2021.09.02 – 2021.09.20 (18 days)
Having explored the province of Quebec and getting pretty comfortable and confident with being on the road – managing minor bike repairs (mostly flat tires), finding camping spots, figuring out the necessary equipment – we were now ready, and thirsty, to go on a bigger adventure. We are traveling as a trio, myself and two very good friends, Tihare and Gen. We’re used to doing bike camping trips together and we’re very much looking forward to this first taking our bike touring to another level. The preparation was surprisingly smooth; flying with a bike was easier than I expected! I’ll talk about that in a future post.
Day 1: We arrive in Vancouver after an unexpectedly long flight. BC is quite a ways away from Montreal! We’re lucky to stay with a friend of Tihare’s for the first few nights in Vancouver. His apartment even has a large storage basement where we can leave our bike boxes, which is where we assemble our bikes the following day.
Days 2-3: We explore Vancouver. A side perk of bike touring is that even when you’re staying in a city doing sightseeing between longer stretches of cycling, having a bike to explore cities is extremely practical, not to mention lots of fun (although I guessed we’re a bit biased on this one). It’s free to get around, it’s generally easy to bring them on the metro/subway if you choose to, and it allows you to explore different areas of the city while getting from one place to the next.
Day 4 (29km) – Vancouver to Saanichton: To save a bit of time, we hop on the sky train with our bike from West End, Vancouver, where we’re staying, to the Richmond-Brighthouse station, and then ride to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal where we buy our tickets for the next ferry to Vancouver Island. BC ferries are very much bike-friendly. There’s no extra fee for traveling with a bike. The ferry ride is beautiful, a treat all on its own. We arrive in Victoria (Swartz bay terminal) and make the ride to our campground: Island View Beach Regional Park.
Day 5 (25km) – Saanichton to Victoria: We ride to Victoria’s city center where we stay for the night.
Day 6 (48km) – Victoria to Ruckle Provincial Park, Salt Spring Island: We head back to Swartz Bay ferry terminal, making a stop at Mount Douglas Park for a hike up the mountain. It’s a steep but relatively short hike with a beautiful view. Once at the terminal, we take the ferry to Salt Spring Island (Fulford Harbour terminal) and then bike to our campground, Ruckle Provincial Park, where we stay for 2 nights. This campground is stunning; one of the highlights of our trip.
PERK: September is berry season in BC so we would often stop on the side of the road or bike trails to get a delicious feeding.
Day 8 (19km) – Ruckle Provincial Park to Ganges: We head to Ganges, a town in the north of Salt Spring Island, where we spend the night at Garden Faire Campground. Having gotten used to the spacious campsites of the provincial parks, this campground’s sites are definitely much closer together, but it’s still a beautiful campground worth a visit. Salt Spring Island has quite a bit of steep hills so be prepared for the possibility of having to walk your bike in a few places, especially if it’s heavily charged.
Day 9 (61km) – Ganges to Nanaimo: We take the ferry back to Vancouver Island (from Vesuvius Bay to Crofton) and make our way to Nanaimo where we spend the night at Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV Resort. This is quite a large campground which, again, wouldn’t be our first choice in terms of camping experience but without any nearby provincial parks, it does the trick. Plus, since we haven’t been able to make any camping fires since the beginning of the trip, because of a ban due to the high risk of wildfires, we rent a gas stove for the evening – as many other campers have chosen to do – and enjoy our first camping fire (kind of) of the trip. In the evening, we head to Nanaimo to check out the city and grab some food for dinner.
Day 10 (73km) – Nanaimo to Qualicum Bay: We ride on the Island Highway West for most of the way, which isn’t bad at all since it has a large shoulder, but doesn’t make for the nicest scenery. We get to Qualicum First Nations Campground in the evening, after a nice ride downhill. For a private campground, it’s quite beautiful since it’s right by the water.
Day 11 (48km) – Qualicum Bay to Courtenay: We make our way to visit my uncle in Courtenay where he lives with his wife, Marge. We spend a night at their home and explore the surroundings. We check out the salmon river with my uncle and are fed a delicious home-cooked meal.
Day 12 – Courtenay to Powell River: We are heading back to the mainland and are spoiled by my uncle driving us and our bikes right to the ferry terminal in Comox (Little River). We arrive in Powell River (Westview terminal) and head to my childhood friend’s place (where she lives with her partner Dieter and their dog Quinn) where we’ll be staying for a few days. We keep busy by going for an overnight hike up a mountain, going paddleboarding on a beautiful lake, and going salmon fishing on a boat (we even catch one, cook it, and eat it right on the boat!).
Day 15 (56km) – Powell River to Kleindale: We head south, taking a ferry from Saltery Bay to Earl’s Cove. We coin this day the flat after flat day because I got 3 flats that day. We find a motel with a few campsites in the back. The fire ban has finally lifted so we’re very happy to be able to make a campfire. We’re also lucky to meet some friendly dogs eager to make friends.
Day 16 (45km) – Kleindale to Roberts Creek: We continue south and spend the night at Roberts Creek Provincial Park, a beautiful campsite right by the water.
Day 17 (57km) – Roberts Creek to Vancouver: Leaving Roberts Creek, Tihare has a flat and we’re all out of air chambers, so she luckily manages to hitch a ride with a pickup truck to the nearest town with a bike shop, Gibsons. We fix the flat and continue onwards to Langdale where we catch the ferry to Horseshoe Bay and then ride the remaining kilometers to arrive back in Vancouver, entering back the city by the bridge going through Stanley Park. Six ferry rides, nine nights camping, five flat tires, and many eaten berries later, we’ve made it back to Vancouver!
Day 18: Having packed our bikes back in our boxes the night before, we head to the airport early in the morning to make our way back to Montreal. Our first trip flying with our bikes has been a success and we know this is just the beginning; we’re already thinking of the next trip, an international one this time!
Takeaway: We cannot recommend BC enough for bike touring, and especially bike camping. The roads are nice, there are many camping options, we felt very safe, the mountainous scenery is gorgeous, the ferries are very bike friendly, and the weather in September was great for cycling (in the early 20s during the day and a bit chilly at night but not too much if well dressed). We were warned about the grizzly bears but thankfully didn’t encounter any.