We hope you will start by reading and becoming familiar with the following introductory chapters. If you’re an experienced cyclist, the advice may be unnecessary; but if you’re a novice, you will benefit from the recommendations, at least in the beginning.
Until you have some experience cycling, it is a good idea to start with short and easy rides, building your confidence and ability until you can judge what you are capable of.
How do you choose a short, easy ride? At the beginning of every ride description is a list of features:
ROUND-TRIP DISTANCE: The rides in this book range from 10 to 45 kilometres.
TERRAIN: Our routes mainly follow paved roads, but this section tells you if you will also encounter gravel dykes or shared footpaths and whether the ride is level or hilly.
TRAFFIC VOLUME: We try to avoid busy roads, but it isn’t always possible. Here we tell you how much car traffic to expect.
TIME TO ALLOW: This section suggests the approximate length of time you will need for the round trip. Our estimate includes a lunch break of 30 minutes plus up to 30 minutes extra if there are unpaved roads, hills or other features that might slow you down. The range indicated—e.g., 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours—allows for riders’ different paces.
HIGHLIGHTS: We point out scenery and items of interest you may enjoy. This still leaves plenty for you to discover for yourself.
PICNIC SPOT: Whenever we can suggest a suitable spot for a picnic, we do. Most sites fall about two-thirds of the way through the ride’s total distance.
STARTING POINT AND HOW TO GET THERE: This section gives you instructions on where to start the ride and how to get to that spot by road or by transit. We usually transport our bikes by car to the starting point. We give road instructions to reach the starting point of each ride, and we’ve done our best to find suitable places to leave a car, most often in municipal or regional parks that are easy to locate. There are increasingly more options to get around.
If you plan to ride near the area where you live, you might be able to reach the starting point by using a neighbourhood cycle route, such as the Frances-Union Bikeway in Burnaby or the Railway and Garden City Bikeways in Richmond. The City of Vancouver has 300 kilometres of on- and off-road bikeways, such as the Central Valley Greenway linking Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, and the Midtown and Ridgeway Bikeways running east to west across the city. Several bridges across the Fraser River now have dedicated bicycle lanes, including the bridge beside the Canada Line SkyTrain route linking Marine Drive Station to Bridgeport Station. In each municipality, bicycle maps and descriptions of local trails can be obtained from city hall and often from community centres, or downloaded from their websites.
Transit might be an option for some. All Metro buses carry a limited number of bicycles, as do SkyTrain, SeaBus and the West Coast Express; a free shuttle service transports cyclists through the George Massey Tunnel. Greyhound services Squamish and Bellingham (bicycles must be boxed), and Amtrak will transport riders and their bikes with a reservation; northern Washington State also has buses equipped with bike racks. We encourage you to check schedules and be flexible with your plans: The West Coast Express commuter train, for example, runs weekdays only and in set directions at specific times of day; SkyTrain has some restrictions on carrying bikes during rush hour, and the shuttle through the George Massey Tunnel runs at one- or two-hour intervals and on a reduced schedule from October to May. Information on these options and more can be found in the latest edition of TransLink’s Metro Vancouver Cycling Map, available wherever maps are sold, and on the TransLink website. The website also features handy trip planners to help you work out your approach by transit or by bike (or a combination of both).
WHEN TO GO: Here we note any seasonal attractions and events.
CONNECTS WITH: Rides that are adjacent to or slightly overlap with others are noted here, allowing you to combine the routes for a longer ride.
Now that you know how to discover what is in a ride, you can begin to make choices.
Our route instructions use the elapsed distance from the starting point to help identify turnings or alert you to points of interest. You can keep track of these distances with a bicycle computer if you have one; otherwise simply use the figures as a guide together with landmarks and other information in the route descriptions. Because of a number of factors such as surface conditions and the computer’s calibration, these figures may not always be accurate. Do not be dismayed if you come across minor discrepancies between the distance you have travelled and what we have written down.
Our maps are intended as a guide to be used in conjunction with the route instructions. We strongly recommend that you carry a standard map of the area, such as MapArt’s Greater Vancouver & Fraser Valley mapbook or TransLink’s Metro Vancouver Cycling Map, at all times. If you get off course, you’ll find the complete picture helpful for getting you back on track.
You might find it convenient to photocopy the route instructions and the map for easy reference on the ride. You can keep these handy in a pocket or in the map case on the top of a cycling handlebar bag. The rides are laid out on facing pages in the book, so they are easy to copy.
If you can, start early in the day before the roads become too busy. Note that on summer weekends the parks also can be very crowded.
You’re ready to set out on your chosen ride. One thing will lead to another, and before long you’ll discover for yourself other byroads to explore on your bicycle.