Mark's Tour du Canada: Mile 0

Today I awoke at 4:30am because I couldn't sleep. I was so excited/nervous about the day. The gear that I arranged on the dining room table still needed to be packed before Kerry, one of the tour riders, came by to pick it up to be delivered to Gage Towers at UBC where the orientation would be the following day.

Kerry and I arrived at Mile 0 (the corner of Dallas Rd and Douglas) at slightly before 8 am for pictures and introductions to the 4 other people that were riding from Victoria to Vancouver. The group went to Clover Point for pictures of us dipping our wheels in the ocean.

The route for the rest of the way to the ferry was one that I've done many many many times. And as I was the only person from Victoria in the group I led the way. During this ride it was different though. I made sure to notice the beauty of the ocean and the mountains as I will not be seeing them for 10 weeks. Victoria is so beautiful!

After a quick stop at Maddicks farm we made it to the ferry by 11:30 as it was just starting to rain lightly. I had enough time to have a quick chat with some of the other 4 riders that I hadn't been able to talk too much to. Soon enough it was time to load onto the ferry and headed to Vancouver. This is a trip that I have done many times, by walking on and driving on, but never cycling on.

After locking our bikes up we walked upstairs to find the cafeteria as it was lunch time. We ended up wandering around one deck below the cafeteria for a while until we realized it was one more floor up. I sat with John and his wife Teresa and had a salmon burger and salad from the White Spot.

We landed in Vancouver 1.5 hours later and road our way through the back road of Ladner and stopped in the parking lot of the Delta Town & Country Inn to wait for the shuttle to take us through the Massey Tunnel. It took roughly 45 min to 1 hour for the shuttle to show up and another 30 min for it to leave after the bikes were loaded on it. It was a quick trip through the tunnel and we had unloaded the bikes quickly to continue the ride through Steveson and Richmond.

Over the Aurthur Land bridge took us into Vancouver and around 5pm we arrived at the Gage Towers at UBC where we will be staying for two nights. After a quick meal and chat with the other tour riders I am ready for a good long sleep as the orientation starts fairly late at 9 am.

I can't believe this day is over already as I have been counting down the days until this day for over a year. Can't wait to start the official ride on Friday.