Downtown Sydney early in the morning.
Sunday, August 2nd, 2015, dawned bright and warm on the southeast corner of Vancouver Island. After the wonderful hospitality of St. Andrew's Anglican Church, the route for the day would take three dozen cyclists through Saanich into Victoria for lunch at the Spit on the Pacific Ocean, and into Sooke, on the extreme southwest corner of the Island. All said, a short 85 km or so through a rather scenic country. Of course, if you are in the province of British Columbia, you are in a scenic spot! Hence the old provincial license plate motto,
"Super. Natural. British Columbia."
"Super. Natural. British Columbia."
The 2015 participants, road crew and cyclists, in the 2015 BC B4B Island & Sunshine Coast Ride, outside St. Andrew's Anglican Church.
Andrew, who decided to be a roadie this year, waiting for the kick-off of the Ride.
Going through Victoria was pretty cool. The cyclists were split into four groups to ride through the city. They used a trail called the Galloping Goose Trail. There was a nice bridge on this trail that I tried to get to for a vantage point, but the riders were upon it before I was able to photograph.
I spent a day in this city ten years ago as a member of the B4B Centennial Ride. We had an off day before the start of the ride, so I rode up one of the steepest hills in the city with a couple of other Centennial Riders. In 2015, our group of athletes conquered another crazy steep climb-right after lunch with full bellies!
We had lunch on Ocean Boulevard, opposite of the Canadian Force Base (CFB) Esquimalt. On the other side of the Boulevard is the Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary. I spotted the first of many bald eagles here, soaring over the Lagoon, and in the shallows in front of the Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse were several great blue herons of the vulnerable west coast race. We also saw one or two large ships, likely ferries plying the Port Angeles, WA-Victoria Route.
We had lunch on Ocean Boulevard, opposite of the Canadian Force Base (CFB) Esquimalt. On the other side of the Boulevard is the Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary. I spotted the first of many bald eagles here, soaring over the Lagoon, and in the shallows in front of the Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse were several great blue herons of the vulnerable west coast race. We also saw one or two large ships, likely ferries plying the Port Angeles, WA-Victoria Route.
RSS Feed
