Here in the Pacific Northwest we've had an exceptionally warm winter. Last weekend was the nicest of all with clear skies and afternoon temps of almost 60 degrees.

On Sunday, I decided to get a nice long ride in on my fixed.
Starting in Bellingham, I rode up to Vancouver with the thought that I could retrace the route I had ridden on last summer's
RSVP from memory then once i had taken a look around Downtown Vancouver, take the Skytrain to Surrey and then ride back to Bellingham
in time take my son out for Dinner.

The ride up to the border went by quickly - I finally started to finally get warm just after crossing into Canada just north of Lynden. This stretch of road is very quiet and scenic


Once into Canada, I got lost quite a few times and ended up buying a
map to get back on course again.
I decided to take a more direct route from the east into Vancouver when I could not find a safe route along the Pitt River.
I followed a marked bike route that took me on a climb from Pitt river to the top of Burnaby Mountain which really kicked my butt.
I made a mistake at one point and added to the elevation gain by turning onto a loop road that goes around Simon Fraser University.
Eventually, I got back on track riding into downtown on Hastings street a few hours later than I had planned.
Crazy gridlock downtown, I only had time to snap a picture of my goal then I had to rush over to the train station. It was getting late.


I found out at the train station that bikes were not allowed during the Olympics.
Now I had to find my own route across the Fraser River to the Border.
It was now almost 3PM and I was worried about running out of daylight.

I kept up a fast pace checking the map frequently since I couldn't afford to get lost anymore.
My goal now was to just get to the border before dark where the roads are more familiar to me.
Somehow I lucked out and reached the Blaine crossing just as the sun was going down.


Almost a 30 minute wait getting thru customs then a call to my son to tell him I was running late.
He was hungry, I was tired so I arranged to have him pick me up a few miles south in Birch Bay.
Riding the last few miles in the dark (had some blinkies front and rear..) was kind of a nice way to unwind from the day.
I rode nearly non stop the entire day covering what I estimate something over 120 miles. Not a bad weekend ride for February - certainly my longest of the year so far..

nice! sounds like a really fun ride. Nice shots too.
I'm waiting for the weather to get warmer in the northeast. Now we're facing two snowstorms.

I'm impressed! Great photos too.

Nice pics. Vancouver is really bogged down from the olympics. I'm safe in Victoria though.

What all did you take with you?

very jealous.

120 miles? Nice work man, for a leisurely ride, I'm really impressed.

My chode would have been cussing me out after 50 miles.

Nothing out of the ordinary except my passport. I wish I would have put a proper headlight on my bike and a better sense of direction.

The usual things I bring on any ride are some money, water, energy bars, cell phone, spare tubes, levers, mulitool, frame pump and 15mm wrench.

frick yes. photos of your steed, please.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=#post10146653

nice

So that's what green grass looks like. Everything here is covered in white.

ah, i remember that bike. So awesome.