Three days under the stars in Sechelt

For the last three nights I have lived without a roof, other than the stars above. Three years ago I completed the "Circle Route" see blog entry # This time around I decided to just stay around the seaside town of Sechelt, camping at the Porpoise Bay provincial campground.

Day 1 - was the trek in from East Vancouver to downtown to catch the 257 Express bus to Horseshoe Bay. Best to catch this bus at the Dunsmuir Street turnaround point, before the bus fills on Georgia. I caught the 1.35pm ferry over to Langdale and once in to Gibson's via the lower road, over to Gower Point for a photo over the Georgia Straight.



Following my previous route back to the 101 and the a left down the Lower Road in to the heart of green-ness on the west coast in Roberts Creek. After quick bite and some text messaging, it was off to Sechelt to catch up with my buddy Colin MacKenzie who had left earlier in the morning. Our original plan wa to stay the first night at the Robert's Creek campground but it looked awful and too close to the 101. Colin suggested Porpoise Bay campground approx 4km outside Sechelt.

I finally arrived at the camp and was happy to see it was a cyclists section with bike racks aplenty. Lots of other cyclists including a tandem couple from North Vancouver, were hanging out and swapping stories.

My first night under the stars was an adventure in comfort. All I slept on was a tarp and self inflating mattress and then my sleeping bag, which kept me more than warm. I have not slept under the stars since 1979 on my very first holiday to Canada, it truly is an eye opening experience. In my younger days I used to fall asleep with the headphones on listening to music. I reckoned this was the best way to get to know the music as one fades in and out of consciousness in the process of falling asleep. It was the same here - staring directly up at a clear night sky with 1000's of stars is an other worldly experience.

Poor Colin sleeping close by in his tent, had to put up with my eventual snoring, evidenced by two pairs of shoes that had been lobbed my way during the night, apparently with little affect on my snoring.

DAY 2
It was up and out of bed and then a decision to break the camp and head off for breakfast. On arriving at the Sechelt Wheatberries bakery. Colin decided he would head out on his own in search of his own path. I stayed a while longer and chatted with the tandem couple over coffee; they in turned headed off up to Halfmoon Bay via Red Roofs Road.


With the Smuggler Cove camp site as my general goal, I too headed north to take the Red Roofs Rd 11km route to Halfmoon Bay. This route is a lot of up and down, typical of the roads in the area, mostly deserted and as usual hard to get in to grove with the constant up and down. Finally, I arrived at the Halfmoon Bay store to meet a 67 year old former East German named Hans. Hans was on a solo three month trek of the pacific northwest and was heading south for his Sept departure from YVR. Hans was in incredible shape and put men 30 years younger to shame.



After a break I headed back on to the 101 for a few km to the Brookes Rd turn off and out the 10km round trip to Smuggler Cove. Smuggler Cover was a dissapointment since it was originally my intended second night camp site. It DID say wild camping, but in reality two clearings next to a stinky outhouse does not qualify as a campsite at the longest stretch. So it was back down the dirt road for 2km and back towards Halfmoon Bay then back down Red Roofs Rd on my way to Sechelt. As I was getting tired and somewhat cranky at this point I took a snooze on bench at Coopers Green Park. Then it was back on the road to Sechelt; I kinda forgot the 18% incline leading back to the 101, this was impossible to ride up, so it was a slow slog up the hill. I was back to the Porpoise Bay camp by about 6.30 and ran in to Hans and the tandem guys again, plus a couple of dudes from Seattle heading north and couple from Columbia who had walked in from Sechelt. Hans had made it up the Red Roofs 18% grade without pushing !

Another night of star gazing and recognising the constellations as the rolled through my field of view, lots of meteor showers.



Day 3
I headed back in to town with the intention of exploring Sechelt itself. After breakfast I cruised around visiting various business' and establishments including the local employment office. Sechelt is a nice small town, flat for the most part, very friendly folks. Fort he afternoon I headed back to camp for some lunch then a swim in the inlet, which was a little cold. It was just warm enough to lie on the beach and soak up some rays and fall asleep. Dinner was at the camp and then I headed back in to town to hang out at the Gilligan's Pub for a few hours. No sooner had I walked through the door a fellah named Peter introduced himself and I found myself sat at a table of locals of various vintage. The discussion topics ranging from the end of the world to internet dating - somehow connected maybe ?

It was then back to camp, thankfully my purchase of a brand new Shark headlight a few weeks back paid off in the total darkness of rural Sechelt.

This night was not so pretty, clouds moved in and it was kind of boring. I was awoken at around 3am with a loud noise that sounded like rain and wind but of in the distance and creeping ever closer. It did spit a little but other than that the clouds eventually parted and the stars appeared once again.

Day 4
Up at 8am, packed up and headed for town and some breakfast. After chatting with a local art gallery owner I relented and caught the bus back in to Gibsons and the 10.30am ferry. Given the bus service is fairly reliable, it would not be inconceivable for someone to live car-free in Sechelt.

I was back in the metropolis of Vancouver by 1pm and back home in East Van by 1.30. At least my cat was very happy to see me.

Translink Cycle Bridge Opening

This morning I headed out from my place at Cassiar and Adanac to the the opening of the new bridge at Kent Ave and Ash Street. The 50 minute trek took me along the Millenium Skytrain route to Victoria, along East 10th to Ontario and then south to Kent Ave. and then west a few blocks to Ash.

Having recently riden this area last weekend with the "Shetland Pony", it was interesting to come back during the week to see the amount of very heavy traffic along Kent Ave. Anyone that is familiar with the street knows the area as being heavy industry, the vehicle traffic is excessive for such a small street at this time.

Thankfully, the time spent on Kent was only between Ontario and Ash, approx 3-4 blocks. The city of Vancouver really need to make the connection between Ontario and the new bridge much safer and preferably separated from the heavy truck usage.


On arrival many local bike advocates and elected politicos were present. Likewise, there was an excessive police presence, I'm not sure of the purpose of such a large RCMP presence on the Richmond side. The Vancouver police were present along the Musqueum Bike Patrol, the latter were friendly and acted as true "ambassadors of the land".


The opening ceremony took place on the Richmond side with many of the official looking types looking like they could do with a few bike rides over the bridge themselves. Various users of the bridge were present including cyclists, runners, walkers - always present was the constant drone of aircraft and the rumblings of the new Canada line overhead, the latter often scaring the hell out of those present.


The bridge itself is a fine piece of municipal infrastructure, well lit and protected from the easterly elements with an overhang. It is somewhat open to the south and west, but many of us who ride Second Narrows or Lion Gate in winter know how nasty/dark/windy bridges can get; this one will be an easy ride.


Eventually the bridge will provide some needed bike route infrastructure between Vancouver and Richmond. Until now the only route north or south was Knight or Oak St bridge. However, both cities need to speed up the development of connecting bike routes at either side of the bridge in order to create a much safer environment due to the industrial nature of the area at each end.


There can be no question of the importance of this bridge for cyclists and despite the very legitimate concerns of all along the Cambie Street corridor, this bridge, as one example, shows some good use of taxpayers dollars.


More photos from the opening can be seen HERE

Critical Mass gets critical blast

I have been a participant in the Critical Mass event for several years now. For the first time in these years I have seen an incredible amount vitriolic nastiness spew forth from the Vancouver Sun pages on the subject of the CM = why all of a sudden ?

This week the Vancouver Sun posted a front page editorial on the evil's of people organising themselves in to a critical mass, in this case cyclists. The amount of anger and fear mongering this editorial has created is amazing. Yet on the CM this month [last night] we saw far less confrontations and far less people acting aggressively on the city streets. Where are the articles today about how peaceful the ride was ?

Reading many of the comments - it seems many simply are pissed off about inconvenience, many are pissed off about cyclists not abiding the law, some even suggest creating a critical mass of drivers - I think they already call it "rush-hour"!!!

Cyclists are fighting for their rights to be on the road - everyday we go out amongst the sleep deprived, radio tuning, cell phone calling automobile drivers. We dodge them, spank their hoods for inattention, shout our curses and still we get hit and taken to hospital. The bad habits of automobile drivers do far more damage to the insurance rates and general economy than a few errant cyclists. Yakking on the cell phone, whilst sipping a latte, slipping through a stop sign, first thing in a morning is an accident waiting to happen - pity the poor cyclist or pedestrian that ends up in hospital because of your inattention.



Once a month, for a few hours, cyclists get to claim the road as their own. Nothing can replace the freedom of riding down the middle of Burrard or Broadway with 1000's of other like minded people on bikes. YES at the expense of drivers, but you get to rule the road for the other 30 days of the month - once a month you get to turn off your engines and wait.

The Critical Mass is not responsible for how you feel in your car - the automobile environment is inherently designed to cut you off from the outside world, whereas the bicycle is the complete opposite, it reconnects you to the outside world. How many times have you screamed at other drivers for cutting you off ? Why do drivers assault each other, often fatally from road rage ? You never hear of cyclists doing the same thing to other cyclists.



Vancouver is still seeking its own a identity, it is still making the leap from hick logging town to urban pleasure dome. Cycling has much more of a prominence in the 21st century North American urban environment. Part of the responsibility lands on governments at all levels to create and fund infrastructure for bikes , however much of the responsibility lands on us as individuals to act appropriately to the inevitable changes that land on our doorstep. Like it or hate it we are moving away from an automobile oriented urban landscape - it is only in the last 70 years have we seen the rise of the automobile, people still remember the streets without them.


The Critical Mass bike ride that occurs in 300 cities around the world on the last Friday of the month is a statement to all those who continue to oppose it as much as it it is for those of us who support it. As the automobile is inherently designed to divide and conquer people - the bicycle is inherently designed to unify people - the mass will continue to grow until one day it will be the majority.

On a final note - as mentioned from my previous entry, my g/f bought herself a new bike from Dream Cycle on Commercial Drive. Her custom made bike suits her very well, she loves it and has been riding as much as she can; 25 years of not riding a bike can create quite a thirst for the road, on her 3 rd ride she completed 56km.