Making a run (or ride) for the border!

September 9, 2019

Day two of my grand biking adventure started in beautiful West Vancouver (or as they say locally West Van) with a hearty breakfast including delicious bread, organic free range eggs, Manuka honey, fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh blueberries with yogurt. As I was pushing my monstrous mobile home out the front door, my friend and gracious host Mike suggested I take a can beer to enjoy for when I arrive at my destination later in the day. I didn’t like the idea of carrying that extra weight, but I loved the idea of having a beer at the end of the day so I quickly accepted! My friends Mike and Heather were amazing hosts and incredibly gracious to take me in for the night and give me such a warm send off and start to my long ride ahead!

After breakfast I quickly set to work organizing and re-packing my bags and departed their house at 8:45 AM. My first order of business was retracing my steps back along Marine Drive which follows a scenic seaside road back to Lions Gate Bridge that is the access point back to downtown Vancouver. Marine Drive is very hilly and the distance is about 12 miles from their house. I was finally officially starting my ride… woohoo! Before reaching the bridge, it started drizzling and I stopped to get out my new Patagonia rain jacket and helmet cover. A mile down the road I ran into a local grocery store and got a couple of plastic bags that I used to wrap around my feet to keep my shoes dry. I reinforced this with a couple of rubber bands around my ankles where the bag was tied off. I certainly got a few funny looks, but this was definitely more about function than fashion… and function it was as they work beautifully to keep my feet and shoes warm, dry and cozy! At the apex of the bridge, I stopped to look at the expensive views in every direction and looked at Stanley Park (which I had ridden around countless times over the years) from this cool new perspective and vantage pointe that I hadn’t seen before. Once I crossed into Vancouver my next plan of action was to find an outdoor retailer to buy some white gas for my stove. Airliners don’t like the transportation of combustible liquids in small containers and so I had to leave my liquid gas at home. With a 2 to 3 mile detour, I eventually found this really cool co-op by the name of MEC which is very similar in design and feel of REI. As I was checking out, I asked the clerk where the nearest and best Ramen noodle shop was and he suggested two options just a few blocks away. I figured I should get some authentic Japanese Ramen noodle soup as a great meal before I headed out of the city. And boy was he right! I slurped down the most amazing Ramen in about 30 minutes while periodically careening my neck to see if my bike was still locked to the tree outside the front door.

Back in the saddle I went, finally leaving Vancouver and now I was really really starting my ride in earnest! I ride through some beautiful neighborhoods on my way out of town and the next few miles were a bit dicey trying to hollow the official route through the industrial parts of south Vancouver and Richmond.

I finally reached the US border and as I was riding up to it I wasn’t sure if I should be in the car lane or the pedestrian lane. Within a few seconds a border patrol agent came over and directed me into the car lane which actually surprised me. I rode through answered a few questions from the gate agent and just like that I was through the border. From there I rode another 2 to 3 miles down the coast to a beautiful state park called Birchbay. As I rode into the park the sun was setting over the bay which only gave me about 30 minutes to unpack set up the tent and get dinner preparations started. All worked well I had my freeze dried lasagna which was surprisingly good and crawled in my tent and quickly fell asleep after my 72 mile ride that day. What an amazing first day it was!