Today’s ride is the last day of riding for this phase of the adventure. My goal for this trip was to ride to the Vancouver Metropolitan area, or the Lower Mainland of BC, to visit my brother, his family, and my 90 year old mother. Only one more riding day to go until I am there.
I could have ridden all the way into Vancouver but there was no need to. Many years ago I used to live in the Lower Mainland so I know how beautiful it is. I will do some exploring once I am off the bike.
Since today is the last day of riding and it is a relatively short day there was no need to get going early. The advantage of leaving early, which I did not, was to avoid the record heat in the Pacific Northwest. However, the temperatures that were setting records in this location were still less than I experienced in eastern Oregon and Kansas. So it would be like any other day of riding. The day started along the coast which made it feel cool. Getting out of Bellingham was a little tricky because of the network of one way streets and then making a sharp right turn that immediately goes very steeply uphill. If I had not caught a glimpse of the hill before making the turn there is no way I could have made it. One needed to be in the granny gear immediately and I was. Once that short but steep hill was done it was cruising time. A few more ups and downs along the way.
When I got closer to Birch Bay, which is just south of Blaine, it was only then that I realized that I had gained more elevation that I expected. The downhill to Birch Bay was glorious. Birch Bay was nothing like I expected. There was nothing special about it and the touristy things were dated. Of course I missed the turn to Blaine because I was looking at the bay and ocean. I had to retreat to find the turn that I missed and came across the only thing that looked like a grocery store in the area.
Next it was onto Blaine. As I got closer I could feel a more of a Canadian vibe. The Canadian flag was flying more noticeably at places of consumer activities. In Blaine a motorist asked me for directions on how to get someplace as I was riding. I had no idea where they wanted to go. I guess because I was moving slowly, soaking it all in, riding a bicycle loaded with rear and front panniers, that I looked like a local. Far from it! Try 5000 miles from it. I knew in Blaine that I needed to take the truck crossing into Canada. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say in line with the cars or go where the bus passengers were processed. Since there were no buses at that time that is the place I went. But there was no one around. I went into a building for guidance but there was still no one Though I could not get very far without triggering an alarm. Finally after 5 minutes of asking for assistance someone told me where to go. I just needed to get to a different entrance into the building. Once inside I was quickly processed. I was officially back in Canada.
Next it was onto Pitt Meadows. The Adventure Cycling maps provided directions from this point to downtown Vancouver but not to Pitt Meadows. I knew where I needed to go and had driven the route many times, by car, but not a bicycle. Not too far from the border there was big hill to climb and the shoulder disappeared on the way up for a second lane of motor vehicle traffic. It did not look safe. I asked Google for an alternative and they provided one that bypassed the hill and took me on roads with either a bicycle lane or wide shoulders. The route was not terrible and the drivers seemed respectful of me as I was on the road.
The last step was to get myself up and onto the Golden Ears Bridge. Google showed the way and got me onto the bicycle path safely. Within a few minutes of getting off the bridge I was were I needed to be.
I am now going to spend a few weeks resting, seeing family including my wife and son before the next phase of this ride begins.
Today’s stats: total mileage 56.01 miles, average speed 13.4 mph, elevation gain 1362 feet, elevation descent 1532 feet, maximum speed 33.8 mph.