May 12, 2014

I was in Vacouver today. I thought I had died and gone to bicycle heaven. The bicycling infastructing is astounding. There are regular and dedicated bike lanes, bike lights on bike routes, lots of bike signs, bike greenways, and on certain routes speed bumps and little parks in the intersection turning it into a roundabout to calm traffic. Look at that bike route through uptown (or downtown I’m not sure the local vernacular). I could just cuddle with it and whisper sweet nothings to it! All the gushing aside, biking infrastructure does more than accommodate cyclists. It makes the city human again. For all the conviniences the automobile enables, it also destroys the human scale of urban places. Everything spreads out, only accessible by highways and we move around in separate boxes trying to reach them. Much of downtown Vancounver was obviously laid out before the car but it felt as if the people has returned, not just rushing somewhere but being in this place. I noticed a number of smaller inner city schools, there were people in the parks, and just a lot of people around. Enough sermonizing for now. I probably glowed a little riding along. Oh and the biking miracles didn’t stop at the city limits. On my way to Abbotsford I hit a lot of rural spaces and many of those roads had clear bicycling markings for the shoulder.

The rural places were especially poignant because of the mountains that backdropped the scene. As many of you will know, I have a particular affinity for cows so I was in my kind of country. Cows are beautiful creatures and I find them so serene. Were I a cat, I’d probably purr. And as my mother would be able to attest, cows were my favorite among the toys that a small boy in Paraguay might have a choice of playing with. All to say that rolling out of Vancouver with a soft glow, I was further enthralled with the day flying through the countryside. My phone had also been fixed and my rear cassette upgraded for the mountains. The bar is high for a good day now.

Road Report: ~110km

It’s worth taking the ferry to Horseshoe Bay, if for no other reason than it can give you an incredible view of Vancouver as you come down Marine Drive; it shirts around the water and takes you across the Lion Gate Bridge into Stanley Park, which is worth some exploration. Generally, it’s a pleasure to cycle in the area so hard to go wrong.