Go back to Day 6
I was heading home today. Purely out of stubbornness I had not consulted the Swartz Bay ferry schedules. In hindsight, I’m not sure what my motivation was for this.
Leg 1 Ruckle -> Fulford Harbour
I got an early start. The sun was barely up. My tent was covered with a very heavy dew. A downside to solo cycling is that it’s hard to shake dry a fly on your own.
The ride to Fulford felt like it took 10 minutes. When I got to the terminal, the recently departed ferry was chugging away, and asking me: ‘Dude, why didn’t you just check my schedule??’
But this extra time at Fulford was truly a gift. It gave me time to brave the long coffee shop queue and eat one of the yummier cinnamon buns I’ve ever come across. Holy cow it was good.
Leg 2 Tsawwassen -> Home!
Waiting at Swartz Bay, I met a couple of other cyclists. One was a nice, happy guy from Seattle travelling light (ie staying in hotels, eating in restaurants) He was aiming to get to Vancouver and then put his bike on Amtrak to get back home. It sounds like you can just wheel your bike onto the train as is. No disassembly required. Definitely worth investigating.
The three of us were getting ready to disembark at Tsawwassen, we were weighing our options. Either put your bike on the bus, to get us past the tunnel, or head way east to pedal over the Alex Fraser Bridge. Seattle guy and the other cyclist were both more pragmatic than me and opted for the bus. I guess that makes me the dogmatic one. According to Google Maps I had a route through Delta what would avoid the highways. Easy peasy, right?
It turns out the ride through Delta was a little piece of heaven. It was almost all quiet farm roads. There was a great bike tunnel under the tunnel highway. Full disclosure: there was also a delicious tailwind pointing almost due north. Ascending the Alex Fraser Bridge was way easier than the Cusheon Lake hill on Saltspring.
Once over the big bridge I was in familiar territory. Queensborough, over the bridge into New West, follow the Skytrain to Central Park, 45th Ave to Earles, pick up the Skytrain path again and then home.
Just before getting home I stopped in Side Saddle (where I’d bought my bike 2 months ago) to thank them for helping make my trip possible. Since I’d stopped, I decided I could probably also pick up a cookie from Flourist. The person working cash asked me: ‘Did you bike here?’ Many answered passed through my brain, but they all seemed complicated, long winded and unfunny, so I just smiled and said ‘Yes I did!’
‘In that case you deserve a treat!’
A delicious ending to a wonderful trip.
🍪