Tour of Greater 200K Pre-ride report

Roxanne Steadman and myself set off from Cook Street Village Moka House on Friday 31 March to check out the route. I was using my Garmin 800 to follow the route and Roxanne was using the cue sheet. The GPS worked well except when there were two or more direction changes in quick succession. On these occasions it was always necessary to verify the GPS information with the cue sheet.

As neither Roxanne or I had ridden the route before it was a new adventure. The ride started with a trip around Beacon Hill Park before heading north. We then ride along side streets till we turned on to Saanich Road then onto McKenzie Avenue before turning north onto Douglas Street. Then it is was over the #17 highway overpass towards Strawberry Hill. The route then took us through the country towards Triangle Mountain using Burnside, Atkins Roads leading to Jacklin Road. After crossing Sooke Road the route takes a turn to the left and the climb begins. Low gears and climbing legs are required. There are rewards at the top of the climb. First the views of Victoria and second knowning “what goes up most come down”. The way down the “mountain” is a thrill but one must control one's speed in order to make a right turn at a stop sign. Now we rode around Metchosin noticing Spring was in the air – daffodils in the fields and newly born lambs prancing in the fields - before we stopped in the village at the Broken Paddle for a well earned rest. The next challenge was the ride down the Lagoon, taking time to observe all the freighters parked off shore, before climbing up to Esquimalt Road and then the fast ride down the hill towards the Old Esquimalt Road. The route then continues its Tour of Greater Victoria by passing through some less traveled roads of Esquimalt before rejoining the Esquimalt Road and then through the Songhees and over the bridge to downtown Victoria. We then rode around the harbour to the water front, passed by Beacon Hill Park and to a well earned rest at control #2 – Cadboro Bay Village. We stopped at Starbucks. With half the distance covered and refreshed with food and drink we set off, first around Queenswood and then a familiar route to Royal Oak. The traffic on Royal Oak and West Sannich was busy so we looked forward to the quieter Old West Sannich Road, despite the hilly nature of the road. After this it was straight forward pedaling through Brentwood Bay, around Land's End and then over the Highway to Curtis Road before following the bike path towards Sidney and Control #3. We stopped at the Subway and fueled up for the last 50K. The route then had us riding north through the country before turning south and traveling along Willingdon Road and then along Aldous between the fields of daffodils. Then with a few more twist and turns we rode south, crossed the Island Highway through Elk/Beaver Lake Park and then followed Interurban through Tillicum Mall and by the side roads to Cook Street Village.

In conclusion: the weather was great, the cue sheet and GPS was accurate and there were no major obstacles. The route is hilly but on completion very rewarding.