Bike reassembled and ready to hit the road again: Victoria to Cowichan Bay, Canada - Exploring Holland, Germany and Denmark on a Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze
Bike reassembled and ready to hit the road again: Victoria to Cowichan Bay, Canada
We took our bike bag to Fairfield Bicycles in Victoria. Max is going to reassemble our bike and repair any problems he encounters. We haven't used their mechanical expertise to reassemble our bike at the end of a trip before, but we are excited that this will allow us to ride home and thus complete our journey in the style that we have followed for the past 3 months.
Thankfully, nothing was damaged during the flight, but Max replaced a few things that have shown wear and tear from the trip. I think that the bike will be perkier than we are.
It has been good to have some time with Mary Ellen's mom in Victoria before heading home. All too soon, it is time to go and we head out to Saanich on the familiar Lochside Trail and then cross country to Brentwood Bay to take the ferry to Mill Bay further up Vancouver Island.
On the Lochside Trail, we have difficulty passing Mattick's Farm, a popular rest stop for cyclists with shops and a tea room. We shared a date square, drank some coffee and enjoyed the familiar surroundings.
The trail was very quiet today - it's a sunny, windy October Monday and fall has changed the lush green pathway of June that we remember to the orange and rust colours of autumn. Living on Saltspring Island, we enjoy riding in to Victoria weekly on this trail and know it well.
We suddenly realize that the next ferry to Mill Bay leaves in half an hour. We raced across the peninsula, fighting a headwind, and made it with a few minutes to spare. We really wanted to make this ferry, as we are on our way to visit Mary Ellen's sister who lives in Cowichan Bay. It will be good to get there early as she works tomorrow and we can't seem to stay awake past 9 pm.
Riding the Lochside Trail on the Saanich Peninsula. The trail is a former rail line - you can imagaine the train running through here, providing transportation from Sidney to downtown Victoria. The route from Swartz Bay (ferry) to Mary Ellen's mom is about 40 km.
We have a few stops that we always try to do along the trail - one is a coffee break at Mattick's Farm as well as this charming farm with pigs alongside the trail. It is always entertaining, especially when piglets are around.
This map shows the length of the Lochside Trail - you can see on the left, the ferry route we took from Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay. Lochside Trail connects to The Galloping Goose Trail (also a former rail line) and this takes you east from Victoria to Sooke (about 45 km), along the ocean.
Barry looks windswept and happy to be finished riding for today. As has been our fate on this trip, we have had headwinds across Europe and today as well. We have arrived at Frances Kelsey Secondary School in Mill Bay. Mary Ellen's sister Marilyn is the Principal here. We have decided to leave our bike at the school overnight and ride from here tomorrow morning.
