Today I am going to change subjects. It is good to have some positive things to work on to balance the difficult journey through grief and trauma. We are going to do a bike trip. It will happen in 2022. I will make it happen. I am disappointed that the 2021 bike trip never made it off the ground. We were supposed to plan a trip, but we were all lost in our own lives and we never made it happen. That is ok, we can just try again and change the name to Ladies bike trip 2022!
I think that planning for a bike trip will be a good way to bring some happiness back. I think it something we all need. I definitely seem to need a goal to get on my bike. No matter how much I loved the first bike trip, I still found it difficult to get out on my bike after that. I did make it out for a few nice adventures though, including a mothers day picnic 🙂
The first step is a route. It is much easier to train and plan around a destination. It makes the dream a lot more real. We want a trip that is not too intense as we are beginner bike-packers. The KVR trip was perfect because the grades were gradual. However the section that was motorized was not easy. We were also not so keen with highway riding. So I want to find a trip that we can be on bike trails most of the way. I looked into other sections of the KVR, but in most cases, we would have to be on multiuse trails which are shared with motorized traffic for a good part of the trip. I found some options on south Vancouver Island. The Trails BC webpage has several routes including this one which is a 2-3 day trip: https://trailsbc.ca/loop/vancouver-island/victoria-cowichan-salt-spring-c51-180-km and includes a stop over on Salt Spring Island. I think we can stay on trails on the west side of Shawnigan Lake and include a visit to Sooke to make a 4 – 5 day trip. I will need to do some more research for the stretch between Shawnigan Lake and Sooke. There is the Malahat Connector trail which looks beautiful but apparently has some very steep sections and may not be the best option on a bike packing trip. Overall this looks like a nice trip. And since we can end each day in a town, we have the option of staying in hotels or B&Bs. An option I think Stacey will like!
So I think this will be our approximate route:
You can access the map using this link. The map will be updated as we finalize the route and after the actual ride. At this time I am not sure about the segment between Shawnigan lake and Sooke. We will need to investigate the options.
Here are the ladies from left to right: Karen, Stacey, and myself – Angie
