Since this thread has been bumped recently, I figured I'd pop in and give a quick update on some of the rides I've discovered (thanks to the help of many of you here!). Hopefully it's helpful to people down the road...
Surrey River Rd.
For a short-ish tempo ride I like to cross the Pattullo bridge, cross back under it and head down Surrey River rd. out towards Twassenn (sp?), I then get onto 68th and loop back up to River rd. and back to the bridge then home. I don't mind this ride, but there are a TON of semi-trucks on River Rd., so it can be a little unnerving at times when the road narrows.
SFU
For shorter harder rides I like to go up to the Lougheed Hwy and then turn up Gagliardi Way and then head up to SFU and do repeats of the climb.
UBC
Probably my favourite ride - it's just gorgeous out there, and there's lots of other cyclists around usually. I pretty much just head out Marine Dr. the whole way there, go through the endowment lands, and the park, then turn around and head home. I'm sure there are smarter ways to get to UBC from New West, I just haven't really explored any alternatives yet.
Richmond/Iona Beach
Cross over the Queensborough bridge, down River Rd. and head through Richmond, out to behind the airport and then down to Iona Beech. It's a nice Saturday morning ride!
Now the trick for me is to find a good club or team to ride or race with. There are lots in Vancouver proper, but their rides start so far away I'm not sure how to deal with that. I found a nice cycling club in New West, and while the people are super awesome and nice, the rides are more focused on gentle , relaxes bike-path style stuff - which is great, but not exactly what I'm looking for.
Last edited by DVN; 01-22-11 at 12:14 PM.
Reason: Grammar