There was lots of talk in September about a gulf island biking trip, but nothing ever transpired. At some point several weeks earlier, I arbitrarily selected this weekend as a trip weekend (well, not quite that arbitrarily since Cyn was in Mexico the previous two weekends), although I very much didn't expect anything to happen since it would most likely have been raining. But as the weekend approached and we saw that the forecast was actually good, it seemed wrong not to go.
As it turned out, only Cyn and Michael were up for the trip. We were planning on camping, but got an invitation from Lewis to stay at his place if there weren't too many people; I hadn't talked to him in a while (except for a brief encounter at MEC a couple of weeks earlier) so it was a good chance to catch up, and we accepted the offer in exchange for Michael making lasagna for dinner.
Michael and I met at Cypress and 10th at 8am to bike to Horseshoe Bay, while Deb and Cyn took the less effortful bikes on car way there. We were there early enough to take our time (and find out that there are no bike shops in Horseshoe Bay, although I can't remember what it was that Michael wanted). The 10:30 Nanaimo ferry connects well with the 12:45 Gabriola Island ferry. The only difficulty we ran into was when we tried to follow a bike path to avoid the traffic; we ended up around the harbour and lost the trail. In the end, we had to make our way back on to the road before we found the Gabriola ferry.
Michael on Lion's Gate Bridge |
Andre on Lion's Gate Bridge |
Sleepyheads on ferry to Nanaimo |
Cyn hiding her head and Michael hiding his pants |
Cyn, Deb, and Michael on ferry to Gabriola Island |
Looking off the bow of the ferry |
Originally, we were thinking of riding around the island. However, it was pretty late by the time we arrived and had a little look around Lewis' place, and the island was much hillier than Cyn (or any of us, for that matter) had anticipated. So we opted to just ride aimlessly (or as aimlessly as one could with Lewis trying to think of places to take and show us). Before heading back, we stopped at Malaspina Gallery and relaxed in the setting sun until it stopped heating the rocks where we sat. It was also approaching high tide. I followed Lewis out, with Michael, Deb, and Cyn behind me. Surprisingly, a particularly large wave came in right after I walked through a shallow area and never receded; Lewis and I were the only ones to leave there with dry feet.
Neat tree at Malaspina Gallery |
Michael and Lewis |
Deb relaxing on the rocks |
Cool overhanging rock |
Cyn looking at the patterns in the rock while Deb and Michael enjoy the sun |
Room at Lewis' |
Lewis had been planning to depart the previous night, but revised his plan to Sunday morning so we could stay over. He did have to return to Vancouver by early afternoon though, so we had to be out of the door by 8:30. Since we were up anyway, Michael and I decided to just catch the 8:55 ferry with Lewis and try and get back for our ultimate game at 1, while Deb and Cyn took their time and rode around Gabriola a bit more. We parted ways with Lewis getting off the ferry because he was heading to Duke Point, and we were going to Departure Bay. The next ferry from Departure Bay was not until 10:30, so we rode by Kat's mom's house to say hi, but nobody was home (except for Spatz, and he was too comfy in the sun on the dining table to get up and let us in).
It was a really foggy day. There was practically no visibility on the Gabriola Island ferry, and if the ferry didn't have radar, we probably would have run over a sailboat lost in the lowlying cloud. The fog also slowed down the trip back to Vancouver, so we arrived about 15 minutes late (which meant that we got to ultimate about half an hour late).
Spatz on the dining table |
Fog between Bowen Island and little island outside of Horseshoe Bay |
Horseshoe Bay |
Fog over West Vancouver |