PEDAL POWER

For our second day in Vancouver I had booked us a bicycle tour of the city.  But first, we had to carb up with a nice breakfast with our fellow B&Bers.  We had two women from Hanover, Germany (next to Loni), a couple from Sydney, Australia (across from Loni), and a couple from Edmonton, Canada.  A nice international group.  Our hostess, Mary Anne, is taking a pic from the kitchen. After chowing down, we started walking to the location of the bike tour place.  Vancouver is a wild mixture of 19th century and 21st century architecture, perhaps best exemplified by this pairing that we passed by.

We found Vancouver to be a great walking town, if you’re willing to put a few miles into the leg power.  There are lots of nifty neighborhoods, shopping districts, harbor stuff, etc.  Since we had only today to do a “comprehensive” survey of the city, we opted for the bikes to cover more ground.  Plus, it’s always nice to have a local guide to point out the stories behind the things we were looking at.

 

 

 

We chose Cycle City, mainly due to good reviews on TripAdvisor.  There are others that might be just as good.  They did a nice job here fitting you to a bike, and the equipment was all in good shape.  No junkers.  The gal to the left of Loni had problems all day as she was a weak rider and took wrong turns, separating from the group and getting lost.  She had to be fetched back several times.

This was a five hour tour, starting at 10:30 close to the bridge over to Granville Island.  One of the reasons we chose this tour was that it included Stanley Park.  At the bottom of the map, where it says “Planetarium,” is Granville Island and its connecting bridge.  City Cycles was just about where that red X is.  Our B&B was on Bute street, close to the green square.  So, we were pretty centrally located.  At the top right of the Park, you can see “9 O’Clock Gun.”  That’s a cannon that they still fire off each night at 9:00.  Why that hour, I don’t know.  We heard it while waiting for the fireworks.  “Old” Vancouver is in the orange area.  Modern Vancouver covers a LOT more territory to the right of this map.

Once geared up, we started pedaling through the city, stopping now and then for explanations of various sites and buildings, and then went into the Park, stopping at the Lost Lagoon, the totem poles, riding through the forested center, and so on.

At one point along the north shore, we stopped to take in the view of the Coal Harbor shore flats at low tide (it can swing 13-16 feet).  We never did figure out what that group was seeming to measure.  That big bridge in the background is the gateway to the north and our cruise ship would pass under it on our way out to Alaska.  It seemed like our stacks just barely fit under it.

Part of the ride went through the temperate forest, giving us welcome shade.  It was hot!  Loni’s in the white pants towards the front. 

After a stop at Beaver Lake (yep, we saw the dams), we headed back through town, along English Bay and Sunset Beach (west facing), and boarded a small ferry for the crossing to Granville Island.  There we had lunch, enjoyed the view of downtown across the water (the bridge connecting Granville to the right of me), and then continued our biking past a cement factory that had its holding towers painted by local artists.

The rest of the tour took us past the Olympic Village, now converted to housing, China Town, and the Gas Town portion of the city, named after (or by) a founding bartender called Gassy.  Neither lent itself to much in the way of photos, so nothing more.  We enjoyed the tour, but were happy to end it after five hours and 13 miles in the saddle.  We walked back to the B&B along a different commercial street, and were very happy to collapse on the front porch with a cold drink.

Our room, the largest in the house, and with its tiny bathroom in the rear, was furnished in 19th century style, and we really liked it.

The house has a nautical stained glass window, and an interesting door piece (Loni says it’s a rabbit).

Inside the house, I really liked the doors hidden behind book cases.  This one was on the second floor just outside our room, and revealed stairs to an upper level that I guess was for the owners.

After resting up, we walked about ten blocks to a Greek restaurant, the Olympia, and had an excellent dinner of lamb shanks, potatoes, rice, Greek salad, and two draft beers for C$21 each.  A bargain!  It was after 9 when we got back to the B&B, but still plenty light, so we sat on the porch and were joined by the owners and the two German gals for another hour of talk.  We really enjoyed our stay at Ashby House.  It certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was ours.  Now for a good night’s sleep.  We board the ship tomorrow!