Day 3. Hope to Merritt. April 30. 125 km.

Today was uneventful, which was good. We left Hope a little after 8 AM, thanks in part to A&W's opening for breakfast at 7. The weather was cool and overcast, which was good for climbing the Coquihalla pass. The biggest spectacle was the new oil pipeline being constructed beside the highway. We found the climb to be challenging and walked our bikes in some of the steeper sections near the summit. We checked into the Comfort Inn after almost 11 hours and immediately enjoyed the hot tub as the last several km were wet and cold, due to rain during the last hour.

Coquihalla Pass started the cold weather.

Tomorrow Kamloops.

Day 2- Abbotsford to Hope. April 29. 102 km.

As we used the room in the B&B, Susie became quite irritated with the shortcomings so I sent them a message. About 2AM the hostess knocked on the door and we had a discussion, which resulted in her telling us that she would refund our payment and evicted us. As there was a volleyball tournament in town that filled up the hotels, we didn't find another room so we biked through the night much of it on the freeway. Just before Chilliwack, I got flat tire. Luckily we were beside an access road where a business had a lighted entry, which made it possible to change the tube. After an early breakfast we picked up a couple of tubes at Canadian Tire.

On the way Hope, we were stopped by a policeman for riding on the freeway. We convinced him that we were allowed to by telling him about the signage and internet information. There were bicycle signs saying "Cross here when safe".

From Chilliwack to Hope, we saw that the Trans-Mountain pipeline construction was  in progress through very difficult terrain. We arrived in Hope before 11 and while our room was being prepared, went to a bike shop to pick up a saddle cover for Gramie's bike. I also got advice on how to adjust disk brakes. We would be well rested for the Coquihalla Pass.

 

Construction of the pipeline near Hope.

Day 1. Starting our ride. Tsawwassen to Abbotsford, 85 km. April 28.

We caught the 7:45 AM ferry to Tsawwassen to start the ride eastward. We knew that this would be a bit stressful because of the heavy traffic and my unfamiliarity with the roads. To make it more interesting Google maps directed us incorrectly, which resulted in us riding about 10 km further than necessary. Distance today was 85 km. 

The bike route suggested going on the Boundary Bay Dyke path which sounded like the paths in Quebec- hard smooth gravel or tarmac. It was hard but not nearly as smooth as expected, and it was hard on the legs. The traffic was heavy even as far out of Vancouver as we travelled; my suggestion for others in our situation would be to catch a city bus with bicycle racks and take it as far east as possible to minimize your exposure to traffic. The transit map shows bus routes extending east past Langley, which is sufficient to put one on safer and quieter roads.

Anita's B&B was a disappointment because the second B wasn't a meal but rather a selection of cans and packages that can be eaten toasted or nuked. Not a good base for a lower carb diet. That made for an interesting next day.

 

Leaving the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal 

Nanaimo

We left Danny's on Monday morning and drove to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal via the Hope-Princeton highway. After unloading the car and assembling the bikes, I drove the

car to the airport where I dropped it off. I then caught the train and bus back to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. We caught the 3:15 PM and were met by Donald and Judi.

On Tuesday we visited with Terry and Anna, who had baked a cake for us on short notice. That evening we took Don, Judi, Larry and Elaine for dinner.

On Wednesday, Don and Judi drove us to Tofino and Ucluelet, where we got to see sand (Long Beach) and rock beaches.

Rhone to Nanaimo

After staying with Jeanette overnight in Armstrong we drove to Rhone/Westridge via Hwy 97 and Hwy 33 to brother Danny's place. This is where I was raised.  We moved to Rhone when Danny was 4 years old so that Danny could attend public school.  Although Rhone had only a one-room school for grades 1-8, it was better than Cookson, where there was no school and the population was only five including our family of four plus section foreman Joe. At Danny's, we spent the day shooting the breeze and getting to know his granddaughter, Mya's, horse. Danny's dinner was great with lots of his grass-fed beef. We had a great time with Danny, Joy, Shelley and Mya, along with Kenny and Darlene. 

The next morning, Monday, we left early and drove via Hwy 3 (Hope-Princeton Hwy) to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal where we unloaded the car and assembled our bikes.  I then drove the rental car to the airport in Richmond, where I dropped it off. I then caught the train and bus back to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. We caught the 3:15 PM ferry; as this was written, we were on the ferry to Nanaimo. 

 

Don and Judi met us at the Duke's point ferry terminal in Nanaimo. 

Continuing the drive. April 21-23.

From Moosomin we drove westbound on the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) in near freezing temperatures until the Alberta border. We arrived at Stu and Monica's home in Calgary around 4 PM in warmer weather. Later Lorne and LeeAnn joined us for a wonderful evening of reminiscing. I've known Stu since high school and Lorne since first year of university. He introduced me to pharmacology. 

The next morning we drove the Trans-Canada Hwy through Banff National Park westward as far as the intersection with Hwy 93.  The Trans-Canada Hwy east of Golden, BC was closed for almost all of May, and traffic was detoured south via Hwy 93 to Radium Hot Springs then north on Hwy 95 to Golden. As we drove through the detour, we carefully out the detour to determine its suitability for bicycling in the eastbound direction. It didn't look safe enough with bumper to bumper traffic from Banff to Radium Hot Springs making us think that we would probably use the Yellow head Pass. We stopped in Armstrong to visit Jeannette a childhood friend from my childhood in Rhone. 

Bicycle Across Canada 2022. Forward

Raison d'Etre-  Gramie turned 80 on Dec 08, 2022.  When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she came up with an unusual reply.  Instead of saying "Let's go somewhere special for dinner", she said that she wanted to bicycle across Canada again.  I.e. she wanted to bicycle across this country as an 80 year old.  As that was her wish, I quickly agreed and the wheels were put in motion.  The fact that federal government was still in full COVID mode complicated our planning because my incomplete "vaccinations" did not permit flying to Vancouver with our bicycles to start the trip.

In April, we identified Budget as the company from which we would rent a car in Kingston and drop it off at the Vancouver airport.  Budget had the most reasonable drop-off fee of $200.  We also wanted to visit with people along the way out west, so driving made sense.  We picked up the rental Toyota Corolla on April 19 and loaded the bicycles in the trunk and pass-through after removing the wheels.  When we left Kingston, we had planned to start pedaling around May 1 and that's when I would start describing our experiences in our blog. When we loaded our bicycles before leaving, the daffodils at the front of our house were just starting to bloom as is shown in this picture of Gramie with our neighbour, Betty.

 

Our first night after leaving Kingston was in White River, Ontario where it snowed. Our second night found us in Moosomin, Saskatchewan.