So its 174km from vancouver to victoria. Vancouver was nice and i wish we could have spent more time there. But i often feel that way on these trips:we race through lovely cities. We stayed with steph's friends who very kindly put us up: thanks sarah and phil! We were woken by seagulls and i made some scrabbled eggs that went down well.
Leaving vancouver we followed the long way that noah chose along the most unimpressive part of the industrial part of vancouver island. Avoiding seattle seems like a good idea as there would be too much traffic. But noah made us cycle north and take a random ferry west rather a ferry direct to victoria. Anyway, we made it eventually, after getting lost once, again thanks to noah. I twice convinced noah to avoid the route 1 freeway and stick to backroads, and this was a very good idea. Noah got his first flat; i will never undestand why he insists on riding on race tires while touring.
In the end i must say noah did a fine job navigating a difficult route. He is a great companion. And steph is a treasure. Very cool, very cute, clever, interesting, and, most importantl, fast on the bike.
Victoria was great. We had a popsicle on arriving and then explored hotels. After several failures i found the winner, a nice place that gave us a free upgrade. Room was on 15 floor with a great sea and mountain view. The shower was great after the hot cycling; turns out it was the hottest day on record in victoria. We met up with adam scheuer and caleb beyers for sushi. Adam v kindly bought us a big sushi dinner and caleb showed us some of his latest artwork, which was really cool. Then sleep. A very good day 1. Look forward to usa tomorrow. God bless.
Much love to all from maman and Byron. Happy Trails and slathering sunscreen. Take care.
Hi Noah, Jesse and Steph:
This note is coming to you from a ferry in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. What a connected world we live in.
Sounds like all has gone well so far; we wish you great roads, great weather and brisk tailwinds. Noah and Jesse, take care of our daughter; she is a treasure. You should try keeping up with her on cross-country skis !!
Bonne route
Phil and Joanne (Steph’s parents)
Boys and girl, godspeed. Since someone already used the “wind at your back” comment, i’d just like to add that I wish you a safe and pleasant journey, and that, while passing through rural Washington and Oregon, you resist the urge to leap off your bike and join one of those weird cults that seem to be very popular in the Northwest. You know, where they make you wear monogrammed satin jumpsuits, feed you low-protein meals to stave off your resistance to their mind-control, and make you worship a half-eaten pint of rocky-road icecream. I speak from experience.
On another note, I’d like to present you with some cool outfit ideas that I think might jazz up some of the duller moments of your ride:
http://www.bikerfox.com/foxphotos3/
To the max,
FS