In mid October 2023, I rode from home to Chemainus BC, visiting my dad, then the next day getting a lift to Victoria BC for a rather unique and challenging event. The day after the event I rode home from Victoria to Vancouver. The result was four days (three riding), about 235km, and all upon the Crust Wombat set up with a 36:20 gear ratio.
A quick intro to the event first: The name is a mouthful, and to describe the event is even more laborious. Basically, it’s a course that winds through both public trails and private lands to the north of Victoria, focused on hitting all the cool spots without much concern about difficulty. I did the shorter route, which was about 31km, and the elevation was over 800m! It was a mix of singletrack, double track, and pavement to connect it all together. I knew via friends that it was comically difficult for the distance. The biggest draw for me was the opportunity to ride through private lands that are permitted for just the day.
This rather epic weekend began with a morning ride to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, which is about 26km and rolling hills. I quickly found that 36:20 was going to be a bit tedious on flat ground and descents, although was welcomed on the climbs since I was carrying a few days’ worth of ‘credit card touring’ gear.
The bag setup was as follows: Randi Jo Fab ‘Big MUT’ bags on the fork via King Anything cages, a small HMPL frame bag with my tool kit, and the Ronsbikes Fabs Fanny on the handlebar. I was able to stuff my clothing into the two MUT’s, and the Fanny had snacks, toiletries, and other personal items. Not much room to spare!
The ferry ride was mostly uneventful, but I did see whales for the first time! Unfortunately they were pretty far from the boat, but very neat nonetheless. Once in Nanaimo, I decided to make a 3km detour up the hill to Longwood Brewery, not realizing that I’d arrive almost an hour before they opened for the day. Thankfully the employee arrived only moments after me, no doubt to do a bunch of non-service tasks, but graciously served me anyhow.
I then began working my way south along the coast of Vancouver Island to get to Chemainus, about 40km south. I took every opportunity to stay off the beaten path, but unfortunately there are stretches where that’s not possible including a few miles of highway shoulder. The majority of the ride was really pleasant and the early autumn foliage made the trip especially beautiful.
Also, I had been very lucky on the weather! As you may note from the first image to the most recent, the day had been growing increasingly overcast, but no imminent threat of rain as I toodled along the countryside. Rain wasn’t even on my mind, despite mid-October being traditionally very wet around here.
I was being a bit naive, it turned out, as it started to sprinkle on me with 10km left to go. I felt like I was nearly there, just one town over, but with over half an hour of riding ahead of me there was still plenty of time to get soaked. Thankfully the rain never amounted to more than off-and-on sprinkles and I was able to spend the final daylight hours enjoying the incredible ocean-front back yard of my dad and his partners’.
After a good sleep in Chemainus, I got a lift in his truck down to Victoria to save my legs a bit for the event – as the 80km ride to my dad’s on the single speed took a bit of a toll! Plus, there wasn’t a great route to get there without getting really ambitious and remote, as the section of highway is narrow and twisty and rather unsafe to ride.
Once dropped in town, I quite literally stumbled upon a brewery after only a few blocks (Ile Sauvage) witha food truck and decided to have a sandwich and a beer. I connected with friends who were also doing the event while there, and spent the remainder of the evening exploring the wonderful bike infrastructure in Victoria as well as having some more food and beer. We eventually made our way back to the AirBnB, a small old house that had equal parts charm and weirdness, for some final decompression before struggling to fall asleep.
I rode over to the event at sunrise, around 7:15am, treated to a beautiful riverside trail most of the 8km and a lovely sunrise. The weather continued to deliver!
I took a single photo during the event, too busy either socializing with fellow riders or pushing myself to maintain a good finishing time, which is shown above. The singletrack was at times quite technical, and no fewer than four riders went over their bars in front of me! I managed to finish without incident, and despite the steep and unrelenting hills, I never really wished for gears over the single speed: while it was the wrong gear sometimes, not having to worry about shifting or damaging the derailleur was a huge plus on course. And besides, when the going got steep, we were all walking anyhow.
After the event, the seven of us headed back to the AirBnB and celebrated our accomplishments with more beer and some delicious Thai takeout. House parties always become kitchen parties.
Despite having an ambitious ride the following day to get home, I imbibed enough to have a mild hangover the next morning. Thankfully only minor, and it didn’t stop me from enjoying the beautiful trail network from downtown Victoria up to Swartz Bay.
I mean, just look at it! This is the Lochside trail, and it is glorious. It took me well out of town, sometimes using low-traffic roads, but often a rail-grade and fully independent trail. Just a joyous way to travel.
I ended up at the ferry in blue skies, boarded, and was surprised as heck to climb out onto the open deck of the ferry to discover a storm cloud had snuck in and started pouring rain.
Up until this point the weather had been gorgeous, but I knew that the mainland was experiencing much wetter weather, so while the first 32km of my ride had been lovely, the next 60km were going to be interesting. Below are two photos from the Tsawwassen spit, where I was right on the cusp of the clear weather to the north and the dark and stormy front pushing in from the south.
I had two options to get across Delta: ride farm roads without shoulder and light to moderate traffic, or take the Boundary Bay dyke. The latter is much more beautiful and is completely car free, but also offers no shelter and is longer. I decide for the dyke anyway, taking my chances with the thunderstorm brewing nearby.
As the rain became coarse and heavy and the skies darkened, I realized I had maybe made a mistake. I booked it as quickly as I could to a small building a few kilometres away; it offered little in the way of shelter but at least I could press myself against the wall opposite the wind and be more protected than I was when out in the open. This seemed like a good a time as any to open the beer that my pal Ashley had sent me off with, since I might be hunkered down for a while until the storm passed.
Luck was on my side after all, and the storm stayed east enough that I only saw the edge of it. As I rode eastward once the rain stopped, the flooding made clear that things were a lot worse not far from where I had stopped. I opted to detour off the gravel dyke onto quiet farm roads in order to avoid riding into the storm.
My route north was a little-used double track along the Delta bog that is notoriously flooded. I knew that today of all days, with the recent storm, was bound to result in flooding. At this point I had been rained on pretty heavily, I was quite wet, and the temperature wasn’t so cold that getting even wetter feet was too big of a concern. After all, I’d be home in another two hours or so.
Sure enough, the flooding was impressive. Several hundred feet at a time were submerged in 4 to 8 inches of water. Using small pedal kicks to avoid dunking my feet at the bottom of the pedal stroke, I was able to get through this stretch without my feet getting too wet. Now that I was through the section that has been flooded for me before, I thought I was clear.
I was wrong!
This trail follows alongside a creek, whose water level had risen to the point that the two became one. Now, the area I was in was along a very large bog, and I really had no nearby alternatives to my knowledge so I pushed on, desperate to make it across. It became abundantly clear that this was not going to work unless I wanted to walk in knee-deep water for who knows how long.
Checking maps, I just needed to figure out how to get from the trail I was on to the overpass I had ridden under just a kilometer or so back. I backtracked, and started to explore the woods near the road to find a way. The road was in sight, but a steep and large gully separated me from the road, thick with thorny brambles.
I came across some old foundations in the woods; a creepy sight given the fact I hadn’t seen another human in quite some time. I eventually found a double track that led me towards the road; my efforts thwarted by a 6 foot fence.
I did climb over the fence, and I wish I took a photo of the process but I was in a rather panicked state of mind: I managed to hoist my bike up onto the top of the fence, where it got hooked by the pedal, and I was pretty sure I couldn’t remove it at that point if I tried from the side I was on – so getting over the fence was no longer optional. Yet I am not as spry as I once was, and it took me quite a few attempts to get up on top of the fence: and every time, my clothing was getting hooked.
A large black pickup pulled over where I was making this scaling attempt and the guy in the truck was making a phone call – I was sure he was calling the police on me. I continued to struggle over the fence, with little other choice at this point, and managed to eventually lower myself down the other side without ruining my jacket and pulled my bike off the fence. I had full intention of going up to the truck to explain my predicament, but he didn’t seem interested, and I warmed to the idea he was actually just making a call and my presence was pure coincidence.
Scooting up the overpass, I hopped onto a parallel trail that I spotted on maps (but couldn’t figure out how to get to) which turned out to be an overall better trail, even if flooding wasn’t a factor! Not only was it up the hill and safe from flooding, but it had a much better trail surface as well. I was able to continue up to the north end of Delta and took a cheeky little trail down across the railroad tracks to get back to my intended route.
The weather had improved at this point as well, and while the daylight hours were winding down, the sun was very welcome. At this point I was starting to need a more substantial calorie boost, and an on-route A&W came to the rescue. I was wet and muddy, and no doubt a strange sight.
After A&W, I cross the Fraser River to the BC Parkway, a bike route that I ride often enough that I basically felt home, even with 15km left to go. I took less photos at this point as I focused on just getting home; the sunset was enjoyable and then the dark riding was on familiar terrain which offered comfort.
Eventually, I was home and able to warm up via a long shower. It was an absolute success by every measure that mattered to me: I had a fun and safe race, and I had a true adventure getting to and from the event. All in one gear!
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