Critical Mass!

If ever I needed another reason to love Vancouver, this is it: Critical Mass. Hundreds of cyclists of all ages, agility, race, and profession, come out to enjoy this beautiful stroll all over the city streets. Bringing motor vehicles to a halt as we move on as one “mass traffic” unit, there’s greatness in the air just knowing that vehicles are relegated to the lower class. There’s freshness in the air, joy, and happiness when we ride over the Burrard Street Bridge, pause, and hoist our bikes over our heads signifying satisfaction of conquering.

With the closing of a single southbound lane on the Burrard Street Bridge in favour of a bike only lane trial that’s soon to open, the city of Vancouver is moving in the right direction and reaching its goal of aspiring to become THE greenest city. Next up: Cyclovia!

DIY cyclists bring their imagination and creativity to the road. One guy I noticed mounted an actual love seat, a night stand, and a table lamp on a tricycle platform and was peddling over the bridge. There was also a couple on a tandem bike, but instead of facing front, the person in the back was facing the other direction while also pedalling. How does that work?!

Echo, Eriko, Jay, and I settled for a picnic on the beach at English Bay after a lovely bike ride. When the sun went down, we returned to Jay’s abode and popped in Bottle Shock in the DVD player.

This city is where my heart is.

Bowen Island Day Trip.

As a MiV event, Tracy, Robert and I, along with a few others, went out for a hiking trip around Bowen Island. Just twenty minutes away from the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, but Bowen Island felt like miles away from Vancouver City Centre. Our casual hike on the trails around Killarney Lake took us about three hours to complete, far from breaking records, but it was an enjoyable one which allowed me to stop and take photographs and have lunch.

The Mayne Island Bike Excursion.

To take advantage of the long weekend, Jay and I had thought to go explore some of the islands serviced by BC Ferries and explore it by bike. We had decided to go to Mayne Island and had intended to depart on Saturday morning but because of limited services to the South Gulf Islands with only two sailing a day, we didn't leave until Sunday morning.

After making concrete plans just the night before, we were all set to go with Norm, Gonca, and Echo in tow. Five bikes loaded onto my trusty Toyota Workhorse Pickup with five passengers crammed inside its small cab. With a stop at Save-On-Foods, we hit the road to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, parked at the over-night economy parking, dismounted our bikes, and rode our two-wheeled mechanical machines on the ferry with all of our camping gear and food on our backs and racks.

Mayne Island was nothing more than a small outpost from and old era on an isolated from the bigger cities of Victoria to the West and Vancouver to the East, and offered a peaceful scenic vista sans-tourists. Jay was having issues with his derailleurs immediately after disembarking from the ferry and had to maintain using the high gear through all the up hills and down hills. Scoping out for a free place to camp as we made no reservations to the only legal campground on the island, our trek took us all around the island and to the interior where we found a small school with a small fire department across from it. Cycling further down the Mayne artery (you know I had to use it!), there was a trading post, a post office, a quaint little bookstore, and a cafe/restaurant/bar attached to the Springwater Lodge overlooking a pier jutting out onto Miners Bay. This is where we kicked back as it was the only place open past 1700h.

The only legal campground on the island turned out to be our best bet with its close proximity to Miners Bay and a scenic vista of the many BC Ferries coming and going in the distance. At $12 a head, it was a little more than we had hoped to pay for, but we were all very happy with the place. It had an outdoor shower facility, outhouses, and a communal fire pit with benches around it which invited social dialogue with others camping on site.

On Victoria Day Monday, the weather turned to shower and I was caught with just a t-shirt and a thin Adidas jacket as we were boarding the ferry back home. It hardly dampened our spirits though as we were coming off from a rush of cycling to and from Mayne Island's lighthouse.

Not a bad weekend excursion, indeed.