After several initial rides after I arrived in Victoria in March my cycling dropped off. I got involved in outfitting the house the weekend that I got it, (April 1 and 2) and then to unpacking and fixing things around the house. I think it has been only two rides in the last three or four weeks.
Two weeks ago, on Sunday April 16, I did about 50 k along Dallas and Beach Road and into Saanich. I took some pictures too, along Hollywood in Oak Bay.
and from McMorran’s parking lot along Cordova Bay Road.
That day I turned west, and hooked up with the Lochside and headed north into Saanich. I turned around when I got into the traffic at a soccer tournament at a community center on the trail.
After that there was no riding until today. The week leading into last weekend was awkward, with my working on organizing the house and getting the guest room emptied of random boxes and properly cleaned and set up for Claire’s visit, and preparing for my trip to Vancouver Sunday evening to get to Court on Monday.
I rode again today, just over 50 k by the Galloping Goose out to Langford and then out west a bit more. The Goose is paved in Victoria but gravel out past View Royal. It started nice but it got cloudy and cool. There were some fast riders on road bikes – I was passed by a few hard-core riders. I saw a group of over 20 riders coming toward me at one point. There were a few road bikes on the gravel, some going pretty hard but the traffic out here was lighter. The surface was good – better than the Harte Trail, smoother, wider and less road crossings. Some of the crossings involve dismounts and crosswalks on major roads. It was Sunday afternoon and there were several recreational riders and several family groups – adults chatting and pulling out unpredictably, kids riding erratically.
I keep the bike in the basement now, and I don’t need to do to much to ride – fill water bottles, check for my keys and and extra layer of clothes, check that I have tools and lights. I think I have dealt with many of the household issues. I can find projects but I have reduced the list of things to make the house work to a short and manageable one. I think it will be less projects and more personal time now.
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