Category: General

Unsurprisingly, June started with a bike ride. I seem to always get out on the first of the month. This time it was up the Seymour valley a little ways, not quite to mid-valley, to a nice spot along the river to have a mid-afternoon beer. Two days later was parkbagging again, and I haven’t explained what that is. It was started by another local bike fella, Mike, earlier in the pandemic as a way to get out and enjoy some time with friends outside. The premise is this: ride to every park in Vancouver in alphabetical order (2 or 3 at a time, typically) and have a beverage (most cases a beer) in each one. This has been going on for about two years at this point, and as of this ride, we were in the Q’s. The last park was Queen Elizabeth Park, one of the biggest and best of Vancouver, and we sat at the lookout – me on the front of Lukas’ cargo bike pictured below.

A few days later I rode the Twenty to get food for Sunny from the vet, stopping in Copley orchard on the way home as I often do when passing through this area. This was one of the preparation items for a week away – this was my last ride before Aimée and I boarded a plane to Ottawa to visit her family.

We travelled to Ottawa on Sunday, June 9th and spent the first afternoon / evening settling in. We were staying in Aimée’s mom’s place with her sheltie, Hamish.

I was also welcome to ride Aimée’s mom’s bike: a vintage mixte that was much too small for me. I’m impressed she likes the bars so low; I already feel too old for that. The bike hadn’t been ridden much in the past who-knows-how-long, but got the tires pumped up and the brakes dialled in. So far it had been raining most of the time since we’d arrived, so a bike ride was not imminent – plus, I did obviously have to prioritize spending time with the people we flew across the country to see.

Okay, some more Hamish photos because he’s the sweetest and cutest boy. Having a dog to take care of while we house-sat (Aimée’s mom was staying with her other daughter just down the street while we were here) really helped us feel more at home and in our daily routine, and eased missing our own dogs, who were being dog-sat by a hired house-sitter.

My first bike ride in Ottawa was Tuesday, late morning, with my brother-in-law acting as a tour guide. I was amazed by the network of bike paths that were fully separated from the roads. We crossed a bikes/pedestrian-only bridge into Quebec, just the other side of the river, and followed a seaside path eastwards for a few kilometres. We then crossed back over to Ottawa on a mixed use bridge that also had a very wide, lovely bike and pedestrian lane. This brought us to downtown Ottawa and around the Parliament buildings. Thankfully I had my tour guide Joel who pointed out various notable buildings such as the Supreme Court.

Before making our way back we stopped in at Mill St Brewing for some lunch, and just as we arrived it started to rain. In Vancouver this typically means it’s going to be raining for a while, but in Ottawa you merely need to have a sandwich and a beer and the rain will be long gone! We never had to get wet.

The ride totalled about 25km and we only shared maybe 1.5 km with cars, and even then there was a marked bike lane. Amazing!

We hung out with the family for the afternoon, and I got word that I could also borrow Aimée’s sister’s bike: a modern hybrid with disc brakes and flat bars – yes please! The vintage road bike got me around, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable. Feeling the itch from not riding much the past week, I snuck off for a 45 minute ride while others readied for dinner. I rode to the arboretum I remembered passing on the way in from the airport, about 11km round trip. More beautiful paths! Ottawa is pretty flat so easy recreational cycling is extremely accessible here with this network of paths – but while it was amazing for a week visit, I can imagine it gets boring after a while.

Wednesday morning I snuck off again for a couple hours’ ride on the hybrid. I rode over the nearest bridge into Quebec because I hadn’t been over it yet, and travelled northwards on a gradual climb into the Gatineau Hills after a little stretch along the river. Once again, the network of bike paths was impressive.

I rode into the park for a while with the initial goal of making it to Pink Lake, but came to realize it was a little further than I had time for. So I rolled back down the hill on another bike path, and into downtown Ottawa again. With some further free time granted, I explored around and ran across Beyond the Pale, a brewery name I recognized. They had a massive patio so I saddled up for some lunch.

From there I decided to try for one of the breweries my beer-nerd friends recommended, and the one within reach was Tooth and Nail. I got a flight of three Belgian-inspired beers and they were excellent. By the time I had ridden back to our neighbourhood, it was a little over 31km – and a measly 164m of elevation, almost entirely from Gatineau Park. Pretty flat out here!

Wednesday we went to the old part of town and did some light shopping with family, and hung out with the dogs. Aimée’s sister had a puppy that was just with them for a few weeks I believe upon our arrival. Very cute and a fair bit of trouble.

The following day I got out for one last bike ride before returning the ol’ hybrid – this time I went to the west, where I hadn’t previously explored. Again I found the network of bike paths to link up seamlessly and take me at least pretty close to anywhere I would want to go. I was really jealous, and a little bit angry, that we can’t have something even close to this in Vancouver.

One of the things I was really enjoying observing on my bike rides was how different the houses here were. Without a fault line to worry about, brick houses were more common, and I found myself in some pretty old neighbourhoods. The pathway photos are probably seeming pretty redundant at this point – it’s true, it all kind of looks the same. Again I could see it getting a little bit old in terms of recreational riding, but first and foremost they are valid and wonderful ways to get to work, the store, etc as well.

I also enjoyed seeing different birds than back home – red-winged blackbirds and cardinals in particular, which I’d never seen in real life before. I’m no birder, but… I guess I’m getting closer to being one. Speaking of ecological differences from BC, I had to also be aware that ticks were more common here, something I thought about every time I ventured into a trail, and also apparently poison ivy. That’ll keep me on the trail!

This ride was 26.5 km, which brought my trip total to 93km of exploring Ottawa and Gatineau – I wasn’t sure if I’d ride at all this trip, so I was very pleased with this!

As our trip drew near a close, we visited Hog’s Back falls for a nice walk with Aimée’s mum and pup. We encountered a groundhog and chipmunk duo.

The flight home was pretty uneventful, though we were treated to a beautiful sunset from the plane as we crossed over the BC rockies. We got home late, tired and happy to be reunited with our own pups.

I guess I was still itching to ride my own bikes though, because even though we got home nearly midnight on Saturday, I was out on the Stooge by mid-morning Sunday – and got over 60km in on the big bike. I rode / bushwhacked some trails on Seymour, then worked my way all the way west to Cypress where again I bushwhacked – this time less successfully. I should have probably known when I had to hoist my bike up a literal ladder to get into the trail.

But all’s well that ends well, and I had fish n chips while watching a ferry float past. Not bad, not bad.

But also it was nice to spend time with Leia and Sunny at the park. That’s Poe and Prince in the background.

The long evenings continued to facilitate TCR’s, this time to Strathcona Park in Deep Cove – a spot I had TCR’d to back in 2021 with a mostly different crew and hadn’t been back to since. I rode the single speed Wombat, which gets the job done real nice. It’s a great summer bike.

Once a month or so, on Fridays, I meet up with my friend Nick at Strange Fellows and we hang out on the covered patio. Somehow it seems to be dry and sunny until we are on our way there, then it surprise-rains.

The theme of this month was blue Bike Fridays. The one Nick brought I had considered buying, and actually was planning to buy when I pulled up Marketplace and saw this disc one for a little bit more. In a weird “small world” series of events, I sold the racks mine came with to the guy who bought this older one, and then Nick bought the older one from that guy after he had done a bit of upgrading.

And to round out the story: Nick ended up buying mine from me a couple months later.

The next weekend, Rob and I set off to explore some trails in West Van. I was ready to roll earlier than he was, so I spent some time roaming around Stanley Park and looking at flowers. As you can see in the large image below, the Bombadil was set up to be ready for anything: a bottle of water, a bottle of electrolytes, and a can of beer.

We took what has become a quite established route over to Cypress, and by that I mean established for us – I doubt few others, if any, take this particular route. It follows a river trail, then along a series of side roads and paths that stay just below the highway. They link up really nicely but are not obvious at first. Then, of course, there is Rob’s Fence Line to get us the last little bit to Cypress Bowl Rd. The fence line was pretty overgrown. We climbed the infamous ‘Google is Wrong’ gate and then into the Cypress Falls trail network.

The Cypress Falls trails are not bike trails, but I don’t think they say no-bikes anywhere either. To most it would just be obvious not to do that. The thing is, though, it’s beautiful in there – so of course we’re gonna go anyway. And some parts were lovely to ride! Other parts were lovely to walk. I mean, if you scroll down to the wide format photos, you’ll see what I mean! Beautiful area of forest, and some big trees in this zone too.

We started descending towards the water and found a tunnel that I’d passed by countless times on my way to the ferry and never noticed! It led us to a school ground with fun rock, and then we ended up on connector trails that were much better than either of us expected. Finally we reached Caulfield Park, a gem of a spot right by the much more well-known Lighthouse Park. The ocean-front riding is really fun, though not always rideable. We also spent a good deal of time just lounging on the rocks like lizards.

Upon reflection, there was actually a good bit of stairs on that seaside path. But it was really nice, so I hardly noticed until now looking back at the photos. We ambled to Ambleside and had fish n chips while a band played nearby on the beach. Summer vibes! Ride was 52.5 km and 833m.

The next few days included Aimée’s birthday, a bike commute, and plenty of time at the park – but I have very few photos worth sharing over this period. I did a clothing donation run on the Hillborne and got a selfie of sorts:

Then the following weekend, now the 28th of June, I went for a bike ride I had in mind for a while: Port Moody, to see about the trails near Buntzen Lake. I wasn’t feeling particularly well but managed to convince myself of the rather ambitious route anyway. Heck, I even took the difficult side trails instead of just riding Barnet Highway. But I mean, look at those first handful of foresty photos – it’s beautiful in there. I also found some ripe thimbleberries along Barnet Trail.

Once in Port Moody I stopped for a VegOut burger and a pale ale which seemed to help. From there I looped around the Burrard inlet, and then straight up – a 20 percent grade road, which dead ended into a 20 percent grade trail. The trail got worse and worse, to the point I was starting to think I’d have to turn around, then got better and better until I was on smooth gravel!

I was in what’s called the Bert Flinn trail network, which is a mix of green and blue MTB trails. Quite gravel-bike friendly compared to most local MTB trails, these weren’t too steep and only modestly technical. Most of the wood features were older, many rotted away. As I hope the photos convey, it’s really lovely in here. I went back with Rob in November, aboard the newly built Evasion which I had literally this route in mind when I built.

The descent out started to get a little bit more rooty and rocky, as well as picking up some steepness, and eventually I wrote a cheque the Bombadil couldn’t cash and I went OTB for the first time in a while. Couple bruises but nothing major, and the bike was OK too. I climbed up and over the hill between there and Dageraad Brewing for a well-earned beer before heading west to home. Ended up a little over 62km and 1050m of climbing, the elevation being almost exclusively on trails.

The following day was another edition of Parkbagging, this time starting at Quilchena Park well out in Kerrisdale along the Arbutus Parkway. We then headed east to Ravine Park and Renfrew Ravine. In the end it was 32.5 km for me.

That about did it for June! I now leave you with some photos of flower and our girls. In terms of riding, my mileage was down quite a bit versus the previous two months at 487 km, but I got some really fun ones in and we got to spend a week in Ottawa which was great. I tend to ride a lot less in summer than in spring, anyway – it’s too hot sometimes, and there’s just more things happening in general.

Continuing on with the month-by-month recaps, now that I’m committed to it. May was my strongest month of the year for riding. It’s also my favourite month for cycling, so this came as little surprise. The days are long, it’s not too hot yet, and it’s decidedly less busy still than the summer months. Nature is in full force and at peak vibrancy for the year. What’s not to love??

I started the month with a TCR (tall-can ride, a longstanding tradition with my slack friends) to Rice Lake, taking pals Rob and Dave to my favourite tucked-away spot. We got to watch an eagle swoop back and forth looking for their dinner. Rice Lake is always lovely, as long as there’s no loud humans nearby. We took the perfectly normal paved way in, but opted for some under-biking on what are objectively hiking trails on the way out. Blame the beer.

A couple days later, the weekend had arrived and Rob and I went for a North Van loop – up to the mid-valley lookout, followed by a traverse across to Ambleside where I showed him the lovely take-out fish n chip situation. I didn’t take a ton of photos, but it was a full and lovely afternoon on the bike.

On the Sunday was a vintage bike swap meet not too far away, so I rode over to check it out – picked up a couple things, too.

Since the days were long, after work rides have become more commonplace. I made a Monday trip out to Dageraad – a typically slower day at the establishment suits me well, giving me space and quiet on the covered patio. At this point, I spend most of my camera reel on the abundant flowers I pass by. Exhibit A:

The girls were also enjoying the spring weather, with lots of time spent in the grass.

On May 7th I was commuting home from the office on the Bombadil and got word there were Orcas off the coast of UBC, heading eastbound. I was in Richmond at this point, 15 km away from the coastline I’d need to be along, but I booked it north to New Brighton Park in hopes I might catch them.

With low expectations, I showed up to see a few others lined up and waiting – a good sign I hadn’t missed them! Only one orca remained heading this way, but only a few minutes after I showed up he cruised by – my first time seeing an orca from land! The photos are not very good, but they are at least conclusive evidence!

A couple photos of appreciation for my local park, with the wisteria making the community garden sign pop and an absolute unit of a blooming tree. I’ve made a lot of friends here, both human and canine.

May 8th was a parkbagging day, and I rode the Wombat out to Point Grey.

Once again, a visit to Strathcona gardens because there are a couple impressive wisteria there – and they smell phenomenal! The Laburnum trees were also in their stride, the one pictured is just down the street from our place and is one of the bigger ones I saw this year.

With the return of the weekend, May 10th I rode over to Deer Lake gardens because I knew they had a lot of rhodos and other spring bloomers – and I was not disappointed!! This makes for a lovely chill loop, as it’s about 25km and can be done almost entirely on separated paved pathways – Gilmore and Deer Lake Pkwy on the way out, then Kensington to CVG back. An easy pick when I don’t want to work too hard, nor mess with cars. And for some reason I was compelled to roll into Hastings Racetrack on my way home, where some horse races were going on. Kinda interesting.

The following morning, a group chat message came in warning of a tree down across the Hydraulic Creek connector in the LSCR. I happened to own a folding saw that I hadn’t really put to good use before. So off I went. Doesn’t take much to convince me to do a LSCR loop, anyway!

The sawing took a little while, but got the job done.

Then now a couple random shots from the next day .. the girls at the park, with Sunny being a goofball while Leia acts proper beside her, just like usual. And the really excellent trellis of wisteria at the Strathcona gardens, where I visited once again in combination with a stop at Luppolo Brewing.

On my weekly commute this week, I opted to take the extra long way home – traversing Richmond to New Westminster, then around New West and through Burnaby. I stopped at S&O for a cheeky glass in New West, then again at Dageraad in Burnaby more than an hour later. I got home around 9pm after leaving work at 5!

May 17th, Saturday again now, I headed out on my Stooge Scrambler for a little forest time on Seymour Mtn. I rode up some neighbourhood trails to the Hyannis trail network, climbing to Greenland / Bottletop area and then continuing on a little loamer that extends north but doesn’t really go anywhere. Doesn’t matter – it’s beautiful in there. I take it as a simple out-and-back every now and then even though it isn’t rideable in spots, just to take in the scene. It was so intensely green in there, I took a lot of photos and marvelled at the beauty.

Sometimes I go months without riding this bike, and every time I do I question why I waited so long. It’s an excellent trail bike.

The following day, Sunday, I went out for a more ambitious ride – to the newish Four Winds Beach House in Tsawwassen Mills, a new development near the border to Pt Roberts WA. Rob and KB joined me, transiting from downtown to Ladner, while I stubbornly rode from home. It was about 41 km between home and the meeting point, and I passed Barnside Brewing shortly before (but didn’t stay for a beer).

Upon uniting, we promptly started making questionable choices, riding through a long stretch of grass before crossing a pedestrian overpass that was stairs on both ends. And this was all within the first kilometre together! We headed south on 64th Ave until we reached the gravel trail that traces around Boundary Bay – I take this trail when going to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal as well, and it’s very long and monotonous. It’s good to ride with friends. Nearing Tsawwassen, the terrain becomes quite interesting as it’s just above the tidal zone.. I’m sure it has a name. But it has unique vegetation and supports different birds etc than most of the lower mainland.

We reached the beach house and had a rather swanky meal and drinks, then set off to explore the neighbourhood. We rode right along the edge of the border – as close as I’m willing to get to the US these days – and then through an off-leash park where we saw a huge pig. That’s a new one. On our way back north we took the whole length of boundary bay gravel path (about 15km), then north along the Delta watershed trail network. Rob and Karen peeled off once we were into Queensborough, and I continued on, back to the BC Parkway from New West to home. It was my first over-100km ride of the year, I think!

The Monday thru Wednesday of the following week was pretty chill, but Thursday I headed off for two nights on Saturna Island, the first night being solo and second night being joined by my friend LA. I won’t get into it too much though, because there’s a whole write-up already here.

I got back pretty late on Saturday from that trip, having taken an especially long way home to try to catch a bike event in New West, and took the next couple days mostly off riding. On Tuesday though I grabbed the Stooge for a home-to-trails ride seeking out salmonberries and also some XC style trail riding.

The commuting at this point is all-time, almost as good as not needing to commute in the first place.

And the days are so long that evening the before-bed dog walk isn’t in the dark. Bliss.

As the month nears its end, I got out on the 30th for an after-work north van loop (about 35km) on the Wombat, including heading up to the Murdo Frazer pond again, and on the 31st a short trip on the Twenty to pick up beer.

I’ve since sold the Wombat, and I do miss it, especially looking at these photos and thinking about this ride. It was a light, quick, and capable little single speeder. But it allowed me to buy the Evasion, which is quite a good adventure bike.

So yeah, May wrapped up with 821 km on the bike! The 114 km ride to and from Tsawwassen as well as the Saturna camping trip both padded the number quite well, but also a fair share of after-work 30-40 km rides in there as well really added up.

The arrival of April brought with it a rapidly expanding variety of blooms, and it was now the season of me going for after-work rides to larger gardens just to appreciate them all. The earlier blooming cherry blossoms were at peak, so I made a few detours on my commutes to hit up the best streets. Made me wish we didn’t have so much street parking .. really ruins the beauty. Well, I have a grudge against street parking for many reasons, but I digress.

The days had grown quite a bit longer, too – something I don’t appreciate enough about spring as I sit here writing this on literal winter solstice day. While the weather is still cool and wet, the daylight hours are blissfully long and make longer after-work rides doable before sunset.

One example was April 4th, when I followed a route that Rob had been working on in North Van that started at McKay creek and went uphill from there, following some rather sneaky trails and connections that few know about. It wasn’t a hugely ambitious ride, but had plenty of adventure as well as a restful beer stop in some lovely chairs along Mosquito Creek.

April 5th and Aimée and I’s anniversary (number 15!!) so we went for a nice forest walk on Burnaby Mountain with the girls, followed by fancy dinner on the patio of Dachi. Super lucky that the weather was patio-friendly on this day.

The next day, Sunday April 6th, was looking to be real rainy all day. But committed to getting a ride in this weekend, I decided to put on the poncho and get out there anyway. At first it was just kind of novel and silly to be riding in the pouring rain, but I rode over to, and around, Deer Lake and it went from ‘character building’ to truly peaceful and beautiful. I was pretty much the only one around, and the lake has a profound beauty in the rain. The photo of my Bombadil on the dock, in what looks like a black and white photo, is one of my favourites.

A few days later I got out after work again, this time on the Stooge, to ride a little loop just other side of the bridge. The weather was iffy but warm enough to take a chance. The Stooge is running dual plus-size Rangers at this point, so it’s pretty efficient rolling on pavement. This route was pretty optimal for it, with a bit of everything. The last photo features Seymour river near its mouth into Burrard inlet; you can see how much rain has fallen recently here!

Some other things I had been getting up to.. always lots of dog cuddles, a beer in the orchard on the commute home, and the first ‘rains’ of cherry blossom petals has begun. I rode the Hillborne again, first time in a couple weeks, to Waterfront Park in north van.

April 12th brought a chance of pace from the two wheeled travel, and I went for a hike with some colleagues and one of our vendors from China who were in town for a visit. I suggested Whyte Lake since it’s moderate in difficulty, and since everyone was feeling ambitious enough we took a more technical route back from the lake – which none of us had done before, but thankfully it worked out well! I used to take Leia on this route (without the tougher detour) but it’s a little bit too much at her age now, I expect.

April 13th I was back on the bike, and going for a North Van explore with friends which included a sweet tree net! Rob had stumbled upon this previously when seeking out hidden routes; it was pretty well hidden despite being near a schoolground. We also stopped at Murdo Frazer pond, and the turtles were sunning themselves on a log.

Apparently not one for rest, after this action packed weekend I headed out for a ride after work on Monday, too. My route plan was a common one for me: to see where a trail I had passed numerous times went. It started out quite excellent, but I found out it was simply a shortcut to a rather hidden disc golf course, and my attempt to go thru and up to where I was headed was thwarted by increasingly hostile brambles. Still, I’m proud of myself for trying. I managed my way back onto the actual trail, and rode up to a nice little lookout near Richard Juryn trail – a great spot for a beer. On my way home I passed through the cemetery as I often do when rolling solo.

Now it’s mid April, and the frequency with which I rode to the Strathcona gardens has increased significantly – it’s so lovely in there with the spring foliage and variety of flowering plants. It’s not too far away – about 3 km each way from home – and near Luppolo Brewing so it works well as a place to have an after-work beer in a quiet and tranquil setting.

The early cherry blossoms, Akebono, which are lighter pink are now past their prime but the Kanzan blossoms, my fav and the bigger population in Vancouver, were now in full bloom. As well, the big magnolias were at their peak. My commute passes by many of these trees, which I appreciate – my commute route isn’t that nice otherwise, mostly on roads made too narrow by parked cars to be safely passed by cars, who tend to think they should have priority even though this is a bike street.

April 16th was Parkbagging after work, a big loop that took us from the far west reaches of Point Grey, all the way down to South Van, and home. It was over 40km for me – not bad for a weekday!

Some commute views, plus Sunny in the sun for good measure:

April 18th was Good Friday, and that meant it was a special edition of Coffee Outside / Camp Coffee Club. I organized a sub-group ride up to the Midvalley Lookout where coffee was hosted. I didn’t take much for pics, but we took a somewhat silly route up along the powerlines and then a MTB trail down to Fisherman’s, which was the more logical and direct option.

And the next day was Crescent 200, an event where the idea is to ride around the Shaughnessy park circle 200 times (or as many as you’d like). This was the second year, and it already brings out a big chunk of the local alt bike scene – and everyone tends to bring their weirdest bike. It was super fun.

A couple photos from the next week.. I took this night time photo of the Bombadil under some blossoms when I decided at around 9pm that I’d go try to find a biketag that was downtown, and I thought I knew where. Turned out I didn’t, and I spent quite a bit of time searching around – only to be beat to it by half an hour. It was a nice night for a ride, though!

I ended up getting a stomach bug overnight after that night ride, and was down and out for a couple days. I felt off but not quite sure what was going on when I got up extra-early to take the dogs out. When I went out the front doors, there was an eerie, sepia tint to the air and I saw water running down the street. It felt apocalyptic, especially as I was half-awake and feeling weird as it was. It was a building fire a block up from us and we lost three local businesses in it – most notably, Dayton Boots.

After resting a couple days I was feeling tentatively okay and was thinking of riding out to my dad’s. To test the theory that I was, in fact, recovered I rode the Seymour valley full loop – and added in a 150m technical hike-a-bike up to some old growth I was keen to find near the lake. In hindsight this was a bit silly, to tire my legs out like this (especially after not eating a lot for a couple days) before a big ride to my dad’s, but it was successful and lovely.

The hike to the old growth from the gravel access road wasn’t too far, but it was very awkward and tiring to carry a bike with – next time I’ll lock a wheel and stash it. I got so inspired by the several old trees up there that I went to visit the old growth Sikta nearby and also trudged around in the woods seeking out other old trees. Add to that some peaceful river-side time, and it was a really lovely day out in the woods.

The next day I headed for Chemainus on the Bombadil, a trip that I’ve already detailed both to and from here:

2025-04-27 Home to Chemainus

2025-04-29 Chemainus to Home

..and that pretty much wraps up the month. Another pretty active month, and looking back now I realize I took good advantage of the weather and the season. It was my biggest riding month, too – 728 km and 50 hours on the bike. I am surprised to say that May will exceed this by 100km and 9 hours.. clearly this is the best time of the year for riding bikes.

March kicked off with Leia’s birthday celebration in the park; March 1st is her (unofficial) birthday. This was her twelfth. We baked doggie biscuits and Aimée made a doggie cake, and a handful of our dog park friends showed up to celebrate with us.

The following day I headed out on the Bombadil for some forest time. I came across some vine maples in Stanley Park and climbed them like I would as a kid. They seem a lot smaller now! I carried on to North Van, up to Cleveland Dam by taking a variety of little cutty trails and quiet streets. I walked some of the no-bikes trails because they’re more lovely, then I continued to head uphill into the British Properties and to Millstream trail.

Millstream is a favourite trail of mine – it starts out as a smooth, wide dog walker type path but gradually narrows and roughens until you’re walking your bike – and then there’s two ravines, the second one twice as big and steep as the first. It’s a proper slog. Then, a hundred feet or so after the second one, you pop out at the Cypress Bowl Rd lookout, typically filled with tourists. It’s a heck of a juxtaposition with your past half hour.

From the lookout it remains fun and cheeky, with a pretty unknown trail leading down directly below the lookout along a creek.

Later in the week I went for an after-work ride to the end of the road that led down to the nearby refinery, simply because I realized I’d never been down there. It wasn’t very exciting, but I was treated to a lovely sunset on the way back out. It was a pretty brutal hill on the way back, but needless to say a fun descent too.

The dogs were doing well and the dog park has a certain beauty when it’s wet and cold and muddy… it’s also a lot more quiet. Mid-March also brought some warm sun and early blooms that gave promise of better weather to come. I was commuting on the Bike Friday regularly still as well.

On March 14 my buddy Zach from Seattle came up to pick up the Riv Susie from me. We built it up at Graham’s back yard that afternoon/evening, then went for a ride up the LSCR the following day. The weather was pretty cold and wet, but it was our only chance.

The rain was pretty light to start, and we rode up Fishermans’ trail and passed through the stretch that had washed out a few weeks prior – it was in a lot better shape now, having had some work done to repair it. We reached the marsh at the mid valley point, and the rain turned to snow while we stood there. It was beautiful, but I was not really that well prepared for how cold and wet it was. The snow gained momentum and started to accumulate rapidly. A chill set into me that I couldn’t shake, and my hands and feet were now painfully cold – so I focused on getting back out safely and didn’t take any photos for the last 15km of the ride.

The following day the weather was a lot nicer and I was a lot warmer – and ended up riding with Zach again, along with a few other friends, downtown, through Stanley Park, and to Kits for some beers along the beach. The early magnolias were coming out now, as well!

I started commuting on the Bombadil rather than the Bike Friday, coming to terms with the fact that I couldn’t fit all my bikes otherwise. I put the Bike Friday into the train bag it came with, and stuck it under the shelves in our small storage room. Before this I was squatting on an extra bike room spot, but this went against the building rules, so it wasn’t a permanent solution.

March 22nd, I headed out for my first “road ride” of the year on the Hillborne, which was just over 80km through UBC, Richmond, and Burnaby – in addition to Vancouver. The early blooms were becoming more commonplace and I was soaking it all in. I rode out to Iona spit, a popular birding area, and spent a while just observing nature. This area is quite interesting because it’s so different than most of the natural areas around Vancouver. The region adjacent to the beach is primarily pine trees, an uncommon sight for Vancouver generally.

I also got up-close with some small flora and used my macro camera settings to photograph a miniature world that is easy to not notice.

Here are a couple examples of what I saw when standing, versus what I saw when crouched down and up close with these small plants:

I crossed back into Vancouver and headed east to New Westminster, passing through the southern edge of Burnaby along the way. I swung by Steel & Oak brewing for a couple beers to-go and some much needed fries. There is a bike route that travels along the transit line from there to my place, but I managed to end up on overgrown trails instead – even on what was meant to be a “road ride”. I guess some things never change.

More time spent at the dog park .. this is what I’m doing every day, an hour or more. Here Leia can be seen trying to get Sunny to play – she is clearly pretty comfortable with Sunny! Sunny just loves her ball, though. We also – finally! – took the girls to the forest in north van. Needless to say they loved it.

The final entry for March was the Bike Portage Club ride that I hosted on the 30th. The route was Millstream Loop – the ride I did near the beginning of the month was partly to scout conditions for this group ride. I got a nice group of friends out and we carried our bikes and had a lot of laughs. By the end, we felt like a band of 12 year olds exploring the neighbourhood on our bikes.

That about does it for March! My ride stats were 470km and 34 hours on the bike. I am so grateful I can manage more than an hour a day on average out on my bike. That is the stat that is by far the most important to me – the time spent. It’s less important how far I go… and how fast doesn’t even register. This is a good life!

Following my January post and in the spirit of recounting my year month by month as something to do while resting a virus away, here’s February 2025: a surprisingly frigid month after a relatively mild and dry January. In fact, overnight on the 31st of January into Feb 1st the snowline dropped quite low, and I set about on the 1st of February, which was a Saturday, to find out.

I took the Bombadil and headed over to the north shore. It didn’t take a lot of climbing before I reached some patchy snow. I made my way up Fisherman’s Trail along the Seymour river and didn’t have a real plan for how far I was going to go, I’d base it on the conditions and how I was feeling. It was stunningly beautiful, but the snow was also packing into my fenders. I rode up to the midvalley lookout, then up the Hydraulic creek connector and back on the paved parkway – which felt more like a XC skiing groomer today. As soon as I was back down the hill a bit the snow subsided, and I spent a little bit of time in the oldest corner of the cemetery along my route, reading the old headstones and reflecting on how they, too, are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

The next morning, Sunday Feb 2nd, we woke up to snow in the city as well. A decent amount of it! We went for a walk with Leia, who loves the snow, and ran into a friend who had some personal stuff and needed someone to take her dog, Archie, for a bit. So he came home with us, and Leia was a bit confused. We kept Archie a few days, over which time it remained consistently well below freezing, so the sidewalks and roads became rather treacherous to walk. I managed one ride over these few days, just a short one to run some errands on the old Raleigh. It is fitted with “all weather” Schwalbe tires that have siping similar to automotive winter tires .. but they aren’t super effective on this rather icy surface.

The new wheels for my Stooge were ready though, and I was able to pick them up so I could go play in the snow on the 3″ knobby Surly tires I had been hoarding in my bin for a while. This was now February 8th that I set out on the Stooge, again not really sure where or how far I would go. The icy streets in our neighbourhood had me thinking it would be a very short ride, but I pushed on to north Vancouver where I found the snow was a lot better. I pushed onwards and upwards, climbing alongside “the cut” of Hwy 1 which leads to “the upper levels” stretch of the highway.

I was really impressed with the Dirt Wizard tires in the snow – I didn’t realize how slick things actually were until I tried to walk a section and realized it was a lot easier to ride than walk. Soon I will learn how brutally slow they are on pavement, but this day, they were the ideal choice. I took some pretty steep sections and had no issue with control! I worked my way through different forested areas westward, occasionally getting into some hike-a-bike, and picked up a couple beers from Beva Brewing to take up the hill to Murdo Frazer. I was delighted to find the pond frozen over, and enjoyed a beer in the tranquil spot which felt extra silent today.

I made my way home with some haste after a last-minute coordination to meet an adoptive dog being fostered nearby named Sunshine. We had been a one-dog household for about 7 months now, though with regular guests, and we starting to dip our toes in the idea of adopting a second dog. The thing was, though, Leia was 12 years old now and she’s a bit fussy about other dogs – and easily upset by small aggressions such as resource guarding. So it had to be a good fit – we weren’t going to jeopardize Leia’s happiness in her golden years.

We met Sunny around 4:15pm on Saturday. By 8pm we had arranged to take her home with us the next morning. It was clear to me basically straight-away that Sunny would be a great addition to our household. Her first day is detailed in my blog post here.

The next few days were largely spent with Sunny and Leia, getting acquainted with the new arrangement and following up on some of Sunny’s medical appointments as she had both dental work and kidney stones dealt with shortly before coming to us. Luckily our spontaneity did not backfire, and she has proven to be a loyal and gentle companion of Leia’s.

As of February 13th, the cold weather had been constant for nearly two weeks now, but warmer temps were on the way. I realized that meant that Trout Lake would be thawing soon and if I wanted to see it in its frozen glory, I better get over there. It didn’t disappoint! I went to an area that I knew was flooded and was visually quite interesting, and it was pretty awesome. The ice was plenty thick to support my weight, though I only walked around on areas I knew weren’t deep.

I looped around the lake and settled in on the benches that were flooded before becoming ice, and watched with some serious concern as two folks went out skating on the pretty thin ice. One of them actually fell through the ice in a shallow area… and still decided to head out into the middle of the lake!

Back home, Sunny was continuing to settle in well in her first month with us. She was already a favourite among the dog park regulars. Her and Leia got along well, didn’t really play or even interact that much but were both totally comfortable around one another. Sunny was also a great ‘helper’ when working on bikes.

Now the 15th of February, the snow has been turning to slush with the past couple days’ temperatures so I headed back out on the fat tire’d Stooge. With much of the roads now free of snow, I became acutely aware how slow these tires actually are. My heart rate was spiking just trying to over-take a jogger! No doubt they were great in the mud and snow, though.

Some Sunny silliness, and an update on the frozen marshland at Trout Lake – still partially frozen but thawing quickly. This was February 16th.

I also made some further upgrades to the Bike Friday – dynamo lighting was all wired up, I had a cool old titanium Jones bar from Tay and some matching blue Ergon grips. It was feeling pretty dialled in as an all-weather commuter and it rode great. I commuted on it twice over this week, including an extended route home one of the days, so this added up to over 60km of riding for the week alone.

Along came the weekend of the 22nd/23rd, and it poured with rain on Saturday so I stayed off the bike. A couple friends were riding the Seymour valley that day though and came back with tales of a mudslide along Fisherman’s – and I decided on Sunday, when the weather was much improved, to go check it out. At the last fork in the trail there was a sign indicating what to expect; but it wasn’t exactly stopping anyone. A runner came through with muddy feet – I had to go get mine muddy too.

I marvelled at how lusciously green everything was compared to the snow covered scene I witness a couple weeks earlier. I even wandered off-trail a bit to soak it all in. I had the big saddle bag mounted but it was empty – I was going to swing by a pal’s afterwards to pick up some beers they were holding for me.

I reached the mud slide, which was located just a few hundred feet before where the trail had significantly washed out a couple years ago. It was quite a spectacle, but indeed passable – though not without getting pretty muddy.

I reached the marsh at the start of Spur 4, which was still mostly frozen, and decided to keep going all the way up the valley – another 7km each way or so. The weather continued to improve with the sun now shining, which is a bit unusual for the valley – you can generally count on it being wetter up there than in the city.

The first half is gravel access road, but then there is about 2km of trail at the north end that is the highlight of the route (as I’ve surely said before), and highlight among the highlight is the Rainbow Creek loop. Appearing prehistoric, this moss- and lichen-covered area is home to some very old Sitka spruce.

I made my way out the 12km long parkway, then across north Vancouver and into Stanley Park – where I rode through some trails, visited an old tree, had a beer by the pond while watching ducks, then eventually across town to pick up a couple cases of beer – that barely fit and weighed a ton!

In the end I rode over 70km on this loop! https://www.strava.com/activities/13710099557

The next day Sunny and I went for a big walk over to the PNE grounds. She has proven to be snuggly and curious and pretty chill until she gets the zoomies. Her and Leia continue to become more comfortable around each other – Leia would get up and leave if she laid too close initially, but the trust has been building. Sunny is clearly very respectful of Leia.

I got some more rides in on the Bike Friday in the last week of February – a sun-soaked commute with parkbagging afterwards as well as the first TCR of the 2025 season with my slack pals. Somehow the only photo I got from parkbagging was of my food and beer haul en route.

The last day of February coincided with the last Friday of the month, which meant it was Critical Mass. I decided to go this time, along with my pal Graham. It was the smallest CM I’ve been to yet and as a result it was the most uncomfortable. Both Graham and I needed to calm our nerves afterwards and chose to do so by enjoying a beer at the top of a playground climbing structure. Always a good move as long as it’s after dark and there are no children!

So that’s a wrap on February 2025! I ended up riding 361 km for the month, which given the first two weeks’ weather and being a short month, I was pleasantly surprised by. That 70.5 km ride certainly helped, but also I had pretty good consistency, with 3-4 active days per week on average.

Following my trip recap, and since I’m stuck inside for a few days with the flu,

I started the year with a new bike – the Bike Friday I bought a few days after Christmas – and on January 5th I got out for an all-day ride on it. I believe I was staying out of the house because Aimée was feeling sick and wanted to isolate. I ended up selling this bike to a friend part-way through the year – it was a great bike, but I just wasn’t able to find a way to make physical space for it, so I went back to N-1.

At this time we only had Leia, as we lost our Aussie, Dodger, to cancer in summer 2024. We dog-sat a friend’s pup, Cheddar, for a few days. Also, a couple pics from a scenic winter morning at the local dog park. The tree on the left of the right-most photo has recently fallen from a windstorm. Pretty sad.. glad I have this photo of it.

On January 11th, I got out for a West Vancouver loop – riding to a lookout near Horseshoe Bay, then taking a series of trails (some rideable, some not) across to Cypress Mountain. Rob’s famous fenceline makes an appearance, as it has in several of my ride posts. It’s not famous. It’s actually barely known at all. A hilly 50km day to tire the legs out.

The following day, January 12th, I rode out to Burnaby to pick up a Marketplace purchase – and took a rather silly way back, tracing through the woods along these older paths that don’t seem to get a lot of traffic, leading to Deer Lake, where I toodled around for a while.

January 13 to 15: errands on the Twenty, which happen frequently but rarely warrant a photo; night time dog walk photography, and a very crisp morning commute to Richmond. My commute is 14km each way and I typically do it once a week.

Speaking of my commute, my route home deviates slightly from my route into work, taking me along Trout Lake – the water level was quite high and a lot of the low lying areas flooded. As I write this (Dec 20, 2025) the flooding has returned to similar levels.

A few days later, Saturday January 18th, I delivered the polished Velocity Dually rims I purchased for the Stooge up to Kissing Crows Cyclery – and then traversed the south side of Vancouver eastwards into Burnaby and visited one of my favourite ponds, tucked within Everett Crowley Park. It was quite cold, and a thin layer of ice had built up on the pond.

On my way home I passed through Trout Lake again and found it was similarly icing over. Also, the crows had recently starting collecting here to roost in the evenings, and the noise and atmosphere was quite something.

As I flip through my photos I’m impressed how much riding I got in for January! The next day, Sunday the 19th, I was back out there again – delivering my Bike Friday front triangle to Firstlight Frames to have a Brompton block welded on, and then riding around for a couple hours while he did his work.

Thomas’ shop is located near the Downtown Eastside, and from there I passed through downtown and stumbled upon the demolition of a historic building I had heard was happening – I watched for a while alongside a bunch of others with a sadness in the air.

I then made my way to the north shore and linked up with my friend Tay, and we rode to a small lookout on Cypress Mtn. This was probably a little ambitious, and I got back to the shop to pick up my modified frame a little later than intended. I was still able to get home and excitedly re-assemble the bike though! This was probably about a 50km day.

It started to get colder over the next few days but I managed to ride to work on the 23rd in sub-zero temps, taking advantage of the Bike Friday upgrades to carry my work gear in the Brompton bag. The same flooded benches from above were now in ice. Oh, and a photo of Leia for good measure.

On Saturday, January 25th there was an edition of parkbagging, which I rode the Bike Friday to. It was very chilly but we got a good turnout. I only took one kind of crappy photo though, below left. On the Sunday though I got out for a loop of Burnaby Mountain while it was below freezing, and with the north aspect, it was well frosted. I also spotted something flitting about in the shrubs, a Ruby Crowned Kinglet it turned out! I followed it along for quite a while, trying to get a good photo. They never stop moving!

I took all the little detour trails available to me, and explored a new-to-me route on the east side that paid off with some nice views and interesting sections of trail. As many of my Burnaby Mountain rides do, I ended up at Dageraad for a cheeky beer (and a bit) before travelling home.

On the final day of January I went for a walk with Leia at QE Park while Aimée had a routine specialist visit. It was absolutely soaking this day and just above freezing, but it was undeniably beautiful. It was really nice to spend a good while just exploring with Leia.

Needless to say, January was a good month for me in 2025 when it came to getting outside, despite the cold and often wet weather. Per Strava, I rode 465 km and spent 34 hours on the bike. I lucked out with a lot of clear skies, and it really only dipped below freezing a few days. My mileage was mostly between the Hillborne and Bombadil, both of which saw 50+ km outings, with the Bike Friday coming in third.

Well it’s the last little stretch of December now, and I’ve found myself sick (probably from the company holiday party, boo) so to help stave off the boredom of laying about, I’m re-living the adventures by bike from this year.

The number of nights I spent away from home was still modest compared to most bikepacking enthusiasts, but it was one of my best years yet in terms of nights in the tent and adventurous rides.

Trip 1: April 2025, Chemainus BC.

My April trip didn’t go according to plan, but I was still able to salvage a portion of it. The original plan was a repeat of the Sooke Campground trip from the previous year, with the same crew. But for various reasons it didn’t happen, one of which being that I got a stomach bug shortly before. I was better in time to salvage the last couple days of my time booked off work and went to visit my dad in Chemainus.

Two nights in my dad’s guest bed, rode the Bombadil.

Trip #2: Saturna Island, May

This trip was a jewel of my year. It was my first time on Saturna, and while I knew it was a favourite among friends, my expectations were exceeded. The secludedness of the campsite and the incredible view (and goats!) along the ridge line were incredible.

Two nights in a tent, rode the Bombadil.

Trip #3: Ottawa, June

Not a bike trip, but I did get some saddle time in on borrowed bikes while there – enough to explore much of the city as well as cross over into Quebec a couple times. This trip was to visit Aimée’s family, and we stayed almost a week.

I rode Aimée’s sister’s hybrid and it was quite nice.

Trip #4: Pender Island, August

This trip came together so nicely – a good and sizeable group of friends, and the alignment of the annual island festival occurring on the middle day.

Two more nights in the tent, rode the Bombadil once again!

Trip #5: Gabriola Island, September

We may have missed our April gathering, but we made up for it with this trip. We had all the main characters present and we checked off all the things we wanted to do despite the mid-trip rain storm.

Two nights in the tent, this time I rode the Stooge Scrambler.

Trip #6: Ucluelet and Tofino, October

The second and final non-bike trip of this list. This was a car trip with the family (Aimée and our two dogs) to a seaside cabin for four nights. We were both first-timers to the west coast of the island, and the trip really delivered. It was a beautiful place that we stayed, and we got to visit all the beaches and areas we had hoped to.

Like the Ottawa trip, I did get to ride – just once in this case – taking the Twenty along a portion of the forest path I’d heard such good things about.

That’s a wrap for the trips I managed to make this year. I had a few ideas that never came together for 2025, such as a southern Vancouver Island bikepacking route that is a little more rugged and about 335km, which I hope to get to next year. I also had to miss an early June camping trip I had booked due to the Ottawa trip. I also, sadly, did not make it out to Penticton / Kelowna this year to visit my mom and brother.

Looking towards 2026, I am setting my ambitions a little higher than 2025:

• March: a few nights at our friend Willo’s cabin in Madeira Park, up the sunshine coast of BC.
• April: Back to Sooke Campground cabins with the slack crew
• May: Dionisio campsite on Galliano, one of the last gulf island campsites I’ve not been to yet
• May/June: South island bikepacking loop
• June: Ruckle Park on Saltspring with Aimée and the dogs
• June/July: Penticton to visit my family & ride the KVR trail; one night camping
• August: A repeat Pender trip with the crew from 2025
• September: A repeat Gabriola trip with the slack crew
• October: A late-season solo Ruckle trip and visit to my dad’s in Chemainus

And sprinkled in there somewhere, a car trip to a cabin with Aimée and the dogs somewhere on the island, rounding the goal to ten trips and 26-30 nights sleeping away from home.

I only had one plan today, given the dry and reasonably warm forecast: be outside all day. It started with a long dog walk in the morning, and was followed up by 8 hours out on the bike – turned out to be 4hrs each moving time and not.

I rode my trusty Bombadil, still outfitted with drop bars. I’ve been riding the Evasion most often lately, partly because it’s new of course, and partly because it’s so capable for an un-rushed ride that has a bit of everything. Which is definitely my preferred, and most common, type of leisure ride.

I headed for North Vancouver with the intent of exploring a few connections I’ve been wondering about, but taking some of my favourite paths and trails to link it together. About 10km in I had what I think is the first proper chain-suck experience in the past bunch of years – see below. It bafflles me the chain was able to force its way through, given the clearance between chairing and frame is less than half the width of the chain. I replaced the BB not too long ago with one that’s juuuust a bit wider and that’s where I went wrong I guess. I usually run a spindle length that puts the inner chainring as close to rubbing the frame without actually making contact as possible.

I worked my way up the trails that parallel Hwy 1, which climbs to Loutet park, home of some of the most impressive dirt jumps around. There is a pretty seamless connection of trails from here and through Greenwood Park that I ride regularly in either direction – though going up is pretty tough climbing.

Fall is coming to a close but not technically over, and the forest made a point of this with some nice yellow foliage still hanging on and ferns that are clinging to their seasonal fronds.

I’ll link the route at the end of this post for those who might be curious. I guess you’d need to know the area for it to be of any value. I wasn’t really trying to ride a “good route” in the sense that others might enjoy it; I’m not sure if this kind of route works for anyone who is trying to follow a route. I suspect it’s most enjoyable when it’s come about organically while exploring neighbourhoods, and something gets lost when trying to follow a GPS track in unfamiliar terrain. But, that said, I do think this is a great path to take on your bike, despite the occasional set of stairs. See below.

I had driven by this short but sweet stretch of bike infrastructure on the highway so many times and finally today I rode it – it doesn’t really go from, or to, anything – a failure in many respects, but dang if it isn’t nicely implemented. Now just connect it with similar paths everywhere!!!

Also pictured below is a neat photo of erosion at work from the Capilano river’s current shooting across and into that left bank…

There used to be a gravel path that led all the way up to Capilano Lake on the west side of the river, but it’s been closed a few years due to a section being eroded away. I rode up to the closure and back today just because it’s a lovely stretch of gravel road – and to check out the closure. There was an obvious foot path around the fencing, but the warnings plus the terrain made me feel it wasn’t worth the risk.

I noodled my way west via a combination of side roads and non-pavement .

I’m not sure if I’ve ever took this particular ped overpass – there’s at least a half dozen across the highway along this stretch, but this one is kind of random to connect to.

My route was indirect and rather illogical by most metrics, but it connected up all the good things I like about this area. Once back on the south side of the highway I travelled a bit further west along the road before popping up an easy-to-miss gravel path (below, left) which leads to a neat, random, and rarely-visited clearing (below, middle) that then leads to an infamous-among-my-friends fenceline (below, right).

More photos of the fenceline… the east entrance is pretty hidden, and on the west end it exits onto Cypress Bowl Rd. It’s pretty narrow for the most part and has sections with exposure opposite the fence, but dang if it isn’t perfect.

The Arbutus tree you need to duck under is a classic feature of the section as well (below, left). Below-right is the lookout that is just up the road from this fenceline, near the first hairpin corner on Cypress Bowl Rd. This area is going to see a lot of development in the coming years, and home to this spot are both the showrooms for the development as well as an open-air kitchen and bar called The Shed.

The Shed draws a funny mix of people based on its location – the extremely challenging MTB trails that Cypress is known for tend to dump out here, so there’s a bunch of dirtbags with full face helmets and DH bikes, there’s well-dressed and wealthy-looking folks who are here for the developer’s visitor centre, plus there is no shortage of tourists as well. In fact, someone from Toronto spotted the Hoop Driver (a cool bike shop in TO) on my bike when passing by. I got an overpriced IPA (below, left) while felt fairly priced given I was able to enjoy both a propane fire and view while drinking it. I also got a pretzel which took far too long to be ready, but then was rather incredible so I couldn’t complain.

I did some light trespassing on the descent from here because it connects too wonderfully not to – and the only reason it’s closed to bikes is because of construction which was not active today, anyway. I also took a sweet, sweet path we found on my birthday ride (above, middle) which was just as elating the second time as the first. The photo of the creek? I looked like a weirdo climbing down off the rich-person street for this photo, but I acknowledge that I am a weirdo and I do these things.

Above: Best intentions, hopes and dreams, in physical form.

Below: The safest Christmas tree I’ve seen yet, and I thought these big concrete block steps to the ocean were rather aesthetic. You be the judge.

The sun came out!! Today was pretty nice all day but it wasn’t really sunny. It was just, “doesn’t seem like it will rain”. I was pretty happy to see the sun towards the end of the daylight hours.

I rode for a while without taking photos, and also picked up a few beers and some A&W fast food, with the plan of heading up McKay creek until I found a suitable spot to set up the ultralight hammock I had in my bag. I kinda had a spot in mind already, and the tree spacing worked out, so I quickly set the hammock up and hopped in to eat my sandwich and have a beer.

For those who want to know such things, the hammock is a Kammok Roo UL single, and the ropes are Uno Helios Ultralight suspension system. Combined they weigh 280g and fit the palm of my hand, no joke. I suppose you could camp with this (with bug net, insulation, perhaps tarp added as needed) but I consider this a day-use setup for my purposes.

I relaxed in the hammock until the light was nearly gone, and got packed up just before I needed a headlamp (which I did not bring). I was still ~15km from home, and followed the Spirit trail through north Vancouver and over the bridge back into my neighbourhood. Below is a stretch of Spirit Trail just east of Moodyville Park that I really love in the dark – for reasons probably evident. The big building is a grain terminal; I’d love to see inside these massive buildings.

As promised, here is the Strava link:

Weekday rides have become more sparse at this point, with the short daylight hours, damp cold, and near-omnipresent drizzle. I did manage to get a ~11km ride in yesterday to run some errands (and stayed dry!) but that was it for the week, so when the weather was looking nice today I was eager to get out for a proper ride. “Nice” in this case was a 10-20% chance of rain and temps around 6-7C. I can definitely work with that.

I had been working on a route idea that would loop around Burnaby and wanted to test out the first section today. It didn’t actually work out that well in terms of connecting together, but it took me through a number of personal-favourite natural areas. It was quickly apparent that fall was indeed over, with deciduous trees barren and their leaves snagged in the brush below.

I am once again riding the Crust Evasion, an unexpected but welcome addition to my bike stable. As of yesterday the Crust Wombat has been moved on to a new owner, a friend of mine. The Wombat was a super fun bike, but the Evasion really suits my sort of aimless longer rides.

I worked my way through the woods to the west of Deer Lake which have great birding opportunities.

From there I worked my way up and over the land mass that we call Burnaby, taking a strange combination of alleyways and quiet streets that linked together quite well actually. At this point it did start raining lightly, and this continued for the next hour or so, but it was gentle enough I never really got soaked.

Something on my to-do list for today was to follow the powerlines across Burnaby, which I could tell by looking at maps cut diagonally across a bunch of residential streets before travelling through a forested area. I was a bit surprised there was barely a foot path through the unproductive grass below. Seems like a great opportunity for a nice dog walking path or something.

Following the powerlines worked out quite well though, hardly even an awkward street crossing and I was descending down towards the highway and into one of my favourite semi-urban forested areas.

This stretch of trail is featured in my Burnabop route(s) and I don’t tire of it – I also have the Local Legend on Strava for this section it turns out, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me!

The juxtaposition of the route vs the adjacent highway in the image below is quite poignant.

I looped my way towards the same brewery as usual, Dageraad, but took a few detours along the way to check the water levels of various creeks in the area. Below is Stoney Creek in a couple spots.

I parked myself at Dageraad to try a flight of four more seasonal releases to compliment the four I tried last week – all new to me, the selection contained three Belgian ales and one imperial stout.

From the brewery I rode through Camrose Park which I hadn’t visited in a couple years. Fittingly for today’s ride, it feeds into a series of little trails and sidewalks that follow the powerlines along this stretch.

From there I took a series of alleyways and cutty trails to Beecher Creek, which ultimately puts me on the main bike route back to my place.

The Evasion is a good bike. I bought it as a temporary solution but I’m getting pretty attached to it. “Temporary solution??” you say – well, my intention was to buy a Stooge Rambler next year when they return, which is a similar bike but would fit me a little better. I also am planning to buy a Stridsland Beachcomber though when the updated geo batch comes along – so I’ve got some decisions to make.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the Evasion purchase was not premeditated but rather a way to help out a friend in need while also admittedly benefitting me. I kept in mind these 2026 bike purchasing plans when I spec’d the build, as virtually everything can be re-used on them.

Another bike I’ve been thinking about a lot is the Black Mountain Mod Zero – it’s visually not as exciting as the Stooge Rambler, but it’s lighter and sportier while maintaining the ability to run a dropper and pretty big tires. It would no doubt be an excellent pairing with my mixed terrain rides, and a good compliment to the Beachcomber.

A local couple, Steve and Meg, have a social media account called Hardtail Life (instagram and youtube) and organize the occasional hardtail group ride. They’ve had pretty good showings in the past but I hadn’t made it to one yet. Seemed like a great opportunity to get the Stooge out and meet some folks as well.

As I was pedalling over to the meet spot from my car I saw a familiar purple Stooge Dirtbomb – Jeff Kendall-Weed’s! I have watched all his videos with the Stooge and if you haven’t, I would highly recommend it. He has single handedly raised the bar of what can be done on a rigid MTB. He ended up being the only other rigid bike, but still probably the fastest rider of the group.

Below is Tay rolling over the “jelly roll” feature, which is tricky because the “up” side is pretty steep also, making just getting on the rock rather challenging. The roll out is quite steep.

The crew as we worked our way down Neds. Neds, which is short for Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, is a pretty old school trail on Seymour with a lot of rock work but also some modern touches such as the berm below, right.

Meg got some photos of the group as well, which I’ve shared below. One of me failing to make it up a techy climb bit and am in mid-hop off the rock (I did roll away without a dab!) and descending the chunder.

And here are two photos from the big rock roll on Neds: Jeff on the left just airing it, and me on the right rolling it. I was on the fence about riding it but after watching the others, I was willing to give it a go – particularly because I knew Meg had the camera pointed at it!

The group headed directly out from Neds to make their way to the café, but Tay and I looped over through Greenland to ride Bottletop, a short but fun trail. It was nice to have a sort of ‘cool down’ period after the socializing before heading home. Tay and I are much more aligned in how we want to experience the forest – stopping to appreciate beauty at every opportunity. Such as the light here: