In short, the trip was excellent. I was off to a rather rough start, as the day we started out, I was fairly hungover. A mistake involving jello shooters the night before. It happens. We picked Andy up from Vancouver and drove over to Victoria (spending most of the ferry ride asleep in the sun, as it were). Crashed at Andy's that night, did some last minute tune-ups to the bikes, packed and repacked, and Andy cooked us an awesome lunch the next day...and then we were off. Andy rode his bike with us to the edge of Lochside Trail, a back-trail that led to the Brentwood Ferry Terminal. Uphill and up some more hills, we made it to the ferry. I recall the first two days being the hardest by far, though I think we covered longer distances later in the trip, on sketchier roads.
The first night, we crossed the ferry (and the last one for the day - thank you, coincidence gods) ...and camped at Bamberton Park. We met a fellow tourer there too, and he sat with us for a bit and chatted. He was nice, but cycling in the opposite direction as us. In the morning, we explored the little beach, and Damon found a (huge-to-me) crab that I followed around with my camera for a while.
We left and hit the highway, and had lunch at Merridale Cidery...and it was amazing. What wasn't amazing? Cycling 3 hours later...tipsy. We did a cider tasting, then had a delicious lunch involving more cider, and somehow, Damon consumed a clear apple brandy that tasted like rubbing alcohol to me. Tipsy, and laden with cider in our panniers, we left, sleeping in an (overpriced) Travellodge for the night in Duncan.
This next day seemed impossibly long. We cycled from Duncan, past Lake Cowichan (we thought it would take us TWO days to get there...we were wrong) ...onto the forestry roads, and ended up at Pine Point, where we camped (it was all camping for the next several nights). We took the Trans-Canada Trail for a good chunk of this day, until we arrived in Lake Cowichan, anyhow. It may have been different for Damon, but this particular day was too long for me. Perhaps it's my inexperience with touring (I stick to racing, most days), but I was practically falling off my saddle by the time we found a place to sleep at sunset that night. I don't think I could have gone on for much longer than I did...it happens.
I seem to have made a note about our pasta going moldy. Right - we ate extremely well on this trip, but apparently, fresh pasta goes moldy after a few days out of the fridge. One less fresh meal for us, and one lesson learned. Oh well.
The next day was a short one - we only cycled to the end of Cowichan Lake, and camped at Heather campsite. This site was AWESOME. We had an entire isolated beach to ourselves, the sun was out, the guy who ran it only charged us $12.50 for the night, instead of the $16-17-18 a night we've been paying...and he gave us a fresh trout and free firewood! ...we were extremely grateful. In addition to this, his two younger attendants kept purchasing joints from Damon...so really, we paid $2.50, two joints, and were given a fish to stay there. I love the barter system. We took it easy, and went to bed well before dark.
The next day we cycled up to Francis Lake, and camped in a campsite at the edge of a lake, hidden from view by a dry creekbed (which was no longer dry the next day, but I'll get to that in a minute) ...this is the day my derailleur decided to die - I had a near wipe-out and I think I bent my rear derailleur, because after this, I was limited in my gears I could use. Unfortunately, I was limited in the lower range...and that day was hilly. After much swearing, we made it, though. The downside to crossing a dry riverbed to get to your campsite, apparently, is that we got poured on all night that night...and it was no longer dry the next day. So...we fjorded a creek. With our bikes. I did it in my flip flops, because my bike shoes aren't really meant to get wet. ...and I slammed my pedal into my calf so many times while walking my bike over the rocks in the water that my left calf was black, and purple...and several shades of blue that are still healing, over a week after I did it.
This is several days after I did it.
Oh! Because of the rain, there was salamanders everywhere, and I seem to have acquired one on my bike. We named him Phlat Phil.
Next night: Poett Nook. This was another long day, and if I recall, I think this was the day of extreme downhills and horrible logging trucks (well, they were horrible the whole trip - but it'd worry you if I said we nearly died from logging truck accidents every two hours, wouldn't you?) ...this day was glorious only because we finally got to shower. And it was glorious. In Poett Nook we stayed in an overpriced bunkhouse, but it was nice to be out of the rain and have showers, and finally be clean again. It had been a dirty couple of days.
Following Day: BAMFIELD. We discontinued our bike trip here due to time constraints. Stayed for a few days in a guest house, walked around the island, saw Brady's Beach, took a water taxi, etc. I think it was a Sunday when we came in.
We caught the ferry out to Port Alberni on the Tuesday, and headed straight into Tofino...and there was no power when we got in. Not at all. So, in the dark, in the rain, we found a hostel, and I'm glad we did - because it was run by a sweet little Indian man, and it was cheap, and it was warm and dry and all of that is perfect enough for me. Now, Tofino...we spent trying to stay out of the rain. It poured the whole time we were there, almost. We still explored town, and I bought tea (I know, more tea) ...and we ate fish n chips, and wandered down to one of the beaches. Didn't get to do the kayaking we wanted, but there's always next year.
Stayed for three nights, hopped the coach back to Victoria. Spent a night at Tim's, had lunch with Bren, and came home. And remember that salamander? He's still attached to my bike.
.jpg)
