carrying capacity is required.

After some research I purchase a Fitzer Rear Seat Post Rack from MEC ($44.50).  It comes with a quick release seatpost attachment so if not required it is off.  The 10 kg capacity is plenty for day trip cargo and nicely holds my old Kirkland rack bag.

Lisa and I rode the Lochside trail from Swatz Bay into Victoria this past weekend and as we were traveling light I tried out the new rack/bag system.  Worked just great with enough capacity for Air B&B overnight gear and using a bungy net I was able to carry my Keens walking sandals on top of the bag.

I the evening we were joined by our son Sam and for a ride around the downtown I just unclipped the rack/bag combo and left it behind in our room.  Pretty slick.

Training Walk With the Vancouver Camino Pilgrims

Lisa and I are off to Porto on August 26 and starting our walk on August 30th. Putting on as many kilometres as possible in preparation has been our goal.  In addition to our regular hikes, walking to work, dog walking, etc. is to join the regular weekend training walking with the 'Vancouver Camino Pilgrims'.  

We have had some great walks and developed some friendships with this group so it was an obvious choice to join them this past Sunday when the walk was planned in our neighbourhood.  

Lisa has been dealing with some ankle tendonitis so we joined the group for a segment of the walk but this did allow us to walk directly from our doorstep.  Carrying  our full Camino packs allowed for conditioning and evaluation of the load.

This where we separate from the group

Our happy Camino group

Our walk ended up being 10.2 km door to door.  It was a good combination of side walks and trails with some moderation climbing involved.  It was a warm and humid (sweaty) day but we agreed that our packs and bods felt good and with a rest and meal we could certainly take on another 10-15 km.

Post walk cold water ankle soak

Belt Bag (please don't call it a fanny pack)

For my upcoming Porto Camino walk and further travels I am in the market for shoulder type bag that I can use to organize small items like mobile phone, guide book, maps, sunscreen, etc.   It should be comfortable enough to wear in conjunction with my large backpack yet small enough to fit inside the main pack if raining for example.

I have an MEC sling bag (too big and does fit while wearing larger pack) and a small 'man purse' that I bought from a street vendor in Portugal last year (too small).

On a recent trip to Nelson BC I popped into the Valhalla Pure outdoors shop and found a 4.5 litre bag called the 'Travel Belt' made by the German company Deuter.  It only weights 310 grams and was selling for $59.  I bought it.

http://www.deuter.com/CA/ce/hip-belts/travel-belt-39030-black-grey.html

This bag seems to tick all the boxes as they say...

Organizer - two main pockets one with a key clip and mesh pockets on each end (large enough
to hold a small water bottle) and a flat mesh pocket on the front (perfect to hold a cap).

Size - just right.  Big enough to carry a light shirt, cap, book, phone, etc. but not too big to be obtrusive. 

Belt bag - nice padded back and belt that all tucks away into a hidden sleeve if not used.  Can be comfortably worn while cycling.

Shoulder bag - comes with a clip on strap so this bag can be used as a shoulder bag.

I particularly like the hidden belt storage through the sleeve in the back of the bag because the hip belt from my backpack can be threaded through thereby allowing this bag to be used as a large hip belt pack.  Cool.
















Added bonus is with a couple of velco straps this bag can be transformed into a serviceable handlebar bag.

This little belt bag will fill a useful niche at the small end my pack collection.

Central Valley Greenway

Lisa and I had a really nice day riding the Central Valley Greenway which connects New Westminster with Vancouver. It is just over 20 km in length and is composed of traffic restricted maintenance roads, bike lanes and dedicated cycle paths.

http://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/central-valley.aspx

We pushed on past the official end of the route and cycled to Granville Island where we enjoyed a picnic in the sun.  A mandatory stop at one of the local breweries (Red Truck just off Main St.) for hydration prior to the ride back made for a great day out!

The 'cycle exploring' is one of our favourite activities and I am so impressed by the ever expanding network of cycleways in the Metro Vancouver area.

Some pics:

Big Trip for 2017 - The Plan

This fall we are back to Europe with two part agenda incorporating some interesting things at each end and the middle.

We will be flying to Porto, Portugal where we will spend a few nights recovering our jet lag and exploring this city.  Next we will be setting off on foot along the Camino Portugues for a fifteen day walk terminating in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  The Camino Portugues can be walked but either the central or coastal route.  Our plan is to start on the coastal route but reserve the option to cut inland if we feel like it.  We will be traveling light carrying our own kit and staying in variety of accommodations (B&B, hotel, albergue) depending on the day.

After a few tourist days in Santiago de Compostela we will be flying to Zurich for a couple of days before a short train trip to the town of Donaueschingen in Germany.  Our plan is to cycle the upper Danube river route from the origins of the river at Donaueschingen to Passue on the German/Austrian border which is where we started our lower Danube trip in 2015.  This is about 600 km and we will be staying in B&Bs along the way.  For the past two Euro cycling tours with Lynne and Clint we have prebooked accommodation and this worked very well.  It may reduce the spontaneity somewhat but with our small group and a specific route already planned is worked great.  None of the late in the day searching for rooms when everyone is tire, wet, etc.   Also, the fall is is a very busy time of year with some event called Oktoberfest going on so we found room were booking up early.

At Donaueschingen we will meet up with our travel companions (Lynne and Clint) and pick up our rental touring bikes and panniers.  Matthias from Fahrrad-Klinik Passau will be supplying the bikes as well as transporting any surplus baggage back to Passau. This company gave us excellent service for our 2015 trip so they were the 'go to' rental company this year.  Highly recommended.

The 2015 Danube Team about to set off..

http://fahrradklinik-passau.de

At Passau we bid adieu to Lynne and Clint then travel by rail to Prague in Czech Republic for a few days there before flying home.

Watch this blog for updates as our trip unfolds!

Cycle Tour 2016 - Brittany, France

This is a brief retrospective blog post that fills in the gap between our 2015 Danube cycle tour from Passau to Vienna and our 2017 cycle tour from Doneauschingen to Passau.

June 2016, Lisa and I traveled to the Algarve region of Portugal for a week of exploring before meeting up with Lynne and Clint in Saint Malo, France.  John and Veronica from Brittany Borders Bicycling delivered the rental bikes to our hotel and held onto our surplus kit (www.brittanybordersbicycling.com).  Highly recommended.

From Saint Malo we cycled south and west eventually intersecting the Nantes-Brest canal which we followed almost to Quimper and then on to Douarnenez on the Atlantic coast.  We returned by rail via Rennes where we dropped off the bikes.

This was a great trip and distinctly different from our Austrian ride last year.  Brittany has many long distance traffic free routes and quiet country roads.  Great crepes and cider too!

Some snaps....