Day 1 East Van - Victoria

Distance - 49.8mi / 80.1km

Today's fun started at 02:30 when we woke to our elderly neighbours fire alarm blaring! Chris reluctantly got out of bed to investigate. Turns out it was a false alarm, and our neighbour was fine if a bit shaken by it!

At 11:30 Chris arrived home from his exam, and the real fun began! By 12:05 we were out the door and on the road.

We had two ferry options out of Tsawwassen, the 3 and 5 pm. Google said it would take 3 hours to get from our place to the ferry. Are we faster than Google?!

We arrive at the Alex Fraser bridge to find the sidewalk is closed and a detour route that points us further up the on-ramp. We head forward only to find another sign that says lane closed. We can't turn around and go the wrong way down the on ramp - so we choose to brave the bridge traffic. Luckily it wasn't too busy mid day on a Saturday - but still not something I recommend! 

We reassess after the bridge and decide if we push to the ferry we might just sneak on the 3pm. Off we go! The moment I decide it's not worth pushing and I'm too hungry to make it, Chris pulls a coffee crisp out of his pannier and makes it all seem worth it!

We hit the ferry at 2:45 - take that Google!

Heading out of Swartz bay we take the Lochside trail - it's amazing!! Its takes us all the way to Victoria through farm lands, nicely packed trails, and we'll paved separated paths and rural roads. I would ride it all day everyday! There's even pigs basking in the mud!

 

We're on the final stretch into Victoria, and we make the mistake of using Google maps to take us THE HILLIEST route possible. Of course there is a flat route, I guess we should have looked that up before we got here!
We arrive at my cousin's place in Victoria, and they have dinner cooked for us - thanks Adam and Liz, you are amazing!

Tomorrow we have the day off as Chris is helping with Ironman medical (the reason we chose the Victoria route).

Monday we will jump on a ferry to Port Angeles where the real touring will start!