Road

Titan’s Grove with the Desert. I love the dinosaurs, so surreal. I also enjoy the ‘fun’ of the rolling hills of Titan’s Grove after coming off the Desert flats.

My favourite ride is always with friends. If I had to choose one though, it would be from where we live out to the first capital of B.C., historic Fort Langley. The ride takes us over bridges where we are often able to spot blue herons and eagles . Crossing the Fraser River, we are surrounded by snow capped mountains, BC’s Coastal Mountains on one side and Washington State’s Mount Baker on the other. Then it’s meandering through farm land, cranberry fields and tree-lined roads that provide lots of welcomed shade in the summer.
Fort Langley is the definition of quaint with a variety of boutique coffee shops and cozy places to eat. It easily meets all criteria for having ‘good food’ on a cycling tour. From Lelem, an indigenous owned and run restaurant to the Blacksmith Bakery, built on the original site of Reid’s Blacksmith, circa 1905, it’s a scenic and yummy out and back of about 70km.

I began with a Women’s Only Mountain Biking group about 20 years ago, I loved it and still ride a bit on our local trails. Road cycling has now been at the forefront for about 6 years. I decided to join a challenge at my gym to do a Fondo…a “Fun” what I said? Well, let’s just say that was the start of a beautiful relationship between me and my bike.

Anything chocolate! But lately, frozen dates have been a favorite except they typically are defrosted by the time I want them!

It’s truly a toss-up between cycling in France or Italy, with France slightly ahead. We’ve been twice now and explored two distinctly different areas, of course, there’s wine…and bread, and cheese, which always adds to the pleasure.

Cycling through the countryside on roads that carry so much history of time and place is magical. Having a ‘loose’ itinerary for our days of cycling really allowed for the surprises of finding hidden gems along the way. Whether that was arriving in a medieval village on market day, discovering a hidden castle down a country lane or having a croissant and espresso at an amazing boulangerie there was an adventure in everyday.