TWO BRIDGES SOUTH TOWARD BORDER

LONGER RIDES DEFINITELY DOABLE TO THE SOUTH

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

When the Northwest along the scenic route has become too dangerous and the North to the mountain top too painful, and the East seems out of the question, the only option is to ride south towards the border between Canada and the United States.

The two bridges route seemed like a good long ride. Much of the route was in a cycling lane at least initially out of town.

The idea was to cross the Fraser River over the Alex Fraser Bridge, stay overnight with family in Surrey and then turn around the next day and head back home to the West End of Vancouver.

I took Pacific Boulevard to Adanac Street and then took the well known cycling route down Adanac through the Vancouver Eastside all the way to Boundary Road.

You can then take Boundary Road all the way up and then down again to Southwest Marine Drive, hang a hard left toward the Queensborough Bridge, over the Bridge and then toward the Alex Fraser.

This two bridges route is a new route for me. And so, a lot of the ordeal involved being unsure about the safety of the roads and choosing the best turn at particular junctions of the route.

The best plan is to have a route before you leave home, and then to be prepared to meander off the route to create your own way.

At the minimum, you need to have a compass programmed in your head for the general direction you ought to be going in. If the road starts to bend away from that nexus point, then you want to get off that road even if it is a bike path. This brief diversion is easy to do in a subdivision by just turning at the next street just before the street you are on starts to bend away from your compass point.

This highly skilled maneuver is much easier performed riding a bike than driving a car.

Getting onto the sidewalk of the Queensborough Bridge is a bit tricky and then again onto the sidewalk on the Alex Fraser Bridge may be even trickier. These bridges have no room for bikes other than on the sidewalks, which is just fine by me.

The two bridges route is part of the truck route from the border to the warehouses and factories along the Fraser River and the Port of Vancouver. So, sidewalks are a good thing over busy narrow bridges.

When I stopped on the Alex Fraser Bridge for a few minutes, the whole bridge was constantly oscillating up and down and probably sideways a bit from the continuous mixed stream of heavy trucks and passenger vehicle traffic.

I was able to circle around and under the bridge to access the Nordel Way off-ramp, and then took 84^ththrough North Delta and into Surrey towards King George Highway, but I decided at the last minute at the junction to take 124^th to 72^nd and then cranked a left there, heading East down 72^nd.

I was looking for a longer ride but this ride too came in at just over two hours, maybe two hours 15 minutes to be fare to myself.

Now I could have turned around and headed home back down King George Highway to make for a longer ride, but I was staying overnight in Surrey, so I did not turn around and head back down King George Highway until the next morning.

I was surprised to find a bike lane because there were not that many cyclists on the road. I was able to safely get to Pattullo Bridge though. 

Now the trick with this bridge is that the steel bridge has continually gone through a rust cycle and if you want to see part of the rusty belt highway, this bridge is it. The sidewalk is only on the west side, so you have to go around and under the bridge to get to the west side sidewalk.

Next to the Pattullo Bridge is the Skytrain Bridge and a heady example of industry along the Fraser River in either direction, still now as the residential areas encroach the riverway.

Once on the other side, you can follow a cycle path through the single family dwelling subdivisions passed Centennial Park and Queen Elizabeth Park with the goal of connecting up to Canada Way.

The route is a bit of a slow gradual climb through New Westminster up Sixth Street to join up with Canada Way. But Canada Way is a long downhill ride toward sea level at Downtown Vancouver that sits in a small footprint along the Pacific Ocean.

I took Canada Way all the way to Boundary Road, and then took Boundary Road, north, before cranking left onto Adanac, west toward the West End.

Adanac seemed even nicer and more serene on a Saturday morning down a tree lined street with many cyclists getting their long ride on the weekend after working hard all week.

Adanac has been a cycling route for several decades now with cars restricted from turning onto Adanac by cement barriers and traffic light controlled intersections, unless you live in one of the houses on Adanac, but even then, you would have to go around and about to get to your parking space.

This ride can be easily accomplished in about 3.5 to 4 hours round trip after getting to know the route and not spending time going slow so as not to miss the best possible cycling path. 

I would probably never be able to round trip the two bridges route all at once because I would no doubt have to stay with family in Surrey.

I just wanted to leave everyone with a note on bike theft prevention. Never leave your bike unlocked somewhere, even if you think you can keep an eye on it while sipping a latte. You want to have a heavy bike lock to wrap around the rear tire and frame and a bike stand or lamp post. And then still keep an eye on it. Just to be extra careful, take the front tire off and add it to the locked up line.

This caution may seem severe, but on a $4000 plus carbon fiber road bike, the front wheel is anywhere from $500 to $1000 in replacement costs. For less expensive bikes, just bombing around in the city, the inconvenience is the big problem, having to carry your bike home without a front wheel and then having to find a replacement front wheel.

The indignity of walking home without the bike after the entire bike, especially a birthday bike, has been stolen, can be difficult to accept.

And you always want to keep an eye on your bike, even when locked up, and not really to leave the bike locked up somewhere too long, because even the littlest bit of vandalism to the bike can really ruin the day.