June 6, 2010
Day 2: Vancouver to Nanaimo
I got together with my friend for breakfast and then headed back to the hotel. The weather forecast looked good for today, but less so in the coming days. It seemed best to get started rather than hang around town for a couple of days. I checked out of the hotel and loaded my bike up with the help of my friend and then I was off.
I had stayed at the same hotel in 2001 after my cross-Canada trip. I decided to trace my last few kilometres of that trip backwards. I left Granville Island and went around False Creek, then by English Bay and around Stanley Park. Finally, I headed over the Lion's Gate Bridge. It all seemed like a good idea until I missed the ferry I was planning on taking and had to wait over an hour for the next one. However, I did take advantage of this opportunity to buy some groceries.
I took the 3:00 pm ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo and headed straight for the closest campground. I stayed at the Westwood RV Park ($26). There are likely some other campgrounds just up highway 19, but I decided that I wanted to be close enough to town to get a bite to eat. I had a nice chat with the lady who runs the campground. She's a big traveler. The campground used to be more isolated, but there are new houses going up in the area. She's probably sitting on a real estate gold mine.
The bike seems to be holding up well. The fork is new and doesn't have many miles on it yet, but there don't seem to be any problems. The weather was decent, so overall it was a good day of cycling.
End point:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=49.16327,-123.9953&ll=49.16327,-123.9953&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
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Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 69 km (43 miles)
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