Vancouver! Bike City!

There are many reasons why I have fallen in love with the city I currently call home; the food ($6 sushi combos, Dougie Dogs, wings n beer, the best Chinese restaurants in North America), the mountains, the people and the relaxing pace of life to name but a few, but up there has to be the city's bike network. There are currently over 400 KM’s of bike lanes in Vancouver and counting (I’m sure by the time we’re done with training we will have ridden a fair few of them).

Compared to other cities that I have had the ‘pleasure’ of cycling around Vancouver really is amazing so hats off to the council for all their work in making Vancouver such a safe and easy place to cycle, check out Vancouver city councils bike page here.

Don’t believe me? Sit yourself down, have a cup of tea and check out this awesome montage of Vancouver cycle route photos that I have prepared for you.

Enjoy:

Penny Farthing! Here’s a plaque to commemorate 100 Kilometres of Bikeways back in 1998, so that’s over 300 kilometres built in the last 14 years, good work!

On a side note, I’m loving the use of the penny farthing in this image, I hope one day penny farthings will be back on the streets. Perhaps all the hipsters will get bored of their fixies and Penny Farthings will be the next cool thing; Brooklyn/ Dalston- make it happen!

Show Me The Way To Go Home!

There’s lots of good signage so you never get lost. Well, most people would never get lost; we still end up going round in circles sometimes.

I think it is just as likely that we will end up in Alaska as Mexico by the end of our trip.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part.

Tired of waiting for the lights to change?

It’s ok, you can just press the button and it’ll speed things along. I love this feature adding a more pedestrian aspect to a bike crossing.

River Deep Mountain High!

Vancouver has a really varied terrain which is awesome for our training purposes. Lots of steep hills to get us fit and ready for action. A lot of times when you are done with a climb you get rewarded with a nice view too.

Parklife!

A great ride for tourists and Vancouverites alike is the Seawall which takes in, the beaches and marinas and the full outer circuit of Stanley Park.

This ride is reason in its self to visit Vancouver, especially if you head down on a sunny day; you get stunning views of the city, the mountains and the sea. Check it out.




Plus you get to see this island that kind of looks like a pineapple...

So there you have it. Loving your work Vancouver, you make training fun.

Just over three months to go…

Dave

We will be cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment and sharing our blog.