July 10, 2016 Victoria --> Sydney --> Victoria - 50 miles

The words for the day - "pristine" and "vivid". 

Left the motel under cloudy skies at approximately 10:00 am, headed for the 20 mile ride to Sidney via the Galloping Goose and Lochside Trails. This was one of the most interesting bike trails I have ridden because of the variety of interesting sights along the way. Plus it was essentially flat the entire way, which made for a lot of enjoyable cruising. The trails were packed with all manner of Sunday bicyclists - from touring bikers, to recreational bikers, and whole familes biking together. Nice to see. Victoria is definitely a bike friendly city, and many, many people take advantage of the bike lanes and trails.

The initial few miles of the trail were bordered by those colorful wildflowers, and places overgrown with wild berries and fruit trees you could almost pick from as you rode by.  

Proceeded to ride by pretty marshes, with tons of ducks and even herons casually floating on the water. Also came across a white and brown bunny rabbit having Sunday brunch by the road. Can't say I have ever seen a rabbit that color in the wild. 

Another phase of the trail ran through beautiful neighborhoods, then exited to the country alongside huge farms and horse stables. There was also a group of very serious remote model airplane operators participating in some sort of activity. Several of the airplanes performed quite complicated acrobatic feats. I even came upon a couple of huge pigs rooting around in the mud until they were so settled in you could barely see them.

As I approached Sidney, the trail gave way to impressive homes and neighborhoods along the coast. Every one was immaculately landscaped and full of vibrant flowers. It almost felt like DisneyWorld. A young man rode up alongside and said, "Good taste in bikes". When I looked over, he was riding the exact same model year and color Trek 520 touring bike. Looked like my bike's twin sister. His wife rode up, and I learned that they were from Flagstaff. Flew into Seattle and rode/ferried over to Vancouver Island. They were on their way to catch the ferry to Vancouver, then Amtrak back to Seatle to catch the flight home.

 

As you might expect, Sydney was pristine, with vivid colorful flowers everywhere. I rode to the pier and had brunch at the Pier Bistro, right on the water, a wonderful veggie omelet with this delicious homemade whole grain toast. Just outside on my right, a group of gulls, and what I learned was a commorant (?), were perched on the pier. The black commorant looked like a heron, but the gentleman dining next to me cleared up my confusion.  Told me about the role of the birds in WW II. Interesting. 

After wandering around town for a bit, I started the return trek back to Victoria. Along the way, a woman cyclist from Vancouver and I rode together for a while. She has evidently done a number of rides all over, including San Francisco to Vancouver, and many over in Europe. However, my sense was that she prefers organized tour rides, rather than solo. In any event, she told me about the scenic sea route along the Victoria coastline, and raved about the views and the mansions. We stopped, and she showed me the route on her maps. Would add probably another 10 miles to my ride, but since it was still relatively early in the day and the weather had turned sunny and warm, I decided to take that route - wouldn't want to miss something! It was a beautiful ride, although it was getting quite cold by the time I ended. One of the most stunning sights of the day was this yard that was literally blanketed with bright flowers. It took my breath away. Also saw a deer leisurely cross the road in front of me. Would have taken a picture, but she was already in the bushes by the time I could get my camera out. 

Reached the area of my motel around 5:00 pm. Stopped by the grocery store and picked up a big crate of fresh blueberries - was having withdrawals. Returned to my room and had the other soup I had been carrying around since the start of the trip with gold fish crackers, topped off by the blueberries with ice cream. Delicious. 

Since I ended up today with a longer ride than planned, I decided to take it easy tomorrow and get all my ducks in a row for the next phase of the journey. It is approximately 65 miles to Port Renfrew, and I am told it is a pretty challenging ride. So, need to get some rest, do laundry, etc. I may venture out to Butchart Gardens, but will just play it by ear.