Ride 4 - The Rules are Getting Bent

Ride 4 - 22 March 2019
Distance 31.5 miles (Distance to date 72.1 miles)
Time 3:14 (Time to date 7:57)

So, I'll start with a confession; I did this ride on a decent rental bike, not a u-bicycle like intended.

Although technically speaking I didn't break any rules, as I left myself a pretty big loophole!
"This year the challenge is set; to cycle every single street in Victoria, British Columbia ....to add a little twist, I'll do the whole thing on a rental bike."

The intention had been to ride u-bicycles, but I got dropped Oak Bay Avenue at the only green bike I saw, which turned out to be a death trap. After searching for another bike for 45mins, I gave up and headed to Oak Bay Bikes where I was rented this beauty for the afternoon!

Front on the Left, front on the left, front on the left

There was only one minor issue. I'm British so ride bikes with my front brake on the right; the ride very nearly started with me going over the handle bars as I pumped the brakes on the rental to see what they could do! (it's never been an issue on the green bike as the brakes are quite as powerful).
About Bike

The ride itself was a little underwhelming. Oak Bay is beautiful, so I had high hopes. But after 3+hrs of pootling around I realized, while Oak Bay is nice and picturesque etc, there's not much to stop and take photos of.....just lots of nice houses with nice gardens! I'm not dissing Oak Bay, just for the purposes of this adventure, I guess it just lacks 'stuff'!

Points of Interest.....

Gonzales Hill / Walbran Park (48.41189, -123.31874)

I would definitely consider these two little parks hidden gems. I've lumped them together as they're pretty much adjacent. The parks can be accessed by road from Beach Drive, alternative via the Stairs of Death which start at King George Terrace and Sunny Lane.

The Cairn

Observatory

The View

Tree in Roof (48.414411, -123.324432)

A house built with a tree trunk through the roof is pretty cool. Now imagine a house built with a tree trunk through the roof and a bear on top of the tree trunk!! My mind was blown too.

Oak Bay Marina (48.42684_-123.307791)

The views at Oak Bay Marina never disappoint.

There are also a couple of resident overweight seals in the marina if you want an easy close encounter! You can buy frozen fish for them in the bait shop, but that won't be helping their obesity issues.

Even the shipwrecks are pretty

Weather can't be guaranteed

Comments

Ride 3 - What a corker!

Ride 3 - 10 March 2019 Distance 19.3 miles (Distance to Date 40.6 miles) Time 2:06 (Time to Date 4:43) So apparently green bikes are like buses! Having spent a nice morning with my family in Beacon Hill Park, the plan was simple. My wife would head home in the car and I'd jump on a green bike and bag some miles! Eventually found one! The assumption that I'd find a green bike easily near downtown Victoria was a bad one. We see the bikes all around town, but when you need one they're pretty hard to come by! The plan was to start at the park, so you'll see the first bit of my ride was just getting to the start line........ on reflection, riding east at the start would have been a much better idea! Imagine my frustration when a few minutes into the ride I came across this! That's right, FOUR! The ride itself was great. Weather was good, roads were flat and the route was a lot easier to make ground on than all the previou

Ride 37 - Conquered Mt Doug!!

Ride 37 - 14 October 2019 Distance 41.5km (Distance to date 1107.9km) Time 3hrs 14mins (Time to date 84hrs 58mins) Rich 1 - 0 Mt Doug!!! (2019). I conquered Mt Doug on a Green Bike, all the way to the top, no stopping!!! My hero xx I have history with Mt Doug. My 2018 challenge was to raise money for charity and I decided to do that by conquering Mt Doug. Scaling Mt Doug to the equivalent height of Mt Everest. Thats 60 ascents. I didn't manage 60, I should have trained! But I did manage to raise a wad of money for charity! I may be smiling here, but.............. Anyway, the reason for the story.....I was out doing this ride on Thanksgiving which I realized while riding was the anniversary of the Everest attempt. So the route became obvious, I was going to have to do Mt Doug. It was savage!! I do not have the power to force a green bike straight up the hill so I was reduced to zig zagging the whole way. But an ascent is an ascent. guess which

Ride 46 - Press in Tow

Ride 46 - 1 December 2019 Distance 33.9km (Distance to date 1,485.4 km) Time 2hrs 43mins (Time to date 114hrs 7mins) I was joined on this ride by a journalist from the Times Colonist !! Got to start somewhere Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of me and Roxanne exploring the east side of James Bay together, but I do have proof for the doubters........... https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/meet-the-cyclist-who-rode-every-victoria-street-often-twice-1.24039234 The stuff of nightmares Sadly the exploring was surprisingly bland, so not much to report. I was expecting this area to be a little treasure trove. Maybe I was just chatting too much Not as comfortable as it looks Points of Interest..... No points of interest

Victoria on a Bike

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