Pedal Pushers: BC Beckons Cyclists

Fast Tracks and Easy Rides

by Judi Lees

If road cycling is your pleasure, saddle up and head to British Columbia. Here, in Canada’s westernmost province, you’ll find a bounty of rural routes plus grand city tracks that showcase endless urban delights.

Just how good does it get? Consider that BC boasts some of North America’s most diverse routes: you can pedal by the ocean, or through a famed city park, visit wineries or take in Aboriginal sites on remote islands.  You can even two-wheel through a multitude of diverse neighborhoods; the province’s Spirit of 2010 Trail, a corridor of multi-use trails on converted rail tracks that links 27 communities for a distance of more than 750 kilometres, is just the ticket.

Here follows a province-wide glance at a few of many great cycling opportunities, whether you choose to rack up the miles or settle in for slow pedaling.

When it comes to city cycling, Victoria rules. Situated at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, and recognized by Statistics Canada as having the highest per capita bicycle use in the country, the province’s capital boasts an impressive network of trails. Eager to ride a local favourite?  The famed Galloping Goose Regional Trail (or the Goose, as pegged by locals) bears tread from both commuters and pleasure pedalers alike.

Named for a 1920s rail car once used to transport passengers between Victoria and the nearby community of Sooke, the 55-kilometre route follows abandoned rail beds and scenic scapes: trails snake along woodsy corridors, over trestle bridges, past pretty farmland and marshes and through bird sanctuaries and rainforest.  Well marked and scenic, Galloping Goose offers dozens of options for a leisurely few hours or an overnight weekend excursion.

In Vancouver, you’ll discover that family-friendly routes abound.  Take the kids to Steveston for fish and chips in the historic fishing village before working up a sweat along dykes with views of the Strait of Georgia, or explore the dyke system in nearby Coquitlam’s Minnekhada Regional Park, where you can follow the Pitt River and spot waterfowl along the way.  For a water-friendly alternative, hop the tiny ferry to Surrey’s Barnston Island for a leisurely pedal of a 10-kilometre circle route, scant on traffic but big on country scenery.  (Tip: pack a picnic and linger over lunch, complete with views of the Fraser River.)

To get the adrenalin pumping, take a weekend cycle north along the Sunshine Coast.  Connected by ferry from Horseshoe Bay, your first hint of challenge along the 80-kilometre, ocean-fringed route is the puff uphill when you reach Langdale. Your reward?  Visits to waterfront towns, stays in charming bed and breakfasts and stops at tranquil coves. Keeners can extend this trip by taking a ferry from the north end of the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver Island, then cycle south to either Nanaimo or Victoria before looping back to Vancouver.  

For a change in scenery, pack up the bikes and head to BC’s sunny Okanagan.  This region’s best-known cycling route is along the historic Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) - 600 kilometres of dramatic trails that can be broken down into trips of the short and sweet variety.  Here’s a taste: the trail between Midway and Naramata meanders through wilderness and vineyards with a side trip into Canada’s only pocket desert in Osoyoos. 

One KVR highlight and easy day-trip out of Kelowna is Myra Canyon, where cyclists soar along a series of 18 trestle bridges that hang over a verdant, horseshoe-shaped gorge; the trestle bridge section is popular with families, thanks to its smooth terrain and multiple access points.  While badly damaged by forest fire in 2003, construction completed last year lovingly restored the trestles, allowing enthusiasts to once again complete this dramatic cycling route.

Another favourite family cycle in Kelowna is the Mission Creek Greenway.  While easily accessed from several spots, hop on the trail at Lakeshore Drive near Gordon Drive for a six-kilometre ride to visit the Environmental Education Centre that showcases eco-friendly practices geared to all ages. Post peruse, it’s back on the bikes to follow the tree-shaded, riverside path with lots of hidden spots to watch waterfowl, picnic in a park, and, in fall, spot spawning salmon in the creek.

Looking to kick it up a notch?  Head to the Kootenay Rockies.  While mountain biking reigns supreme (this is the Rockies, after all), there are still some fine road trips to be savoured.  Case in point: the Great Northern Rail Trail - a 48-kilometre ride that connects the mountain village of Salmo to Troup Junction. Surrounded by illustrious peaks, and set beside crystalline streams and rivers, the trail is rich in wildlife and history: the pathway follows a railway route that was constructed in the late 1800s to transport ore (gold, silver, lead and copper were mined in this region). This route takes you through the tiny communities of Salmo, Ymir, and Summit, with a stop in the funky community of Nelson, before ending at Troup Junction.

More freewheeling awaits in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region.  It’s all about family bonding along the five-kilometre Riverfront Trail that borders the Fraser and Quesnel rivers; smack in the centre of Quesnel, Mom, Dad and their two-wheeling tykes cycle a paved path, stopping to read historical plaques or take a gander at some antique machinery along the way.

For a rural ride that shows off some of the province's best scenery, head west to tucked-away Bella Coola Valley.  Suitable for all cyclists, the Valley’s Highway 20, which boasts little traffic, meanders between mountains and rushing rivers for some 80 kilometres. Travelling west from the edge of Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park, through the sleepy communities of Stuie, Firvale, Hagensborg and Four Mile all the way to the town of Bella Coola and the Pacific Ocean, this is country cycling at its best.  And should you still have enough juice once you've finished, turn the bikes around and pedal back the way you came. A word of advice: keep watchful for wildlife as bear are a common sight in this part of the world.

For more adventure, hardy souls head north to the Queen Charlotte Islands, also known as Haida Gwaii.  On Graham Island, one of the 150 or so islands that make up Haida Gwaii, follow Highway 16; at Skidegate, don’t miss the Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay Llnagaay with its mix of traditional and contemporary totem carvings and other displays that relate the culture of the Haida First Nation.  (Pedal just past the town to see Balance Rock, a large boulder, precariously positioned by the last retreating glacier about 15,000 years ago.) 

Take in one of the many wonders in this lush archipelago: pedal 36 kilometres north to Tlell to ogle drifting sand dunes or to camp out and visit the southern boundary of Naikoon Provincial Park. 

Here, you’ll be enveloped in a remote rainforest, fringed by miles of rugged shoreline and dotted with reminders of an ancient culture.  Forget traffic and think wildlife – was that a whale breeching offshore?  It just might be.