Nanaimo

July 26, 2019

Today’s ride

We got off to a leisurely start this morning. Breakfast wasn’t served until 8:30 (although coffee was on at 7:30, and we enjoyed a pleasant hour on the deck sipping our coffee while we waited), and we didn’t make it out the door until nearly 10. We enjoyed breakfast itself, engaging in a lengthy conversation with an interesting couple from Vancouver. They’re both well-traveled and the husband in particular was interested in bicycling, so we found plenty to talk about over our waffles and fresh fruit.

Image not found :( — Sitting out on the deck at our B&B, waiting for the breakfast announcement.

Today’s short ride to Nanaimo was the least interesting one we’ve had on the tour here. Not unpleasant, but not really inspiring either. It was a mixed experience - we biked for a few miles on the Cowichan Valley Trail, for a few more on the very busy, very noisy Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway), and the majority of the time on paved secondary roads. Not much to write home about, and few excuses to stop and take a photo.

Two events from the day are worth commenting on though. First, we were forced to abandon our original plan to bike the entire ride on the Cowichan Valley Trail when the marked route ended outside of Ladysmith at a choice between two gravel roads, both marked as private. Neither one looked right, and even if we knew which was correct we weren’t comfortable continuing on a road clearly marked as private. Instead we backtracked a mile and landed ourselves on ultra-busy Highway 1. We didn’t like the traffic, but in compensation we cut ten miles and about fifteen hundred feet of climbing out of the day.

Second, we stopped in Ladysmith so I could replace the tube on my rear tire. This is a chore I’ve put off for at least four days, I think. I realized it was needed when I tried to pump it up and discovered that the valve nipple had broken off somehow. The tire held air, but I couldn’t inflate it. I’ve been stalling off replacing it partly because I’m a procrastinator, but also because I wanted to wait until we got near a bike store so I could buy a new spare. I had one, but if I used it I’d then be riding without one through pretty remote country. By today though it had lost enough air that even small climbs were becoming a strain.

We arrived in Nanaimo about 3, and immediately went shopping. I need a new tube, and Rachael is on the hunt for a pair of walking shoes. She didn’t bring any along on this tour, and her feet are bothering her from walking in her bike shoes when she does any significant amount of walking. She is due for some new ones anyway, so she might as well pick them up now.

A little of Highway 1 goes a long way. The shoulder is fine so it’s safe enough, but the traffic is deafening.

This is more like it. The best miles of the day were on back roads south of Nanaimo. I think this is Adshead Road?

I’m not certain here either, but I think this is Haslam Road.

Video sound track: Shadows, by Simon Wynberg

We interrupt this journal for another important announcement

You’ll recall that at the beginning of the tour we lost my iPad, and presumed it had been stolen while we were waiting for the train in Seattle. We bought a new one the next day in Mount Vernon, and have been somewhat anxiously monitoring our financial accounts since then for any indication of fraudulent activity or identity theft.

This morning, when we were packing up to leave our B&B, I started to pack my new iPad into my pannier and was stunned to find that there were two in it already - Rachael’s, and the one we thought had been lost. Completely baffling. One theory is that the thief felt guilty and had second thoughts,and has been tracking us looking for the opportunity to sneak it back into my luggage. Our B&B isn’t locked, so maybe he slipped it in last night while we were out to dinner.

Or, perhaps we’ve had it all along and there was just a failure to thoroughly search my panniers. They’re huge and there’s plenty of space to lose something in them, so that’s at least theoretically possible. Hardly seems plausible though, so I’m going with the reformed-thief turned-Good-Samaritan theory.

In Nanaimo

As I said, as soon as we arrived in Nanaimo we went straight to an outdoor goods store to look for new walking shoes for Rachael. The first store was of no help, but she found a pair she’s quite happy with at the nearby New Balance outlet. Afterwards we went next door to Coal City Cycles to pick up a spare tube, and while there I also bought a new cycling jersey. My shirt inventory has been getting thin, with a few of my older jerseys getting well worn and tearing out in spots.

For dinner we went to La Stella Trattoria, a, great little restaurant that we’d be very happy to return to someday. The servings were all substantial and delicious, and we enjoyed sitting at the counter watching the cooks work their magic. Afterwards, Rachael returned to the hotel to put our wet clothes in the dryer, and I went down to the waterfront to poke around and check out the boats.

After discovering that we didn’t lose an iPad after all I’m feeling flush and like we can afford an impulse acquisition. Oh, wait.

The Lost Photos

I didn’t lose my iPad! Ergo, I didn’t lose my photos from that first day either. Let’s take a look.

On the Amtrak, bound for Seattle. Rachael’s up front in the left, but hardly visible.

From the train: looking across Puget Sound, near the Nisqually delta. This is a pretty amazing shot to have taken at random out the window of the train. I didn’t realize there were deer in it until unloading the camera.

Waiting for the train while not losing my iPad. And no, Rachael hasn’t suddenly taken up beer. Through an ordering misunderstanding I ended up with two for myself. Darn. I hate it when that happens!

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Ride stats today: 33 miles, 1,500’; for the tour: 378 miles, 18,700’

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 378 miles (608 km)

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Suzanne GibsonA great addition to your collection of lost items stories - or to be fair should I say missing items?
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonYes, but I’m thinking it’s time to close the collection. We have plenty of entries in it by now.
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5 years ago

Keith ClassenWe had similar experience going through Ladysmith on our one and only trip through there several years ago. But it was on our return trip home. Can’t remember exactly but we were likely following the trail traveling south into Ladysmith. The trail showed on the map but was nonexistent. That was after climbing a nice hill to get to that point. So we detoured around via the highway as I recall. Approaching Ladysmith from the south in that ride we took the highway and bailed as soon as we could to onto a secondary road. And I feel very badly that I didn’t mention to stop at the bakery in Ladysmith where they produce several varieties of cinnamon buns to choose from. We stop there every time we go through Ladysmith. Probably worthwhile for you to go back for some.
Ps. I have misplaced my ipad in the the house. The next time I do I am going to look in my pannier. On the topic of missing items I left my helmet sitting on a planter at the Pender island ferry terminal last night. We had a nice night ride home on the lochside trail arriving home around 11 with the dark trail completely to ourselves.
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5 years ago