After 20 years having a family home in Parksville B.C., … I FINALLY got to lovely Milner Gardens near Qualicum Beach. It’s open Thursday to Sunday during the good weather months.
I downloaded this book to read while cycling in Iceland’s wind and rain.
I had it easy compared to Trevor. 😀
At age-21, Trevor cycled 1800 miles down the west coast of Canada and the USA on a second-hand bike he had bought for around £20.
10 years later — in 1999 — he wanted more. Patagonia to Alaska .
His companion crapped out after the first few days. Trevor was alone.
His bicycle was terrible. No mobile phone. Very little money.
What’s different about this book compared with other similar adventures, is how honest and vulnerable the author is about all the many, many things that go wrong. You really feel the highs and lows.
Highest priority is National Cycle Route 1, the West Coast Route. 560 kilometers from the German border.
National Cycle Route 12 ➙ Limfjord Route looks interesting, as well. I rode part of that from Aalborg summer 2024.
Third priority would be National Cycle Route 9 ➙ en route from Berlin to Copenhagen.
As I post, Denmark is my #1 cycling destination for the future. It would get me back to Germany, as well, which is fantastic with the Deutschland Rail ticket making public transit almost free.
Part of the attraction are the fantastic free campsites in an otherwise very expensive tourist nation.
I’m still brainstorming future cycling destinations.
Actually, my original plan was Mt Washington all the way back to home in Parksville.
It only took 40 minutes to roll down the mountain from the ski resort to highway.
I detoured into Cumberland to pick up some refreshing Fresca. 😀
Then it was on to pretty and surprisingly undevelopedComox Lake.
On a sunny long weekend Saturday the gates were open and hundreds of people were out enjoying the water.
I’d forgotten that the road along the lake is a brutal series of steep up and downs. Pushing the bike more than riding.
Still — I was psyched for the Comox Line logging road to come.
I saw only 1 vehicle. That road is always deserted.
Just back from 6 weeks cycling in Europe I was feeling fit. The bike tuned up, new tires installed.
But — from Comox Lake it was all uphill, uphill.
Yeesh. I should have checked the elevation before starting.
A very tough afternoon.
I did find a good campsite on a logging road spur around 8pm. Cooked corn beef dinner in the dark.
Slept well. No bears.
Seems they are eating berries exclusively of late.
Sunday morning was fun. Mostly downhill to Port Alberni for lunch.
Another perfect day.
The route Port Alberni to Horne Lake is a slog. I’d done it a number of times in the past.
Up and over the island.
This time it seemed worse than usual, being so hot and windless.
The only highlight was the lookout over Port Alberni.
Worried about making it back before dark, I’d called my brother at lunch to suggest I might need pick-up at Horne Lake.
The afternoon was bad enough. And the route even worse as there had been much new logging since the last time I was there. New logging roads are impossible to cycle.
When I finally could see the lake and had 2 bars of mobile phone service, I called again to see if my brother could pick up at the Horne Lakes Caves parking lot. I was exhausted from too much hike-a-bike.
No problem … we thought.
I’d unloaded the bike and was waiting when he rang me back.
Dad’s truck had quit at the start of the Horne Lake road.
I had to reload the bike and continue another 12km or so to get to the truck. Dead.
It was a long weekend holiday Sunday night, yet Stacey was able to still get a tow truck with her CAA membership.
We had it towed to the dealership in Parksville.
On the upside, I did get a good tan.
… or is that dirt? 😀
I’m not keen on Vancouver Island logging roads at this moment in time.
Spoiled, perhaps, from all that easy cycling in Europe.
Rick McCharles 