Vancouver Island ride, Lake Cowichan loop...

[VanCityValkyrie]

I connected with a fellow Valkyrie rider a while ago while he was still living in Toronto. Him and his family have moved to Vancouver Island now and it was finally time to meet up for a ride.

On Saturday morning I took the 7am ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay and we met up at "The Fickle Fig" shortly after. Nice place for having breakfast before starting the ride. https://goo.gl/maps/1cRiq9gD3ro255Sr6

After chatting for a bit we just wanted to ride. Casey took me on some amazing roads right after the Fickle Fig. Narrow roads, lots of twisties, up and down, through the forests, it was amazing! A map of the whole trip will be attached at the end...

We rode up to Lake Cowichan, Honeymoon Bay, from there we had 12km of dry dirt/gravel road to the campground. We had no clue it was a dirt/gravel road, we also didn't have any reservation for the campground. When we arrived at the campground we talked to the host for a while and he told us we were lucky and offered us spot #20. "Yeah, nice, but what about the one closer to the lake over there?"
Looks in his phone for a while, scrolling up and down... "yeah, you can have it, it's not booked today."
From then on we knew the luck was on our side...



After setting up the tents and getting all the weight off the bikes, we decided to go to Lake Cowichan for a late lunch and getting everything we'd need for the night. Then we rode towards Port Renfrew. A dream of a road. Some crazy bumps in the roads, aside from that it was just perfect. Many twisties, no traffic, rivers, creeks, it was beautiful.





We arrived back at camp shortly after 5pm. This is what you look like when following the lead rider on the dry dirt/gravel road to the campground...





Since we have a campfire ban in place right now, we decided to keep it simple and got chicken wraps from the place where we had lunch. The rest of the evening was filled with a great view, good conversations, beer and scotch.





Waking up the next morning, we were in no rush to leave. We enjoyed the lazy morning, hung out by the lake, went for a swim, packed our gear and then left towards Port Renfrew again.



All the way to Port Renfrew we decided to stop at every nice place to prospect for future trips. And we found many nice spots where we could put up a tent...











Getting closer to Port Renfrew the temperature dropped significantly and it got very windy closer to the coast.
We stopped at a campground in Port Renfrew, and just in time it cleared up.



We stopped at the Port Renfrew pub for lunch.





From Port Renfrew we rode towards Sooke. It was grey and cold most of the way...





In Sooke we said goodbye to each other. I had to get back to the ferry terminal. The GPS said I would arrive at the terminal at 6:56pm, the ferry would leave at 7pm. The lineup of cars at the ferry terminal was crazy and they had to wait for the 10pm ferry. On the motorcycle I could pass all the lanes, get my ticket and I made it on the ferry in time 





A nice weekend with a fellow Valkyrie rider on new to me roads on Vancouver Island. I will definitely go back!

Here's a map of the ride.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=10wEhYgL-vvONWkEzvKFgJ5ScqRP8yiUx&usp=sharing

[icandoitfaster]

great ride report....thanks for sharing it with us. I love the ride from Port Renfrew to Sooke, especially on a clear hot summer day. I had most of the bearings in my rear wheel come out on that road last time I rode it. Made for a very scary two up ride home on the freeway from the ferry to White Rock.

[msb]

Another great ride and post Christian Yes, it is great riding over there for sure....nice to see you out exploring all the best BC has to offer. Seeing your posts, I'm tempted to tag along with you on one of your camping rides (Lisa won't tent, bnb's and motels only), but I'm just not sure how my old Valk would take to riding all those dirt roads you seem to find yourself on all the time.

[Beardo]

Looks like a great time. Thanks for posting.

[Dusty]

Thanks for the report. Lots of good things to see in that area. I live 20 minutes north of Victoria and like to ride up there first thing in the morning. Here's a link to one of the big trees up  that way.

Dusty




http://handsomedans.ca/san-juan-sitka-spruce/

[gordonv]

I've driven a few times from Victoria-Sooke-Port Renfrew for work. Was always wondering if you could take that road up to Lake Cowichin or not. Nice to see you can.

My first time ride via the Sunshine coast across to The Rock and up to Campell River for the night. Then back to Swartz and the fairy. Paid for the ferry, and drove up to the front of the line just as they started bordering, didn't even have to slow down, right on. That was a great feeling.

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for the show. 

[_Sheffjs_]

That was breathtaking   You should link the pictures to the Gen board for everyone to enjoy.  You know down here in Florida we lost a very large amount of the Canadian snow birds who could not cross the border to get to their Florida homes. I have to wonder if for many it might have been their first white winter in many years 

[VanCityValkyrie]

Thanks for the comments and infos, everyone!
There will definitely be more future rides on the island.
I heard about the road to Gold River, which shall be fantastic as well.
More exploring will happen... 

[Madmike]

Thanks for the comments and infos, everyone!
There will definitely be more future rides on the island.
I heard about the road to Gold River, which shall be fantastic as well.
More exploring will happen... 

Western Forest Products is pretty active on the Island, they have a map that you can get of their roads network.  There are lots of loops available, keep in mind that logging roads usually mean gravel and as these are private roads they may not be maintained if there is no logging going on. Some roads are gated as well. Info is available here

http://www.wfproadinfo.com/

You can put an app on your phone and use it offline with WFP's amps.  Here is a link for the map app.

https://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/

[spurliner]

great post ....thanks for that...awesome pics!
Andy

[spurliner]

We could use an Alberta Chapter.....or maybe not enough Valks in this province???

[gordonv]

We asked for one to be opened for us, from the moderators.

We had a more of a BBS style web site. Posted threads and rides. We never used it much, no others knew of it. It made more sense being all in one. Others from around the country read it, and contribute too.

I think things are a little slower right now. No much happening.

Personally, I would make your posts here for Alberta, try to get others too. After it shows a little more interest, then ask the moderators to open up a provincial one for Alberta. I've family in both Calgary and Edmonton. I wish I had more time/interest to ride out that way too.