Trans Canada Trail take one. (Jan. 18, 2009)

Canada Place: the TCT starting point.

Well I finally made my first attempt at riding the Trans Canand Trail (TCT). I figured since the snow was still plentiful on the mountains that I would give the tct a try since the weather was so beautiful.

The floatplanes.

My plan was to swap out my big freeride tires for a couple 2.1" xc tires. Prepping ol Bicyclese for this adventure was more complicated than I thought it would be. I decided to remove my dirty bike wheels from my bike and bring them into the house to thaw out to ease the tire swapping procedure. I litterally took the blow-dryer to my wheels to soften up the rubber in order to get the tires off. Once I had taken the big meats off the rims I put the 2.1" WTB Velociraptor and Tioga Psycho on and pumped them up to 40 psi thanks to the air compressor at the nearest gas station (the deep Mag30 rims make using a hand pump very awkward). Now with the wheels remounted, it was now time to bring the bike inside the house for some more power thawing. My rear derailer pulleys and my front derailer were frozen solid from one of my previous night rides.

A lighthouse at Stanley Park.

Bicyclese is all tuned up, I am all geared up and pedaling my way to the Port Haney train station to catch the West Coast Express bus to Waterfront station downtown. The bus arrived and didnt have a bike rack so I had to stow it away in the luggage hold underneath the bus. My bike route was to follow the sea wall around Stanley Park, into Granville Island, past Science World and along back roads and paved pathways through Vancouver until I meet up with the Burnaby section of the TCT. The Burnaby section would consist of trails on Burnaby Mountain and paved pathway through Port Moody until Coquitlam. Coquitlam would consist of trails through many parks, including Coquitlam River park and Minnekhada and the dikes along Pitt river. The last leg of the journey would include a long looping jaunt along the dikes in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge before cutting through parks along pathways making it's way toward Kanaka Creek and the Albion Ferry terminal. I would finish my ride by cutting off just before Kanaka and pedaling up the hill to my home. A projected 79km trip overall.

Lions Gate bridge peeking above the fog.

After a lengthy bus ride I arrived at Waterfront close to 12pm. The air was cold but the sun was bright and off I pedaled towards the seawall. I began by zigging around some people who were filming for something, at this time I saw my first TCT sign and followed some people around a construction detour and down three long sets of stairs and out onto the seawall by the float planes, which were firing up. Soon I ended up in the fog and the cruz ships were blaring their fog horn "OOOH CAAA-NA-DAAAAAAAAA!" I was crusin along trying keep a solid pace. I was giving my self 5 hours to get home in time to meet up with Amanda at my parents for dinner, which meant that I need to keep up a pace of atleast 16km/h. Eventually a construction on the seawall detoured my up a switch backed trail to the lookout of Lions Gate bridge, which was just peeking out above the fog.

Bicyclese and Science World.

I stopped for a sandwich and some water at the lookout as well as removing a tshirt since it was getting warmer. I put my long sleeve jersey and Goretex jacket back on and carried on, this time along the road through Stanley park before cutting off on a gravel path and blasting down the hill past other cyclists and those out walking their dogs. Cutting across the grass I plunked overe a little retaining wall and back onto the seawall. The view now was nothing but fog as I made my way along English Bay before ascending the pavement to the Burrard Streeet bridge. Crossing this bridge brought back memories of watching Chris Holmes riding his unicycle along the concrete sides of the bridge in the North Shore Extreme movies. The fog was now behind me and I was pedaling out under the sun onwards to Granville Island. I have been making pretty good time so far. I soon rode past Science World and was now riding through Chinatown. I ended up riding through quiet residential neighborhoods in central Vancouver.

Burnaby trail?

I had been pedaling for quite some time through the neighborhoods until I fanally got to actual dirt trail. " Alright, I'm now on the Burnaby section" I said to myself. I was soon climbing some good grades and then actually climbed up some really steep sections on crusty snow. This must be the big climb up Burnaby Mountain, I thought. Eventually I came out of the forest and onto East Hastings near Willingdon! I just finished the Vancouver section. The last section of trail was four inches of slushy snow and a real chore to even ride at all let alone at a pace of 16km/h. I rode up to the base of Burnaby Mountain and realised my lack of energy and time. This was not going to happen. I would be lucky to make it to Pitt Meadows by cutting out Burnaby Mtn and the entire dikes section in Poco and PM. I chose to take the Barnet Hwy and take the paved paths through Port Moody.

The crusty snow climb (traction wasnt bad)

Of course I forgot to realise the the north side of Burnaby Mtn hasnt seen sunlight in two months and it was literally freezing. I was only shorts, a thin jersey and a my gortex jacket. Luckily I brought my Goretex over-mitts which I wore over top of my full finger bike gloves. The salt from the road was splattering all over my face and sunglasses. My legs would have been burning from the effort I was exerting just to get through this long ugly stretch of highway, but the cold was numbing my legs and I didn't notice the burning. I ended up calling my wife from a pay phone in Port Moody to come and pick me up at a Burger King in Coquitlam near the late Black Dog Bikes. I waited for an hour at BK pounding back hot chocolate to try make my shivering stop. And there she was, my little knight in shining Pontiac, there to save me. I shoved my faithful steed into the back of the Vibe and we drove off into the east, in time for dinner with my parents.