July 3: Vancouver Rest Day
Although we took the day off, it was just "off the bike" off. We still walked a ton.
A few of us went to Tim Horton's (a.k.a., "Timmie's" -- think McDonald's in Canada) for breakfast, and then we bundled into the van to drive to Stanley Park.
After walking around there a bit, RandoGirl's knee started to hurt, which made my hip hurt in sympathy. So we sat in a shady spot while seaplanes took off above our heads.
We then went shopping in search of bike jerseys with "Vancouver" on them. We didn't find any, but we visited some cool shops and met a lot of nice folks.
One fellow in this shop gave us a tip on an easier way out of town the next day -- one that didn't have us biking on a rusty catwalk that would've had a Flying Wallenda puking in fear. (Okay, that may be an exaggeration. Sue me.)
We went out for excellent pizza that night and found another really cool bike shop called "The Tandem Cafe." The shop owner had just won the local cargo bike race, and he and I discussed next weekend's Seattle-to-Portland ride.
We made it back to the room in time to catch the sunset from our balcony.
July 4: Bellingham Again
That evening, I modified our return route based on the advice from some other bike shop patrons and RideWithGPS.com. Thus, after loading up the van with our gear once again, we headed back into central Vancouver.
Now THIS is the way that the bike lane on a bridge should be.
About two miles from our hotel was the first destination: The Musette Cafe.
This place was really neat, with all kinds of cycling memorabilia. And they had the best coffee that I have yet to find in Vancouver.
From here, we biked another mile to the subway station. After spending far too much time figuring out how to get tickets and then bundling our bikes into the elevator, we got on the train.
The end of the line was the King George Station. Jeff said that it was ironic that we were fleeing the tyranny of Canada via the King George Station on the Fourth of July. But then later that day the Canadians almost didn't let us go.
The new route had us on a couple of busy roads, but they all either had bike lanes or a good shoulder. Soon, we were back into the countryside via our inbound path. As we approached the bump that we had "enjoyed" on our way in, I mentioned that it was a little steeper from this side.
Nobody had to dismount on the climb and cross-train, however, and we descended down the other side, took an illegal left, and returned to the border. U.S. Customs spent a little more time looking us over than the Canadians had, but eventually they let us re-enter our so-called home.
As we passed through Blaine, however, we got a call from Tom and Judy in the van telling us that U.S. Customs was being tougher on them since they had all of our luggage. We decided it would be prudent to stay closer to the border for a while in case they needed us to come back, and headed back into town in search of lunch. Although it was probably not everyone's first choice, we ended up with the randonneur's friend -- and the only place open on Independence Day -- Subway. And thusly did we eat fresh and pay homage to King George and his lovely station back in Vancouver, while Customs dumped our tea bags into the harbor.
We finished our lunch about the time that Customs let Tom and Judy back in. Once we got past the park near Blaine, which was gearing up for evening fireworks and where the afternoon drinking had apparently already begun, we were able to once again enjoy a ride through fairly flat farmland.
At one point, we ran into another couple on a tandem and they paced in with us all the way to Ferndale. A really weird coincidence.
Most things in Ferndale were closed, but both of the cannabis shops on the road between Ferndale and Bellingham were open.
Because who doesn't like to light their bottle-rocket using a joint?
Since we had shortened the route by using the subway, we actually got into the hotel fairly early. A few of us did some laundry while others soaked in the hot tub, took a nap, or hung out at happy hour, and then we ferried folks into town for dinner at the Bellingham Cider Company. We were done and back at the hotel before the evening's fireworks started.
Hooray for the red, white, and blue.
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