The plan today was to get away early, catch the first of two ferries on our route and get to Victoria as quickly as possible so that we could use Tourist information to find a hotel for our first rest day. We duly arrived at the ferry terminal in time for the 9.45 crossing to Salt spring island only to find that it was carrying a dangerous cargo and we would have to take the next ferry at 11 AM. No worries we were directed to a fine coffee shop and with good wifi Nicola found us a suitable hotel with a hairdryer thus removing the time pressure of our lost hour. A quick dash for 12 miles across the island to the next ferry and we landed back on the mainland for the final 20 miles to Victoria. Unfortunately the heavens opened and the torrential rain that followed by for most of the afternoon managed to reduce the delightful car free Lochside rail trail to a muddy sludge significant amounts of which managed to find its way onto our bikes. Nicola chatted up some bloke in a garage with a hosepipe who very kindly allowed us to hose down our bikes, whilst I was hiding behind a bush using the old hitch hiker trick. So we arrived in Victoria with clean bikes and celebrated with a night out in the Karaoke bar attached to the hotel. This is the life!
Well done you two. Sounds like a challenging day. What gives with the weather ? Is this normal / wouldn't it have made sense to do this in the summer time?
ReplyDeleteSo you sneakily avoided the Malahat Summit by taking two ferries. Good plan Rob. We drove over it last year (in the rain - in July) and there were people cycling but it looked a nightmare! Your weather has got to get better as you head south.
ReplyDeleteThere was a hell of a hill on Salt Sptint island though!
DeleteKaraoke! Give us details! A video perhaps?
ReplyDelete