The bike ride to Victoria

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Wednesday July 10

Today is was the big highlight of the trip a bike ride to the ferry to Victoria and then a 3 hour bike ride from the ferry to Victoria. Victoria is the city was Kyle went to University at UVic. It is also my middle name and Kyle always says it is a beautiful city just like my name and me. We woke up early and had some carbs for breakfast (bagels), packed our bags very lightly and headed out on our bikes to the bus stop that would take us to the ferry port. Kyle

Kyle´s dad lives in Vancouver and the bus terminal is in Richmond (a part of town that is almost at sea level and will probably sink if there is an earthquake it is also were most of the Asians, commonly Chinese from Hong Kong live. The bike ride was through hilly residential neighborhoods and through a main rode, which turned out, to be downhill and we were going super fast. Traffics were light and there was a bike lane all the way to the bus stop. We passed through residential and commercial areas until will reach Richmond were it started to get kind of industrial and big specialty stores. The final leg of the ride was to go under a bridge and on a uphill bike lane parallel to the bridge where vehicles would go. It as pretty cool!. We reached the bus terminal and Kyle headed quickly to grab the two bike places on the bus. (Canadian buses carry bikes in some sort of apparatus on the front of the bus, but even though this is pretty cool way it only carries two bikes so if you are a couple and there is only one bike spot left you have to wait for the next bus and get lucky that there are no other bikes, luckily for us we were the only bikers). The bus ride was smooth. We drove on the highway occasionally taking exits to drop people off. It took mostly 45 minutes. We got to the terminal and bought our tickets and rode our bikes to the vehicle area to ride our bikes into the ferry. There were 2 docks for vehicles, the first was for bikes and big trucks and the second for normal size vehicles. Then Kyle , the expert, told me to be really quick so that we would go in before the cars and be the first ones so that we could go eat lunch before the line got long ( and boy was he right, we were about the 6^th persons on the line for lunch and soon after us the line got quite longer). We ate some fast food , but quite healthy ( Canadian fast food is way much healthier then US fast food). Then we found a spot to sit and sleep, rest, chat for an hour while we sail through the sea into the city of Victoria. The ferry was very modern, it had Wi-Fi and a ¨business center was you could plug your ipod, computer tablet and charge it and connect to the Internet. It has a few souveniers shops ( extremely expensive) and 2 or 3 restaurants. Along the ferry ride I went exploring and stood for a bit outside to take pictures of the scenes. It was a little chilly and for my good sake I had packed a light sweater. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The water was deep and turquoise blue surrounded by a large amount of trees of different tones of green. To me it looked like a painting. We passed a few camping areas with small beaches and cabins built in the woods. Every time we passed a place with people the ferry would blow the whistle and man was it loud, they even warned the passengers on the outside dock that there would be a loud whistle blowing. After taking a few pictures I went in because the wind had become stronger and my light sweater was no longer being warm. A few minutes after I got in, they announced that we would be arriving to Victoria and so Kyle and I got our backpacks and headed down so we could be the first to leave and not have t wait for all the vehicles to go out.

We had arrived to Victoria.

About Victoria

Located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Victoria is a community of choice for its temperate climate, natural beauty, recreational sites and superior economic opportunities. The city is alive with people and activity.





Victoria has been blessed with a wealth of natural and man-made riches, including stunning heritage architecture framed by ocean views and mountain vistas. It is this rare juxtaposition of heritage charm, scenic backdrop and modern city-scape that makes Victoria one of the most uniquely special places in Canada. Millions visit our city every year and enjoy the natural beauty, temperate climate and heritage charm Victoria offers its citizens every day.

Comfortable walking shoes are a must. This resort style city is made for strolling, with downtown hotels, restaurants, shops and parks within close proximity to each other.







For visitor information or to plan your trip to Victoria, please visit Tourism Victoria.

Victoria at a glance:




• Population: 83,000
• Serves as the metropolitan core for a region of 360,000
• Capital City of British Columbia
• Incorporated on August 2, 1862
• Over 3 million visitors annually
• Average of 2,183 hours of sunshine each year
• Average rainfall is 66.5 centimetres per year
• 1,600 signature hanging baskets displayed each summer


http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/community/about.html

Victoria /vɪkˈtɔriə/ is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 80,017 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 344,615, making it the 15th most populous Canadian urban region.

Victoria is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from BC's largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Seattle by airplane, ferry, or the Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry which operates daily, year round between Seattle and Victoria and 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Port Angeles, Washington by ferry across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and, at the time, British North America, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843. The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, the British Columbia Parliament Buildings (finished in 1897 and home of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) and the Empress hotel (opened in 1908). The city's Chinatown is the second oldest in North America after San Francisco's. The region's Coast Salish First Nations peoples established communities in the area long before non-native settlement, possibly several thousand years earlier, which had large populations at the time of European exploration. Victoria, like many Vancouver Island communities, continues to have a sizable First Nations presence, composed of peoples from all over Vancouver Island and beyond.

Known as the "City of Gardens", Victoria is an attractive city and a popular tourism destination with a thriving technology sector that has risen to be its largest revenue-generating private industry. The city has a large non-local student population, who come to attend the University of Victoria, Camosun College, Royal Roads University, the Sooke Schools International Program and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Victoria is very popular with boaters with its beautiful and rugged shorelines and beaches. Victoria is also popular with retirees, who come to enjoy the temperate and usually snow-free climate of the area as well as the usually relaxed pace of the city.

Victoria's climate, location and variety of facilities make it ideal for many recreational activities including rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, golf, water sports, informal team sports and jogging.

Victoria is also known as the Cycling Capital of Canada, with hundreds of kilometres of bicycle paths, bike lanes and bike routes in the city, including the Galloping Goose Regional Trail. There are mountain biking trails at Mount Work Regional Park, and Victoria is quickly becoming a bike tourism destination.

Cycling advocacy groups including Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition (GVCC) and the Bike To Work Society have worked to improve Victoria's cycling infrastructure and facilities, and to make cycling a viable transportation alternative, attracting 5%!(NOVERB)of commuters in 2005.


(www.wikipedia.com)


Bike ride to downtown



I followed Kyle towards the highway, which had a bike lane and we went up a small bridge connecting , it was a steep hill , but then it became a long and fun downhill to go. We rode through several meters surrounded by tall trees and homes on the sides and finally got to the bike path. It was along the side of the rode all paved and with two lanes. We rode for quite awhile-passing pedestrians and a few other cyclist. Then we reached a cross road and we rode along the coast with beautiful houses on one side and the ocean on the other it was a beautiful sight. We hit the hour mark when we got to a gas station where we stop to rest a bit and then continued through the bike path. It was mostly well paved until we reached a part were it was all gravel and thee were farms and large lands of crops. We stopped to watch a lot of hawks zoomed around the sky in search for a prey to eat. At one point I counted 8 and then got all mixed up cause there were so many. Some other cyclists stopped too and we got engages in a short conversation with them. We continued through this path and then went through a paved part , which was rise above the main road, and houses surrounded it but the vegetation was so green and so much toy felt you could be in the middle of the forest. At one point we saw a deer grazing one house front yard. Most of the way was like this until we reached an intersection either to go to So one or to Victoria. After this the path was paved with some wood bridges and surrounded by either houses or trees. Finally we reached Victoria and crossed the elevated bridge to downtown.

We parked our bikes and waked along the waterfront, very touristic place. We saw many tourists who had been traveling on cruises from Alaska and Seattle. Many were in the late years. We ate a waffle and drank some lemonade, saw an acrobat and fire show, a spray painting one which started but because of the wind he could not do it so had to cancel it and a few other souveniers stands. It was a beautiful day to be in such a beautiful city. We then headed to get some food and we settled for fish and chips, which is mainly from New Zeeland, but Vancouver has one of he best fish and chips restaurants in Canada. Finally after that we walked around watching people, enjoying a cool (very cold actually wind) and then around 8 we headed to Kyle´s aunt and uncle´s house near UVic to spend the night. It was almost 8 30 and still light so it was an easy ride, however I was really tired and when it started to get darker my eyesight is not the best, so I had a bit of a struggle. Finally we reached the house, after a very long up hill and a dirt path were I had to push the bike. We said our hellos and introductions and took a quick shower and crashed for the night.

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