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....

Steep Ride, Cold Ride

New Westminster is a community between Maple Ridge and Vancouver that is perched on the water of the Fraser River. The land slopes down to the water throughout most of this small city and, as a result there are many steep hills throughout.

I had a doctor’s appointment earlier in the week after school but I didn’t know if my Vespa could make it up the hills so I drove the horrid Ford Taurus. Today, when I woke up, I decided that I needed to find out whether my LX50 was up to the challenge.

It was cold for this time of year, 3 or 4° C., a vicious mix of sleet and rain was falling from the sky, and it was quite windy. I thought about going on a shorter ride but decided I had enough layers to survive the snow and rain.

After crossing the Pitt River (mentioned in a previous blog) I went on what is called the Mary Hill Bypass. I hadn’t been on this road since the day I bought the Vespa. At that time, on a nice sunny day, I found it was a scary road with lots of curves and fast, roaring traffic. A few months and 2500 kms later, even on a wet, cold morning, the road was just fine to ride. I think this is because of the experience that I have gained so far - I am more confident on the curves and have a better idea when I should slow down, how much I should lean, and how much I should turn. I’m still pretty slow when turning 90 degrees, but better safe....



After around 40 minutes I was at the ‘bottom’ of New Westminster. I found a route that was still hilly but not crazy-steep like some of the other roads. I had no problems going uphill and pulled over a couple of times when my speed was slow and there were a few vehicles behind me.

By this time, my hands, even though I was wearing my 'lobster' gloves, were pretty cold and I thought I’d stop for coffee at Starbuck’s in downtown New Westminster - but in this area of this city there are parking meters everywhere and I didn’t have any change. I’m not sure what New Westminster’s policy on parking on the sidewalk is, so I decided to head back rather than get towed or ticketed.

I went back with no problems except that my hands were slowly turning to sticks of ice. I thought that I’d stop at the Starbuck’s just past the Pitt River Bridge in our neighbouring community of Pitt Meadows. The Starbuck’s is beside an empty movie theatre and is usually pretty quiet. The thought of having a big mug of latte and a scone while I warmed up kept me going the last km or two.

Alas, when I arrived, I walked through the door and not a seat, not one seat, was empty. After lining up for my coffee, I went outside with the lone smoker and the other unfortunate people who couldn’t get a seat and slurped back my coffee, shivering. Five minutes later, I was on my Vespa and headed for home.

As feeling slowly returned to my hands as I warmed them over the heat register, I took heart that, overall, the trip had been a success.