VOC trips are organized by members like yourself, not professional guides. The trips go into wilderness areas where assistance is unavailable and unexpected events can occur. You could be seriously injured or die. You are responsible for your own actions. Please use caution.
Thanksgiving on wheels (moderate friendly bike touring) · Sat. Oct. 8th, 2016 - Mon. Oct. 10th, 2016
Warning: This is an old trip - it already happened
- Details Page: Where you can see brief trip details (publicly viewable).
- This trip does not have an associated Wiki Page.
- Message Board Thread: Discuss this trip with other members here.
- External Link: For extra information not hosted on the VOC site.
- Signup Page: Where you can signup, bail, edit participation entries, see/email members on the trip, etc.
- Wikitext Page: From where you can cut and paste information formatted for the wiki.
- Printable List Page: Which generates a printable list of participants.
- Edit Page: Where the trip organizer can edit the entry for this trip.
- Mark Going Page: Where the trip organizer can sign members up as "actually going".
- Modify Signups: Where the trip organizer can change signup classes.
Start: Saturday, Oct. 8th, 6:00 am
End: Monday, Oct. 10th, 11:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 5th, 6:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting location: Clubroom or outside clubroom
Description:
Vancouver Island is a great place to ride within close distance to Vancouver, without the need for car shuttles. We heard that Nanaimo enjoys some of the driest weather on the Island, so here's hoping for some nice autumn riding over Thanksgiving long weekend!
This is a 3-day ~200 km loop out of Nanaimo mostly on gravel roads and bike paths, with no technical terrain. A rough outline of the proposed route is here, avoiding busy/paved roads as much as possible, though open to changes. The plan is to do it clockwise (e.g. south from Nanaimo first).
You need a hybrid, cross or mountain bike. Skinny road tires are not good for this. Beware it's not a super easy route, has one 700m climb, and there's potential for long days in the saddle, thus the moderate friendly rating.
We've done some of these logging roads in the summer last year and you can get an idea of what was like here.
Some important points:
- You don't need to have experience with bike touring, but need to be ready for some type 2 fun.
- You need a gravel road capable bike, with some means to carry your camping gear (e.g. a rear rack), some food, and a few essential clothes. It has to be in good working order, be able to brake efficiently and change gears - if in any doubt, I can probably help you fix it before the trip and I rather do it before we set off than on the trail. A set of front and back lights is required (ideally a bright front light, in case we need to ride in the dark). Bring it to the pre-trip meeting if you have any doubts or email me anytime.
- You need to have a spare tube, and ideally a patch kit. The rest of the repair items we can share amongst the group
- We'll most likely be ninja camping the two nights, or possibly cheap paid campsites
- The distance doesn't include riding to and from the ferry at Horseshoe Bay, which adds about 35 km on either end. The cost of the round trip ferry with bikes is around $35. Alternatively, you could try and put the bike on the bus, but bear in mind there's only two spots at a time. There will be a group ride to the terminal from Vancouver for those who want.
- We will be aiming to get on the 8:30 AM departure to Nanaimo on Saturday 8th. Expect to get back late (on one of the last ferries) on Monday 10th.
Posted: 2016-09-17 12:25:45
Last modified: 2016-09-28 21:20:14