Welcome to The 'Couv, Phil. We'll have you growing moss between your toes in no time.

I'd recommend joining the Vancouver Bike Club's (http://www.vbc-usa.com/) rides, particularly an edition of the Two Bridge Loop. This'll get you used to going across the Columbia, and access to Portland's network of bike paths. You can do quite a few miles without getting off the path by heading south and riding the Springwater Trail east or west.

Here's a PDF of the Vancouver bike lane/path map:
http://www.cityofvancouver.us/upload...ined_Final.pdf

For the most part, rail-to-trails tend to be paved, not gravel, around here. Once it starts raining, gravel or limestone paths tend to get muddy.

There's a couple off-street paths through Vancouver. The newest is the Burnt Bridge path, that goes from the Burton neighborhood out to Fruit Valley Road. There's also some paths that connect Vancouver Lake Park with Frenchman's Bar Park west of town, but I find that area is quiet enough that riding on the road is no problem.

In a couple years, the Chelatchie Prairie Rail-with-Trail should be finished, which will give us 33 miles of riding from close to downtown to well into the foothills of Mt. St. Helens: http://www.clark.wa.gov/chelatchie/D..._map_final.pdf