Butter is Better

Day 1 – Victoria to Lake Cowichan. 64.6 miles. 4334 feet of vertical. Weather perfect!

It was a little stressful putting my bike together the night before and then pulling everything together to leave. Thankfully, Jessica and Nick took me to breakfast and helped me get ready. I arrived at the start @ 08:59. We were scheduled to leave at 9:00. Everybody was in good spirits and excited. It was an incredibly beautiful morning. We could look across the Juan de Fuca straight and see the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic mountains  under clear blue skies. There wasn’t any gun or bell to start. Everybody just sort of said good luck and goodbye as we rode off.

One of the concerning issues on this trip is obtaining enough calories. What a nice problem to be confronted with, especially at my age. I think I read somewhere that polar explorers often carry butter because it has such high density calories. Maybe I made that up, but our family motto is butter is better. Accordingly, with the recommendation of my daughter Emily. I grabbed a half a pound of butter and some crackers to carry with me. It turned out to be a great choice for taste and calories.

This beautifully varnished picnic table that you see in the picture above, even had fresh flowers on it. It was at a popular Trailhead. It was beautiful and untouched by graffiti. Thank you Canada and Canadians.

Having Jessica and Nick available for the first two days was incredibly helpful. They met me around mile 40 at the trailhead pictured above and we were able to ride together for a good 10 mi. They then returned to their truck but met me in Lake Cowichan where we spent the night at a vrbo. They took care of me last night by taking me to dinner and then this morning to church and provided a wonderful dinner for me this afternoon before they headed back to Victoria.

There was some serious climbing both on foot and on bike for day 1. But overall the route was beautiful as it climbed up away from the ocean and into the mountains. The forest that we pedaled through was unbelievably beautiful with cedar trees, moss and pines. Everything was alive and there were flowers everywhere.

I was even able to accomplish my three tasks today of making someone smile that was walking on the trail, engaging in a conversation with a guy that was just out for a day ride, and helping two of my fellow riders with the GPS app they were using. It was a wonderful start to the trip.