The Great Blogger Ride - Part 3 - To West Vancouver

OK, I know that making people wait builds excitement but this is ridiculous! Time for Part 3!

I felt pretty confident as we left Buntzen Lake. As we went back downhill, the twisties were a little more fun and a little less scary. Our little group rode on and snaked our way to Belcarra Park for another stop and a scenic stop.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take any photos at this spot. My iPhone had inadvertently stayed on since the restaurant and, even though it was 75% when I left home, was down to 7% at this time. I kept shutting it down (something I rarely do) and restarting whenever I wanted to take a photo. Not exactly spontaneous....

It was at this point, I believe, that we had the big discussion. We had originally planned to go to the Tomahawk restaurant in North Vancouver and then, possibly, to Horseshoe Bay. Well, it was just too late so we decided to skip the Tomahawk and head straight to Horseshoe Bay. So off we went...

We rode out one of my favorite routes- the Barnet Highway. It was a great day for it - sunny and warm - and I'm sure David enjoyed the scenery of the inlet. From there, we headed along Hastings through some traffic, taking some alternate routes parallel to Hastings when it was just too busy. Eventually, we made it to Vancouver and headed onto the number 1.

I've only been on the the Freeway once - when I was coming back from Abbotsford and ended up on the number 1 by mistake. That was an intense time because I was going at the upper level of my comfort range - and the blacktop looked particularly hard. This time, I knew it was coming - luckily the traffic was going quite a bit slower, and I felt security traveling with my bloggin' crew!

We sped along, crossing the Second Narrow Bridge (AKA Ironworkers' Memorial) and then took the Main Street exit, heading through industrial sections of North Vancouver until we finally got to Marine Drive in West Vancouver. Gas stop.

I was trying to be a conscientious group member so after I put my $3 of gas in the Vespa, I rode away from the pumps and parked a bit away from the group. The rest sort of gathered around the pumps and filled up while I waited patiently. They were discussing who was going to lead the next section - and Bob approached me.

"We had a vote - you get to lead next."

Crap.

Vancouver, Step by Step

Today was another one of those glorious days.

I had to go into Vancouver and decided to scoot in.

There are certain sections to a trip to Vancouver from Maple Ridge so I thought I’d share what the different phases are like. By the way, my apologies for the photos acquired from other sites - I left my camera at my sister’s house on Canadian Thanksgiving....


Maple RIdge - Pitt Meadows

This part of the trip is on the Lougheed Highway and is OK. It’s mostly flat so I can get going at a pretty good clip but I’ve done it a zillion times before so it can get a bit humdrum. Going over the Pitt River bridge is the best part simply because I like going over bridges!


Port Coquitlam - Coquitlam - Port Moody

The next part I don’t go on as frequently as the first part of my trip. The road is fairly flat but there are lots of different stores, lights to stop at, lane changes, and more than a couple coffee shops to stop at when I get too cold. Luckily it was a fairly warm and sunny day today so I zipped right through this part of my trip. I sensibly wore my jeans and had a couple layers under my gortex jacket.


Barnet Highway

I’ve blogged about this highway before. Since I can’t go on the freeway (not that I ever would want to with cars whizzing by at 100 kmh), this is my best route into the city. It is a very pretty ride, with lots of trees and Burrard Inlet to my right as I ride into the big city. There’s two lanes each way and one of the lanes is a commuter lane where motorcycles are free to go on. There’s also usually a fair number of cyclists on the route (momentary guilt) and I sometimes give them a polite ‘meep’ of encouragement when I go past. The only downside of this part, which connects Port Moody and Burnaby, is that it is mostly in shade because of all the trees and so can be quite cold.


Hastings Burnaby

Although Hastings Street has a bad name in the news, the part that goes through the city of Burnaby which is adjacent to Vancouver is quite nice. Two neighbourhoods, Capital Hill and The Heights, are particularly nice and have come back from bad reputations as a result of the residents turning things around. I really like The Heights as there are lots of ethnic shops and restaurants and, most importantly, coffee shops to stop at for a warming latté!


East Hastings

Once I enter Vancouver, Hastings is still not such a bad place. The Pacific National Exhibition is on the right and quiet residential areas fill out the rest. As I ride closer to the centre of the city, however, the street becomes more desolate and depressing. The Downtown Eastside is centred on this area with homeless people, drug users, and a host of other social ills. Still, I don’t mind riding through this area - people don’t antagonize me and it’s probably a good idea to be aware of what’s happening in this part of the city.


West Hastings

As I ride past the Church of Scientology, sort of a marker between east and west, Hastings Street changes to swank, stylish buildings and trendy, upscale malls such as the Sinclair Centre. It amazes me that in just a few blocks the cityscape changes from homeless people to high end designer stores. I ride on, to the edge of Vancouver, sunshine shining down on me as I scoot towards the North Shore.


West Vancouver

After scooting through the causeway of Stanley Park, I rode onto the Lions’ Gate Bridge for the first time on my Vespa. It was incredible! The scenery was beautiful and I felt so high up! I’ve been over the bridge thousands of time before in a car but never on a scooter. It was amazing. I rode onto West Vancouver into the Village at Park Royal to my destination, coffee with my wife at Caffe Artigianno.

And, wonderful as the ride was, after I had my latté, I smiled as I contemplated the ride home....

Spring Break Part 1

Ahhh, Spring Break...

Well it’s been quite a week..

On Monday, I went to the doctor to have my stitches removed - and when I asked him how much longer I had to wait until I could wear a helmet, he said, “Ten minutes.”

So, Tuesday, I hopped on the Vespa after what seemed an eternity and scooted into Vancouver.

The forecast was for cloudy skies turning to showers in the afternoon. When I left Maple Ridge, it was cloudy but behind me was a ridge of sunshine under the clouds. Twenty minutes later, when I went over the Pitt River Bridge, monsoon-like rains washed over me. The rain continued to fall but varied as I went along my favourite route into Vancouver.

Going to Vancouver is a bit of a challenge for me on a 50cc scooter. It’s about 50 km (around 30 miles) taking Route 1, which is the freeway, but my scooter is too slow and is not allowed to go on the freeway. There are some other choices, but my preferred route is to take the Barnet Highway. It’s usually pretty quiet and is quite scenic - it goes along the southern shore of Burrard Inlet which is like a fjord that is the northern border of Vancouver. It goes by some industrial sections and shipping areas. In the picture at the beginning of today’s entry, you can see some piles of yellow stuff behind the trees. Those are sulphur piles and the colour of those on a bright sunny day are like powdered sunshine.



There are a number of different places along the Barnet including a gun club (gee, do Canadians actually do that sort of thing?), a marina, and a velodrome for bicycle racing. Eventually, the Barnet changes into Hastings Street as it goes through the city of Burnaby. The road goes through a nice area called The Heights which has a number of different ethnic stores and restaurants. When I’m really cold, I sometimes stop here for a bite at Quiznos or have a latté at one of the authentic Italian coffee shops.

When going along Hastings into Vancouver, the street takes a turn for the worse. This area is the downtown east side - the poorest postal code in Canada. I don’t have to ride through this part of town, but I tend to do it to remind me that there are a lot of people who need help in this world. Then, I turn up Main Street and on to wherever in Vancouver I want to get to.

Although it was raining for most of the day, I kept dry. At one point, I wore paddling gloves under my lobster mitts and my hands stayed dry and warm. It felt good to be out riding again.

Wednesday was car buying day. I finally got rid of the Ford Taurus wagon that is falling apart and bought (leased, actually) a Mazda 3 Sport. It’s shiny and smells very nice!



Today, I had an appointment back in New Westminster. A couple of trucks honked at me while I was on the Mary Hill Bypass but that was OK. What really bugged me today was when I got to my appointment. There was a parking space that was too small for a car but plenty of room for my Vespa. As I was sorting out my pet carrier, an elderly man got out of his car and asked me, “Are you going to leave that thing there?”

He had a full metre behind his care and he didn’t sound particularly angry, so I smiled and said, “Yep.”

Then he said, “I don’t know if there’s enough room for me to back out. If there isn’t I’ll just flatten that thing.” And then he went back into his car.

At the time, I didn’t think he was serious but, as thought about it, I began to get a little worried. As it turned out, his car was still there when I left but it made me pause and think about the incident. Usually, when parking or getting stuff out of my Vespa, people who talk to me are friendly or just asking questions. This is the first time where someone was actually angry or upset about the Vespa.

Oh well, I’ve got another week to relax and think about what happened.

Ahhh, Spring Break...