Remembering Summer

At long last, here are the promised photos of my ride on the Galloping Goose Trail the summer of 2018.

By-the-Sea B&B, Sidney BC

The place for maps in Sidney BC

On this trip, I caught an afternoon ferry in Anacortes, arriving in Sidney BC at 5pm, staying overnight at the By-the-Sea B&B, an elegant antique-filled Art Deco ( or Bauhaus?) house with a sleek curving stairway to the comfy second-floor rooms. It is located along the bike trail a bit south of Sidney, about a 40-minute walk back to town for dinner. But a generous breakfast in the morning, more than I could finish. (No donuts, though.)

Big 10-inch donuts

McNeill Bay,  from Harling Point, a former indigenous village called Chikawich, meaning "big hips".
This viewpoint is at the top of a short but memorably steep bump in the road that made me regret my big hips.

After breakfast I headed out on the Lochside and Seaside Routes to Victoria BC. The Seaside Touring Route branches off from the Lochside Route at (more or less) Bay Road near the Cordova Bay Golf Course. It's kind of a real estate tour for much of the way but there are some stunning water views here and there. The distance between Sidney and Victoria is only about 20-25 miles, depending on your route, side-trips or detours, and exact start and end points. I usually ride it in two or three hours. After idling at the viewpoints, parks and along the Victoria BC waterfront for a couple of hours, I checked in at Ocean Island Inn, the same hostel where I stayed last summer. In the morning, after another luscious Nutella-on-toast breakfast, I headed out for the trail.

OceanIsland Inn, Pandora St., Victoria BC

The route start in Victoria BC

I got another bear warning along the way, but this one was a little more plausible. A retiree-couple who lived by the trail stopped me, to say they had seen a black bear in an apple tree a little further on. They pointed down the trail, and I could see a tree shaking wildly beside the way. On second look, though, the tree seemed a little small to bear the weight of a bear, so I decided to risk it, riding as close as possible to the opposite edge of the trail, and got by safely. I'm not sure whether it was a prank, or NIMBY's trying to scare off tourists, or maybe they just wanted to chat.

Mechtosin Valley farm from trailside

Seeking a closer view of Lake Matheson, I left my bike leaning against a tree and followed a footpath to the edge of the bluff, where I walked up and down a bit, then sat on a rock for a rest break. When I turned to go back to the trail, I didn't recognize the break in the bushes where I'd come out. Since all paths only went one way, I just chose the biggest opening, but coming back from the opposite direction the rocks and fallen trees on the way didn't look familiar and I was a little worried for a moment that I could get lost when barely out of sight of the rail-trail. Embarrassing, but I guess it was a good reminder to check for landmarks.

Views of Lake Matheson from the trail.


















And here is a bad photo of the notoriously bad road crossing near Green Man Bicycle Shop, which was improved this summer. The old route followed the path on the right, leading to a Y-intersection with fast, heavy car traffic and no marked crossing. Now the trail branches to the left around the triangle-shaped building, coming out at a T-shaped three way intersection with a stop-light and crosswalk with a signal. Simple solution, but not quite perfect. For one thing, the Green Man Bike Shop is set pretty close to the street edge, which is convenient in a way, but riders who don't want to visit there have to make a sharp right turn to get back to the trail. More important, when the crossing light changed and I stepped into the crosswalk, three drivers making left turns passed in front of me without stopping, giving me that "what are you doing on my road?" stare.

I had stopped at a grocery store in the town of Colton to buy some lunch, so I was able to ride past Gillespie Road this time. The trail drops down sharply and I had to walk my bike a bit near Rocky Bay, but then I got on to the stretch of trail I had missed the summer before. I'm glad I made the return trip: the water views along Sooke Inlet are gorgeous, easy to admire from the wide, flat rail trail.

End of the trail

In the end I was frustrated again, though: the trestle bridge at Todd Creek was closed for repair. A detour required carrying bikes up a steep, rough dirt trail, and it was already mid-afternoon when I got there, with a 33 mile ride to get back to the city. Time to turn back. A better plan would be to ride a trail bike capable of carrying camping stuff to stay overnight at the regional park camping ground at the far end of the trail. That way I'd have time to explore and find some of the famous Sooke Potholes. I would also like to see a live Sitka Spruce . . . another summer.