Touring - horseshoe bay towards mission,bc

so i'm off to do the canada coast to coast in may, was just wandering if anyone out there has cycled

from horseshoe bay to mission b4, what r the roads like along the way? by the looks of it its going be hw7

all the way?

i would like to avoid vancouver if possible.

how far is mission from horseshoe bay?

anyone know of any decent online maps i can look at, most of the 1's i have looked at r not detailed enough.

thanks

Here's a link to the maps with the details you seek:
http://www.translink.bc.ca/Maps/cycling_map_guide.asp

Mission is the next suburb after MapleRidge.

There have been some recent improvments to the cycle route on the south east shores of Burrard Inlet at the base of Burnaby Mountain. I highly recommend this scenic section be added to your cycle tour as you make your way from NorthVancouver into Burnaby.

Another resource for you is the BC Randonneer (sp?) club. Google them - I know they've done a bunch of rides out Mission way.

If you need a bike shop, there are 2 larges ones on North Van's Main St., within 5mins ride of the north end of 2nd Narrows Bridge (also called the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge): Johnhenrybikes.com & Covebike.com. So, a very minor detour for you and they're the most likely places to find what you need in the BC south coast.

thanks for the info dude, the maps will be really useful i'm sure

so i'm off to do the canada coast to coast in may, was just wandering if anyone out there has cycled

from horseshoe bay to mission b4, what r the roads like along the way? by the looks of it its going be hw7

all the way?

i would like to avoid vancouver if possible.

how far is mission from horseshoe bay?

anyone know of any decent online maps i can look at, most of the 1's i have looked at r not detailed enough.

thanks

I have done this route twice from Horseshoe Bay to Mission and once in the other direction. This is a very congested area but once you get past Maple Ridge, the traffice is much improved. For me the, the most difficult part of this route is from Horseshoe Bay to the IronWorkers Memorial Bridge. You can get out of Horseshoe Bay using Highway 1 but signs start appearing which inidcate that cycling is prohibited and in fact this restriction stretches all the way out to the Abbotsford/Chilliwack area.

Both times that I did this route to Mission from HB, I dropped down to Marine Drive which more or less takes you all the way to the IWMB although there is some possibility that a new route will be open, at least in North Vancouver. This will take you through a trail in the industrial area. Below are links to maps and information for West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Burnaby. WV and NV do show some existing routes but they seem to disappear in odd places!! Once you cross the IronWorkers bridge (great pictures of the inlet and Vancouver can be taken from this bridge), take route 7A to the east. This will take you through Burnabyto the north side of Burnaby mountain through several urban communities (Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam) across the Pitt River Bridge and on towards Maple Ridge. Again, this is a very busy stretch so try to stay away from the morning and afternoon rush hours.

The links are:
WV: http://www.westvancouver.ca/upload/maps/municipal-map/dwv-municipal-map-2005.html
NV: http://www.geoweb.dnv.org/maps/Thematic/bikes/bikes.html
Burnaby: http://www.city.burnaby.bc.ca/cityhall/departments/departments_planning/plnnng_plans/plnnng_plans_brnbyb/plnnng_plans_brnbyb_cyclmp.html

I hope this helps.

The Translink map is quite good (I should have looked at it before posting my previous message), especially from the IWMB east through Burnaby -- probably much better than the Route 7A. I will have to try this sometime.

thanks for the maps a great help!


cheers