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After encountering another cyclist in Hope heading east (an older woman biking home to Toronto solo), we had a quick breakfast and set off around 8:30. Our first stop was in Yale for a quick snack next to a historic Museum/Church. A few kilometers down the road, I got my second flat around the Yale Tunnel by turning my rear tire over a large rock and causing another pinch flat.

We had lunch at Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park and went down to the old bridge which used to take the highway across the river. The overcast skies started to clear up to be sunny for the afternoon. Continuing on, we had turned in to Hells Gate to look over the edge.

Some time later we had a huge climb up Jackass Mountain which was about 2.8km long and gained 150m of altitude. The heat and sun made this climb even worse. Not too far past the top we were lucky enough to find the Kanaka Bar Cafe where we stopped for milkshakes before descending into Lytton.

We looked for a campsite in Lytton and passed on the one we found because of it’s odd pricing scheme (charging per bike,person,etc). We went on another 6km to Skihist which also turned out to be a nicer site than the one in town.

So the trip has finally began. We started around 9 (my uncle is accompanying me again as far as Kamloops) in cloudy weather. I got off to a bad start with a flat in Maple Ridge around 25km into the trip. It was a pinch flat in the rear tire, though I don’t know what caused it. I carry 3 spare tubes so we put a new one in at the side of the rode and continued on.

We stopped at the visitors center in Mission around 51km for lunch and again later around “THE Campground” in Lake Errock to put on rain gear. Of course, as soon as we had it on it had pretty much stopped raining. And by the time we got to Agassiz it was sunny.

In Agassiz we met Jed and Jeff who are also biking to Newfoundland and happened to leave the same day only an hour and 3km ahead of us from Rocky Point Park. Marie at Cap’s Bicycle Shop had mentioned that there were two other leaving the same day as me. Little did I know that I had went to high school with one of them (Jed). Someone else from my high school did the same trip last year and had also bought his bike at Cap’s.

We left Agassiz to head on for Hope where we stayed at th eRed Roof Inn Motel which was the very first one off the highway and advertiszed having the best rates. After settling in we had dinner in town where we also saw Jed and Jeff eating across the street.

Earlier this week I completed the first stage of my trip between Victoria, Nanaimo, and home. I started this portion of the trip a week early since I could end it at home to wait for my graduation before continuing eastwards. This stage, as I will be for the next, I was accompanied by my Uncle Michael.

Sunday afternoon, we were driven to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal to catch a ferry to Swartz Bay. Unfortunately, as a result of being driven, I left my odometer at home. Normally, I would never bike anywhere without it but in this case, I didn’t leave by bike and so didn’t miss it until too late. Fortunately, my uncle has one as well and I would be able to read the distances from his at the end of the day. It did feel unusual to not know my speed while traveling though.

From Swartz Bay we cycled south along the Lochside bike route into downtown Victoria where we would find the western ‘Mile 0’ marker of the Trans Canada Highway in Beacon Hill Park. The route was a very nice combination of low traffic side streets and both paved and gravel paths, much of which used to be a rail line. Most amazingly, while on this route, we are completely hidden from the city, and it from us. Eventually we came out in the middle of the city and made our way to Mile 0. At this point, we had rode 37.3km. After taking some pictures, we backtracked north and made our way to my Uncle Chris’s home in Saanich where we stayed the night. Another 15.3km for a total of 52.6km for the day.

After a quick breakfast, we left at 8:30 the next morning as my Cousin Alistair had to leave for school and lock the door behind us. We took the Brentwood Bay Ferry to Mill Bay to avoid the steep climbs of the Malahat highway and then took a variety of back roads to Cowichan Bay, where we had lunch at the Rock Cod Cafe. We continued north to Chemainus and across another ferry to Thetis Island to stay the night at my grandparent’s. 62.7km for the day.

Another early start got us on our way to Nanaimo along the Yellow Point and Cedar roads. I’ve cycled this route several times before, most recently as little as two weeks earlier. A short while into the trip we stoped for a roadside visit with my Uncle David and the rest of his family when we encountered them driving in the opposite direction. From Nanaimo we caught the ferry to Departure Bay and cycled home so that we could continue the next stage from here later with no gaps in the route. This was a longer day of 91.5km. Though with the 2 hour break on the ferry, the extra distance did not seem noticeable.