Western Canada - Route from Nanaimo, BC, to Tsawwassen

To make a long story short, I'm going to be cycling from Nanaimo, BC to Tsawwassen, BC. The easy option is to bike to Duke Point Ferry terminal (about 40k) take the ferry, and then bike in. But the Duke Point Ferry terminal is closed, so the ferry I'd take is running out of Departure Bay now, which makes my bike ride to the ferry terminal really short and boring.

So I'm contemplating an alternative route. I'm considering going from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, and then biking from there to Tsawwassen. There are two basic routes at this point, one is to go over the lions gate bridge, through downtown Vancouver, into Richmond and then grab a bus to get through the Massey Tunnel. This is about 55 km and it's a route I'm fully familiar with. The other option is to go through North Vancouver to the Iron Worker's Memorial Bridge, take that to the Patullo Bridge, which is about 75 km, and an area I'm totally unfamiliar with.

What do you guys think?

Go the long route. Even better, add more miles going to Pitt Meadows and cross to Ft Langley, then work your way back through Delta to Tswassen.

I think the quietest and most picturesque route is to just ride down the Island to Swartz Bay by way of Chemainus, taking all the sideroads off of Hwy 1 that parallel it. Then take the Mill Bay ferry if it's getting dark rather than go over the Malahat.

L.

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. My wife will be expecting me at her parents place shortly after 3 PM on the 24th, so I can't take a route that'll take me too long, unless I leave really early. jdon have you biked across the bridge from Pitt Meadows that connects to Ft. Langley? How was it? lhbernhardt, can you provide more route details? I'm relatively new to the Island so I don't know the roads outside of Nanaimo very well yet. Do I take the Island Highway to Chemanius and the take side streets south of that?

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. My wife will be expecting me at her parents place shortly after 3 PM on the 24th, so I can't take a route that'll take me too long, unless I leave really early. jdon have you biked across the bridge from Pitt Meadows that connects to Ft. Langley? How was it? lhbernhardt, can you provide more route details? I'm relatively new to the Island so I don't know the roads outside of Nanaimo very well yet. Do I take the Island Highway to Chemanius and the take side streets south of that?

Yes I have bhdavis, It is nice, well segregated from road traffic and an easy route. I rode from Pitt Meadows to Kamloops last summer and used the bridge as my parents live very near by so I used it as my start point.

If you want to go via Mill Bay follow the Rotary bike route all the way from Nanaimo.

http://www.rotaryroute.org/docs/detailed_map.pdf

I've ridden it the opposite direction a couple of times and it's a great route.

Yes I have bhdavis, It is nice, well segregated from road traffic and an easy route. I rode from Pitt Meadows to Kamloops last summer and used the bridge as my parents live very near by so I used it as my start point.

That sounds like a terrific ride. My wife's family vacations in Oliver in the summer, and I'm toying with the idea of biking to Oliver, although I may just start with cycling from Tsawwassen to Hope. Either way, I need to remember your name for advice come the summer! :)


If you want to go via Mill Bay follow the Rotary bike route all the way from Nanaimo.

http://www.rotaryroute.org/docs/detailed_map.pdf

I've ridden it the opposite direction a couple of times and it's a great route.

Thanks a lot, that looks terrific!

Ihbernhardt is a very experienced lower mainland cyclist and randochap is a Victoria based, rando/touring rider that has toured BC extensively. I am always happy to help but have now lived in Toronto for 10 years so am not fully up to speed on best routes in the lower mainland. I do ride there a few times a year but everytime I go back, something else has changed.

Ihbernhardt is here quite frequently but I haven't seen randochap lately. You can find him at http://veloweb.ca/