For a number of years (since at least 1970), ONC-PDX has conducted road bike trips to either the San Juan Islands or to Victoria. We changed to Victoria about 10 years ago because of the chaos of the San Juan Island Ferries, accommodations, and bike-unfriendly roads. This year’s bike trip reinforces the wonders of going to Victoria!
Sixteen ONC-PDX members participated in the greatest trip yet! Most of us drove to Port Angeles, left our cars at Bob Vreeland’s house (long-term ONC member), and rode our bikes onto the ferry. No reservations for bikes were needed! A few did take their cars on the ferry, because of other travel plans.
We wondered as we got on the ferry and were confronted with winds — what was this trip going to be like? But the wind died down as we approached the beautiful Victoria downtown on the ferry on Canada Day — sunny and warm (but not hot). We left the Portland heat behind!
We rode to our accommodations at the University of Victoria Residence Halls; we had reserved four, 4-room clusters, with kitchens, living rooms, private bedrooms, two bathrooms — perfect for our group. After we planned our next day’s bike ride to Sooke, most went down to the local town for dinner.
The next day’s ride to Sooke, along the Galloping Goose Trail (old railroad bed), ended with lunch at the Stickelback Pub outside on the porch, with fabulous views of the water. The 53-mile RT flat road pushed our limits, but we all made it safely. What a treasure to be able to ride on this trail!
On Monday, most rode on the Lochside Bike Trail (another rails-to-trails bike trail) to Sidney and Tuesday, we rode around waterfront Victoria.
One fabulous event that occurred for one of the dinners. One of the participants (Fran) organized a group dinner for the group and we set up a table outside to eat and socialize. It was a wonderful event and will be repeated in future trips! Most people enjoyed the trip and plan to do it again.
