Prologue Day 4 - "Ad Mari Usque ad Mare"

Couldn't think of a better way to title today's blog than the Latin inscription on the Canadian Coat of Arms "From Sea to Sea."

Since I did not post any photos from yesterday's blog, I am going a little overboard today.

After a restless night at the Victoria Youth Hostel (20 to a room), we started off with a coffee and scone at Starbucks, and then I took our Swiss riders on a brief tour of Victoria before our trip to Mile 0 and the rear wheel dip in the Pacific.

We stopped in to the Empress Hotel to tour the interior - while visiting the tea room we learned that Pamela Andersen's mother goes there often, and apparently thinks she is a celebrity.  The folks at the Empress were very accommodating when they found out what we were doing for the next 10 weeks, and let us sit in the dining room for a photo.  I don't think the dining at the campsites will be quite this luxurious, although we just posed for the photo and did not eat anything.

Our first view of the water was framed by the snow capped peaks of the Olympic Range in Washington, across the Juan de Fuca Strait - another spectacular day, weather and scenery-wise.

We then headed over to the Mile 0 Marker for the official start of our trek east and a photo-op for the seventeen of us who opted for the Mile 0 Option.

Behind the sign is a little brass plaque which reminded us of what lay ahead. 

After that it was off to the beach for the wheel dip, and then the riding began.  We arrived at the ferry crossing 1 minute after the closing time for boarding the 11 AM ferry so we had to chill for an hour.

The views from the ferry were just as spectacular as yesterday.  Today's ride was a fairly flat 61 miles.  The most challenging parts were waiting - 1 hour for the ferry, and 90 minutes for a shuttle to get us through a tunnel with no bike lane. 

We arrived back in Vancouver shortly before 5 PM where we met the other 20+ riders who will be joining us on the trip.



Tomorrow we have an all day Orientation starting at 8:00 AM where breakfast will be served from the mobile kitchen/galley off the back of the truck, and ending in the early evening with a dinner - again off the back of the truck.

After that we start riding again on Sunday - our first stop is in Mission some 50 miles up the Fraser Valley.  I am unsure when where we will get network access once we are on the road so the postings at that point may be somewhat sparse.

So far things are beyond my expectations.