Illinoistocht

Day 1: Vancouver, BC to Bellingham, WA.  65.6 miles, 2,624 ft. of climbing (105.7 km, 800 m)
I started my tour by flying from San Francisco to Vancouver on United—the base airfare cost less than the additional $175 fee for the bike—and arrived at the Vancouver airport mid-afternoon and took a cab to a hotel in the nearby suburb of Richmond, BC with the bike still in a box.  I chose a hotel next to a bike shop.  This gave me a greater confidence in reassembling the bike given I’d never done such an extensive disassembly / reassembly before.  I had fears of either the airline or me mangling one of the parts or never getting the cable tension and shifts correct for my journey.  In the end, the only reason I needed the bike shop was to purchase a fender and a tire gauge, which I hadn’t managed to accomplish before setting out.   That evening, I did a little sightseeing in downtown Vancouver by taking the tram line, which was newly built for the then upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics.   I decided my tour would “officially” start the next morning at the Richmond Olympic Oval [speed skating].  It was a short distance from the hotel, and then I could pedal along a crushed stone riverfront bike path and then join up with the Adventure Cycling route a short distance away.   Another option would have been to start in Stanley Park, ride through downtown, and then connect with the route, but since I was a speed skater, the Richmond Oval seemed most appropriate.

Much of this first day was a ride through the suburbs of Vancouver, and was only mildly interesting as a bike tour.  Suburbs in Vancouver look like suburbs just about anywhere, especially the ones on the route.  As I approached the Canada – US border, a light drizzle had turned into a steady rain.  I was thankful I’d decided I installed the fender the previous day, and as the rain increased I put on my rain gear.  At the border, the rain was pretty heavy as I pedaled up to the security booth.  Despite having my passport and driver’s license, I was directed to go inside the border office and had to wait in the same line with all the people that had difficulty with their papers.  The reason given was that since I had flown to Vancouver, there was no means to track my “vehicle” crossing and then re-crossing the border.  I suppose they log vehicle license plates that go over the border and return, and the bike of course has no license plate and was in the cargo hold of the airplane for the journey into Canada.  Arrgggh.  Nothing worse than standing in a line for half an hour or so in damp gear.   I finally was allowed to get going again and the person at the counter was very polite and said a lot of people tour on bikes and I wasn’t that unusual.   (Why couldn’t this have been worked out at the car booth window?)

The route continued on into Bellingham and I decided to stay on “motel row” (Samish Way) at a Travelodge.  Not only was it affordable, but it had a washer / dryer and was a short walk to an REI and several places to eat.  I had managed everything for the bike aspect of the trip, but had no belt for my blue jeans, so yes, the REI was necessary.