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Published: September 21st 2011
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Monday September 19, 2011
Ferrying Back to Vancouver Island
I was packed up and on the road at 11 am. It was good to be back on the road; but thank you to the Dynes for their wonderful hospitality. I almost forgot I was on a bike trip.
I rode 50 km’s to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to catch a ferry to Nanaimo. The first half of the ride was largely uneventful and along the shore line so the ride was nice enough. The last half of the ride was along the (very fast) highway. I am not a big fan of riding along busy highways. I got into a bit of a jam half way into my highway part of the trip. There was a tunnel that did not allow bicycles or any vehicle that could not maintain 60 km per hour.
The highway allowed me to exit the highway. I turned right and followed a road that eventually had me parallel to a large channel of water. To get over the channel of water meant riding who knows for how long until there was a bridge. I turned around and backtracked to see where the road
Cathedral Grove
Gives a bit of an idea of the size of some of the smaller trees compared to vehicles. went if I had turned left. The road ended in a dead end. Now what do I do? I parked over the opening of the tunnel to contemplate my situation. I asked God if today would be the day I die if I ventured the tunnel. I had not really made up my mind but had already turned my bike back towards the highway. So I guess I had made up my mind. It took many minutes to find an opening in the rushing traffic to get onto the highway. There were many people wagging their fingers at me not to go through.
I’m not saying it was the smartest thing for me to do but I pedalled into fast moving highway traffic and conquered the tunnel. But I can’t endorse such a foolish decision. The tunnel was maybe a little more than a kilometer long.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. I made very good time to the ferry, about 3 hours including my attempt at a detour to do the 50 km’s to the ferry. The ferry was 2 hours in length and I had about 10 km’s to Nanaimo and am staying at a
hostel. The weather was great and I rode 60 km’s today.
September 20, 2011
Cathedral Grove
The weather was good again this morning. Nanaimo is a fairly long town and it took some time to get through it. I am riding the Trans-Canada Highway and traffic is very busy. I had to ride about 50 km’s till the turn off to Port Alberni (and then to the end of the road at Tofino). After the turn off it was another 40 km’s to Port Alberni. There is a good size climb after Cathedral Grove and right before Port Alberni. Anyways a total of about 90km’s today.
On the way to Port Alberni you have to go through (and stop at) Cathedral Grove. Cathedral Grove is one of those last remains stands of the huge, huge trees. So it is a “must stop” along the way. This will be my 3rd or 4th time here. The pictures speak for themselves and I have uploaded all my pictures taken of this area.
I find myself a little turned off of my bike trip with all of this traffic. I so much miss “the road less travelled”.
I long for those days in the middle of nowhere camping with the bears. Even though I am experiencing the best weather in months I think I would prefer the bad weather and be remote. It’s just so noisy and there is no way of escaping it. I am staying at a hostel again this evening. Just another result of riding through civilization.
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Steven
non-member comment
Hey you.....
You should be careful when you camp with the bears, you may get eaten