Time for an Adventure!

Hello again, I hope you all enjoyed reading my last article.

Today was quite the adventure! I had tried to stay up as late as I could the previous night so that I would be able to sleep in for as long as possible. I have found this method extremely helpful during the day’s I am on a fast. I typically start my fast around 5-6pm and start eating normally again the same time the following day. I am at the point now were not eating for 24 hours is not much of a challenge for me.

I woke around noon and was surprised to see that the sun was out today. I knew I could not let it go to waste, so I planned a trip out to Horseshoe Bay. Horseshoe Bay is about as far west as you can possibly go in West Vancouver which is located on the North Shore. This is also the area which you can take a ferry across the bay to Victoria. 

I looked at a map and thought that it would be a nice easy ride over there so I grabbed my camera, phone, wallet, and headed out. Now the only bike I have here at the moment is a single speed. That means my bike has one gear, kind of like a beach cruiser or bmx bike if your familiar with either of those. Things started off really good, it was not until I hit my first huge hill that I began to think twice about my decision of riding this bike. Most of the uphills required me pulling on my handlebars as hard as I could so that I could push on the pedals to make it up the hill. Mistake number one, do not ride a single speed bike in the mountains. Although the uphills were a living hell, the ride was gorgeous, I literally thought to myself this is the coolest thing I have ever done. I rode west on Marine Drive taking pictures along the way. Some of the most beautiful houses I have ever seen lay upon Marine Drive. There were a few houses that kind of reminded me of Tony Stark’s house he has in the movie Iron Man. 

I rode as far West as the roads allowed me to, and I ended up on the furthest Western point of the North Shore. There was a park there and a few site seeing spots which I took advantage of to capture a few pictures.

It was around 2:30pm or so when I started heading back, and because of the inclination of several hills I had to walk them instead of ride. I was about 1/4 of the way back when I felt my back wheel start to get shaky. I pulled over onto a small shoulder and examined the real wheel; flat tire. Because I am riding a single speed bike aka fixie (flip-flop), the rear wheel does not have a quick release on it; just bolts. I have no spare tubes, co2 cartridges, or patch kits. Even if I did have any of those I still would need a wrench to get the bolts off the back wheel so that I could fix my flat. So I had about 20k till I got home, I had no choice but to walk it. I had starting walking around 3:00pm and I did not arrive home until 8:30pm. Needless to say I have learned a lesson about carrying the proper tools and supplies when going on a long bike ride. 

Although today ended up being a huge pain in the butt, it was truly the most beauftiul ride I have ever been on. If you ever come to Vancouver, I suggest you take a ride or at least drive West on Marine Drive. This is also a way to get to Whistler, they call it the scenic route.