Hope, B.C. - Vancouver, B.C.

The rain had mostly stopped when I woke up this morning, but there was still a drizzle, so I delayed starting for an hour or so, until almost 9:00.

Happily, my clothes, including my shoes, had dried overnight; that was a big relief, because I was not looking forward to putting on wet shoes.

When I planned my trip I left an extra day, just in case, so I did not have to make it to Vancouver today, but that was my plan, and I certainly intended to get there.  While it was my longest day in terms of kilometres, I expected it to be much easier than yesterday because the route is almost entirely flat.

The first couple of hours were a bit damp, but quite lovely otherwise.  There was very little traffic along Highway 7 and the rural setting was very relaxing.  

Unfortunately, the idyllic nature of my ride was entirely ruined by a horrendous downpour around 11:00.  I was really very mad about this, because I had delayed my start because I thought it would mean I would escape the rain, but here, entirely in defiance of the forecast, was a terrible rainstorm.  I was completely soaked in minutes and there really was no point in doing anything but pressing on.  I think the rain continued for about an hour, with varying degrees of intensity, and I was very angry and miserable, literally swearing out loud in between wiping my glasses and shaking water droplets from my helmet.  

Eventually and slowly it cleared and began to warm up, but it took a long time before the sun came out.  Once I reached Mission I was about halfway, and I stopped at a Tim Horton's to buy a hot drink and lunch.  After that I walked for a couple of kilometres, hoping the pressure would squeeze more water from my shoes, and giving myself a chance to stretch and drink my coffee.  

I got back on my bike and rode down to Silvermere Lake, where I stopped again to eat my lunch.  Now it was a nice day, although I was still damp and my feet felt awful.  I took my shoes off for a bit so that they could get some air, but really it did not help much.

Back on my bike it was another 30 or so kilometres of pretty lousy cycling through Maple Ridge--I even had a driver honk at me for cycling on the road!  I was thoroughly unimpressed with how poor this designated cycling route was for cyclists.

The Lougheed Highway crosses the Pitt River from Maple Ridge to Coquitlam, and for the first time all day I took out my phone to take a picture.

Coquitlam was not much better to cycle through than Maple Ridge had been, but once I got to Port Moody things got nicer, and I loved cycling north of Burnaby Mountain on the Barnet Highway.  

After 135 or 140 kilometres now I was getting very worn out and very hungry, so I began shoveling almonds into my mouth.  Then I realized I was extremely thirsty and out of water, but I was also really determined to finish up, so I pressed on.  Burnaby was basically another Maple Ridge and Coquitlam in terms of cycling experience, but once I crossed Highway 1 and entered Vancouver I joined the Adanac bike route and it was superb!  Soon I was downtown, cycling past Rogers Arena and into Gastown.  I locked my bike up outside The Cambie Hostel, and only then did it hit me that I was done!  

It was now 18:00, so it had taken me over nine hours to get here, but only 7:35 of riding, for an average of just over 20 kmph.  Still not very fast, even though most of it had been flat, but again I did not really care--I was done!

Now I've ridden across Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, and from Winnipeg to the Pacific (albeit with a route that is not entirely continuous--a fact I plan to remedy at some point).

Once checked in at The Cambie, I drank some water, ate some more snacks, showered, and walked over to Winners to buy some new clothes and shoes.  Tomorrow I will spend the whole day off my bike, just enjoying Vancouver.