WARM SHOWERS - A world of WONDERFUL people



TO READ OUR JOURNEY FROM DAY 1, click here - YOU'RE DOING WHAT???


 Can you believe we have this much stuff!!!!!  It is worth it, in order to be fed like this.....from warm showers hosts.....




Yes, this is a plate full of BBQ pork ribs....made for us by Jim and Cory who we stayed with in Nanaimo....They had a beautiful home (at the top of an INSANELY steep hill that we had to push our bikes us.  Shane was dripping with sweat like he had been in a sauna....probably not the greatest first impression....but they seemed to like us anyway!)  They allowed us to sleep in their downstairs guest room, we did laundry, the girls got ice cream treats....the hospitality of these wonderful people is just endless!

Out on their cozy balcony - complete with swings built by Jim - was a cribbage TABLE!!!  I couldn't believe there was another couple as fanatical about cribbage as us.  After the girls went to bed we played two games of partner cribbage, Jim and I crushed Shane and Cory.....so fun!!!  

But I am getting ahead of myself.....after Lake Cowichan we rode out to Duncan along the north side of the Cowichan Valley Trail.  We were SO excited for some downhill.  We had ridden the 33 miles UP to the lake, so we figured it would be a downhill ride to Duncan.  We should know better by now.  At 10 miles we were STILL climbing uphill, but it was a rail trail so a comfortable incline up.  Then, of course, the downhill came and it was FANTASTIC!!!!  about 12 miles of solid downhill, we barely had to pedal.  There is almost nothing better than that.  

Unless the world could be as Jill said that day, "I think uphill should be downhill and downhill should be downhill and flat should be downhill....."  Wouldn't that be nice?  Soon enough we arrived at Alan and Sandy's home.   Both of them were in town the morning we got there and had left us a note that the house was unlocked and to make ourselves at home.  They even set up their trailer for us to sleep in if we wanted....(yes, we did, thank you!)

Sandy was walking around to get support for her Peace Pole project you can read more about it (or even support the Project here.....PEACE POLE PROJECT) She is very involved in the community and does lots of work to bring people together and support local projects.  Beautiful woman!








Alan was at the farmer's market with Sandy, but knew we were getting to his house that morning, so he actually rode all the way back to his house (3 miles through rolling hills, they own a subaru, but bike everywhere) to greet us and take us on a tour of Duncan. We were cycling into town when we passed us and even though we had never met, he knew it was us (we have not seen even ONE other person on a bike with a trailer or trail a bike - we are quite the spectacle!)  

He showed us the market and an awesome little organic store and cafe where he and his wife shop.  Then took us to a bike shop and then the toy store.  Ian - who we stayed with 4 nights earlier in Lake Shawnigan - works at the toy shop, so the girls LOVED being able to see him again.  He helped us pick out a good card game that Jill would be able to play and then sent us off with all sorts of freebies...little puzzles and cards, crayons and coloring book.  Everyone's generosity is so overwhelming!



.....this is the girls in the morning with their duck egg scramble, fresh organic veggies and homemade spelt bread.  The night before they had made us a scrumptious Chicken Curry with Quinoa and a FANTASTIC salad.  

They use all their food scraps to create their own Bio-Gas and that is what they cooked dinner on.  They make their own wine, maple syrup, solar panels for their electric, they gathered their rain water in an underground holding tank to use in irrigation.  They were the most fascinating couple!  We stayed up until 10:30 chatting with them about their travels.  My dream is to be like them when we "grow up".   

We were riding to Ladysmith that day.  The roads were rolling hills with a few steep ones, but not bad.  This would also be the first day that we had to ride on the highway (only 2 miles and there is NO OTHER WAY!)  We followed the directions that Alan gave to us until we hit a junction with a busy road that did not look like fun to ride on.  A cyclist happened to pass right then and so we asked him about whether or not we should turn or go straight.  He said for sure to go straight and stay off the busy road.  We agreed.

But then I realized that we were on the road that Alan had warned us had no real way to access the highway....  we had to cross this....


 Luckily, within 3 minutes there was absolutely no one coming from either way (it was Sunday) and we crossed quickly and onto the shoulder which was 6 - 12 feet wide at all times.  The speeding cars felt a little overwhelming (speed limit 90 km) but after 2 miles we were able to get off the highway and back onto the quite side roads.  But first we found a market, right off the highway,  having a "berry fest".  Everything was free.  Candy, Popcorn, even a huge scoop of strawberry ice cream (at 10:30am!!)  But after cycling 20 miles, I am not going to pass up free ice cream just because I havent had lunch yet! 


We found a park in Chemainus for the girls to play for about an hour.  We ate lunch and then continued on our way, for about 5 minutes. 


 We were going SO SLOWLY up this hill, but really there is no other way to get up these hills so I didnt think anything of it.  But I was working SO HARD and it seemed abnormally slow.  Then I realized my tire was making a terrible sound.  Then I realized I had a flat. We pumped it all the way back up and continued up the hill just for it to go flat again in a matter of minutes.  Shane decided to patch it.



Back on Chemainus Road (supposed to be the quiet off highway route) we went over hill, over hill, over hill.  There was a tiny shoulder.....cars going way to fast, and hills - did I mention there were hills?  It was so exhausting.    We came down this one section (YAY for downhill!) and then going up I came to an almost dead stop.  I had another flat.

It could not have been in a worse spot.  Luckily, the ocean was a quick scramble down a hill so the girls went down there to play
while Shane did a complete tire change and I checked the tire for a thorn....which I found pretty easily, so the last tube was just punctured right away from the thorn that caused the first flat.  So FRUSTRATING!!!  So here we are at the bottom of this crazy busy road, with cars going way too fast around a bend with a blind corner.  We ended up walking up this section after my bike was fixed with the girls on the other side of the barrier and we would stop every time cars came to just get as far over as would could.  It was crazy.  I think the highway would have been the safer choice!

Finally, we made it to the top and got on our bikes to ride and wouldnt you know it...Shane's brake was all messed up.  this time we could at least be stopped in someone's driveway, off the side of the road.  Shane is awesome and fixed his brake without too much of a problem and not much later we pulled into Ladysmith for our next night's stay.




 The couple we stayed with was Bridget and Francois (from New Zealand) in Ladysmith.  Bridget's mom, Sue was also visiting so we had a whole family to chat with!  We got to their house and set up our tent and then they wanted to take us to their local beach, so back on the bikes we went.....and back up the hill we climbed AAAGGGGHHH!!!  But all our gear was off so it is SO much easier to pedal up hills with just the girls.  Shane and Francois played a little water volleyball.



This is a picture of the girls stopped at a berry patch on the side of the bike trail, with Bridget and Francois.  Alli had seen a ripe berry on the way to the beach and made sure she got it on the way back to their house.  Francois BBQ'd up steaks and sausages over a wood fire in their backyard and we feasted on salad, meat and rice while enjoying the beautiful crisp ocean air and great conversation. I really think this is the greatest way to travel.  Lots of exercise, amazing food and GREAT people!

Have I mentioned the sleep deprivation?  The girls are going to bed at 9:30 at the earliest.  It is beyond crazy.  We have had a few major meltdowns from Jill, but nothing too horrible. The worse one was the the "free berry festival" where the girls got free balloons.   Jill's broke and flew away right before we were leaving and she wanted another one.  Nope, we didnt want them to have one in the first place....well, 10 minutes of crying ensued....during which Shane rode ahead with Alli and I waited with Jill on the side of the road until she could get herself under control.  Ah!  the good times must also be shared with the bad times!!  And with a bedtime that late...meltdowns are going to happen!

Ladysmith has a fantastic park, and we had a pretty easy day (only 14 miles) so we rode to Transfer Beach and spent about 3 hours there.  Shane and I get to enjoy the fun rides, great food and (some) relaxation, so we need to make sure to do lots of fun things for the girls.

  Ok......This puts us right back to where I started this post.....with Jim and Cory.  From Ladysmith we rode backroads (and 2 miles of highway) to a small area outside of Nanaimo called Cedar.  The ride was beautiful, with some CRAZY hills, but we were able to eat wild berries along the way, see ponies playing in the fields and  then the rain started.  It wasn't too bad, and we are going to be rained on so we just pulled out our gear and kept going, well, sometimes we had to push.  The hills are just too steep....




Pure EXHAUSTION.....the girls got the bed, not sure why! 




This is the end of 8 days.  We have traveled 142 miles, spent nearly 18 hours on our bikes and spent $550.  We are so lucky to have this opportunity and have so many wonderful people to welcome us into their homes.  Huge thanks to everyone who has hosted us so far...and looking forward to the hosts still to come....

If you are interested in opening your home to touring cyclists check out this website and register....

WARM SHOWERS


NEXT BLOG POST: A DAY OF REST (yeah, right!)

No comments:

Post a Comment