Tag: cycling

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A June of Firsts Part 1: Matsqui Trail Bike Ride

After springing for a new Thule bike rack that could carry 4 bikes (we used to be able to put the Lightning Kid’s bike in the trunk when we wanted a family bike ride), I was extra motivated to try and get out for a ride that wasn’t simply through my own neighbourhood. The weather’s turned really nice here in Abbotsford, and I need to get my exercise in more than ever.

My wife mentioned the Matsqui trail as something she wanted to explore either on foot or by bike a few times in the past, so I took it upon myself to scout it out because I’m the kind of person who likes to stave off disappointments and/or catastrophes.

The Matsqui Trail runs along the South shore of the Fraser River. There’s a nice park at the foot of the Mission bridge which seems to be the half-way mark between the East and West arms of the trail. From that park, I chose to ride west first. It was a beautiful day and I could really enjoy the sunlight on the water. It reminded me of our visits to Berlin, in a way.

I wanted to get a shot of the sunshine on the water. I guess I got too much sunshine in the shot.

There was a part of the western arm of the trail that went by a sewage treatment plant; I had been forewarned about the smell, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared (though still unpleasant).

Once I passed that, things started to get interesting. I could tell by a train whistle that I was getting near a railroad; it got quite loud, but where I actually first crossed paths with it was to ride under a bridge that the train had just crossed over. Later, I would actually (carefully) cross the rail line on its surface, but by then the train was long gone. I came across a parking lot that is marked as part of the Trans Canada trail on Google Maps, and I saved it for future reference.

The rest of the trail wandered further from the river, and got to be more challenging. While it was a net climb, I found it to be also a bit of a beginner-level mountain-bike track in terms of tight corners and squeezes and inclines and declines; I had thought this would be an easy gravel ride. I’ve been struggling to find places to mountain bike that are appropriate for my level; most of the places I find are too risky. Even as I started getting gassed by the climb, I was pleased to have found something that could challenge me physically and technically. I turned around at Douglas Taylor Park, which might or might not be the absolute end of the trail but good enough for my purposes. I rode back down and enjoyed not only the easier pace but the challenge of handling some light twists and turns, though I nearly had a collision with a man on a recumbent bike.

I got back to the central bridge park, and decided I had enough time to see what the Eastern arm was like. While I didn’t get to its bitter end, the parts I saw were flat, and sometimes leveraged the dyke trail.

I think if I cherry pick the right parts of the trail in the future, I can offer anything from a leisurely family ride to a bit of beginner mountain bike training.

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The Quest To Ride To Downtown Abbotsford

I’d been wanting to combine an excursion to downtown Abbotsford with a road cycling training ride for a while. Before I committed to executing the ride, I made sure to scout out the route beforehand to look for obstacles, challenges, problems, etc.

Marshall Road has a nice 2-way dedicated bike lane, but I did have challenges with Amazon delivery vehicles blocking it, and it ends right as the downtown area really starts in earnest. By the time I got to the area with the most interesting shops and businesses, I was walking my bike (in bike shoes). On the positive side, I rode along Gladys Road without having any cars to contend with and noticed some bunny rabbits that ran alongside me (instead of perpendicularly away from me) as I rode.

I had scouted out where I was going to park my bike and what I was going to eat when I reached my destination, so 2 weeks later all I had to do was make sure I was prepared. I packed my Salomon hydration pack with a U-Lock and sandals to walk around in. Of course, I also filled the hydration bladder with water and electrolyte powder.

One of the things that had annoyed me on my initial scouting ride is there seemed to be no way nicely cross Highway 11 – Sumas Way. On this attempt, I turned North after the Marshall Bike lanes ended and thought the map was showing me a secret trail. That ended up being a dead end, so I used the bridge over Old Yale.

After that, I had a pretty easy way into the downtown core, and I parked and locked my bike under the supervision of 3 upstanding Abbotsford citizens.

I grabbed lunch and a milkshake at BRGR BRGR.

I took the time to do a little shopping at the Spruce Collective – I grabbed an Abbotsford keychain, a magnetic poetry kit and some post-cards (I’ve taken up post-card writing as a little hobby – old school correspondence for the win!).

The ride home was tedious, not only because I crossed Hwy 11 the hard way (dismounting and crossing a multi-lane roadway as a pedestrian), but also because it was a net uphill, and my hydration supply had gotten luke warm in the summer heat.

Still, I’m proud of the accomplishment, and had a nice little excursion.

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Best. Ride. Ever: Chilliwack to Abbotsford

I think I had the best bike ride (or at least best solo bike ride) of my life this weekend. I had the idea of riding home from church in Chilliwack – Google said there were good bike routes, so I saved one to my phone, but more on that later.

In anticipation of another triathlon training season, I decided to update my road cycling shoes. The cleats were worn down and the velcro straps were coming apart, in spite of multiple gluings.

And so I bought a pair of new bike shoes, and they had a feature called a Boa, which I was not familiar with. There’s a little dial that essentially tightens some wires that act as light laces. I was a little concerned that the wires could break and then what happens to the shoe, but they come with a lifetime warranty, and it looks like they’ll be pretty good for on and off during transitions and triathlon. And what’s nice is I can even tighten them as I ride. I found I was riding along, and I thought I could use a little bit more responsiveness out of the shoe and some tightening. So I just was able to, while I was riding along, reach down, turn the little wheel, and the shoe got tighter.

I also tested using my Shokz OpenSwim Pro’s . I had turn by turn navigation in my ear while still being able to hear cars and the rest of the environment. So I got cues as I went along. Once I was on the on country roads, I turned on the music.

The ride was just perfect. It’s the kind of thing I always wanted to do, ever since we moved to BC: doing something outdoorsy while fitting it into the rest of my lifestyle (between the kids getting tutored and going to church). The weather was beautiful. The ride was flat. I used technology to not get lost and stay motivated. I noted that much of the ride did have signs to designate the roads as part of a bike route, and in the busiest parts of Chilliwack, there were dedicated bike lanes.

I need to find more routes like this, and ideally add mountain bike rides that are of an appropriate level for me – not just flat gravel (e.g. dyke trails) nor single track on the side of a mountain where I could break my neck.

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Our Adventures in BMX

Whenever I’m in a new place, I try to discover what kinds of recreational opportunities are around. Back in September, I was in the parking lot of Shark Boy’s gymnastics club, when I noticed terrain of a unique nature. It was a BMX park, with bumps and curved embankments forming a course that is completed in a single lap, although it twists and folds back upon itself rather than just being a circle.

My birthday happened to fall on a Sunday, so the Lightning Kid and I decided to give it a go, while Shark Boy was at his gymnastics training. For the footage, we’ll have to consult the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel:

I was on my hardtail mountain bike, which is not quite ideal for jumps and such on this track, or maybe that’s my lack of confidence talking. We did go back once, and I wore clip-in shoes rather than the trail runners you see me in during the video. We also got a chance to witness a race to end the season and see how it’s really done, with a mechanical gate to keep the starting line honest, found at a top of a ramp by the start of the course. A rep from the Abbotsford BMX club told us they would transition to indoors, and how welcoming they were to beginners.

Unfortunately, it took us a while to get back to them, and by the time we did, the Lightning Kid had lost all the confidence and ended up walking his bike around the ‘half-track’ which is the latter segment of the indoor course with smaller bumps. Shark Boy tried the whole racecourse but found his mountain bike wasn’t well suited to the racing gate, as he couldn’t sit in the seat and stay balanced while waiting for the gate to drop. He got to try a loaner BMX bike, but he hated how low the seat was – BMX riders typically stand on the pedals for the entire ride, and absorb the bumps by bending their knees and elbows. Shark Boy seemed to be doing well adapting to the bike and a new style of riding, but apparently he hated every second of it. I thought that would be the end of our foray into this sport, but apparently, the Lightning Kid was adamant about coming back.

On your first visit, you can get a 1 day BMX membership for liability reasons, but subsequent visits mean an annual membership. I have to admit I didn’t want to spring for one just to watch him walk his bike, but thanks to some great coaching by the staff at Abbotsford BMX, he got to ride the half-track the very next visit! Looks like I’ll be investing in the official protective gear (gloves, helmet with face covering, etc) for him, but I’m not sure if it’s something I will take up myself.