April 7, 2013
A Bit of Local Training: Not That It Seems to Matter
Since in principle cycling is a sport, many people (most people?) figure you ought to train for it. For us, it doesn't seem to make much difference. The reason is that cycling for us is a tour and not a race. Our main asset in doing it is patience, and our patience comes from the fact that where one of us is is where the other one wants to be. So as long as we are together, we have no issue of trying to reach somewhere else in a big hurry, so there is no pressure to go fast.
Of course, that is not entirely accurate. In the end we have to get to where our flight home leaves from. Plus, unless we make some distance, we will never see anything. So a little training does help.
Here on south Vancouver Island there is usually good weather for cycling. It's clearly the best in Canada. However, because this is still North America, there is not exactly an overwhelming number of good bikeways. Nearest to our home, there is a section of the Trans Canada Trail, that includes one large former rail trestle, and a gravel trail to the Cowichan River and the village of Lake Cowichan.
So far, all we have done is several 40 km circuits from home to the trestle and back. Here are some photos from one of those circuits. Probably the main interest in this for anyone is that it is part of the Trans Canada. The entire trail for British Columbia is described in the book by Bruce Obee. The most interesting part is surely the Kettle Valley Railroad on the mainland. But that is a tale for another blog. Before we write it, we will have to do it! We almost set off for it this month, but decided there was not enough time. Stay tuned, though, it's coming!
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