I experienced late-winter cabin fever recently, and having always wanted to visit Malcolm Island and Sointula, off the northern end of Vancouver Island, I packed my camping gear, loaded my bike onto my car rack, and headed northwards.

I live in Courtenay in Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley, so the drive north to catch a BC Ferry in Port McNeil was around 255 kms; over 3 hours of driving on the excellent paved North Island Highway, which becomes two lanes north of Campbell River. I treated myself to a coffee break in Woss, and a few additional stops to take photos, stretch the legs, and soak in some inspiring natural scenery.

The North Island Highway south of Woss Lake in late winter. Some majestic country.

In Port McNeil there’s pay car parking available at just $5 per day beside the ferry terminal, but I’m told it can fill up during the peak season. There were half a dozen daily sailings to Sointula, but be sure to check the BC Ferries schedule for alerts and the latest schedule. The same ferry also provides service to nearby Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. I loaded up my touring bike and started rolling.

Here’s a little history on Malcolm Island: “Sointula means ‘place of harmony’ in Finnish. This charming seaside town on sprawling Malcolm Island was established as a community in the late 19th century when a colony of Finnish settlers arrived with utopian dreams of building the perfect community. While that vision was derailed within a decade, there’s no question these visionaries chose the right place for a fresh air and salt water paradise on earth.” (Source: Vancouverislandnorth.ca)

Many of the Finns stayed on, farming, fishing and logging, and helping give the island a distinctive character that lives on to this day. Malcolm and Cormorant Islands, as well as Port McNeil and parts of North Vancouver Island, are part of the traditional Namgis First Nations territory.

The friendliness started when I was boarding the ferry from Port McNeil. The BC ferries staff and other walk-on passengers all greeted me! I stopped for coffee in Sointula, and asked about camping at Bere Point Campground on the north shores. A small group soon gathered to offer advice and opinions. I finally started my ride, and immediately noticed that almost every car driver – there’s not many – waved. And Sointula certainly offers some roadside character.

A little seaside character in downtown Sointula.

The ride to Bere Point Regional Campground on the north shore was only 7kms; mostly on dirt track passing a few working farms, climbing over a modest 100-metre island spine, and downhill to the campground. Bere Point is gorgeous; definitely one of my favourite campgrounds, and a place to return to in the season. There are twenty four campsites, some situated right along the beach, with others set farther back.

The incredible, smooth pebbled bay, with driftwood along the high tide marker, is famous as a “rubbing beach” for killer whales that come in close to shore to scrub their skins on the smooth stones.

There are hiking and walking trails heading along the north coast. Along with the natural beauties, the campground had a whimsical character, with intricate driftwood tables, benches, staircases and windbreaks dotted about, all lovingly put together by visitors. One gets the sense that visitors like to stay a while, and it’s no wonder they do so. I even had a few dog walkers stop by to chat with me.

Beach and bay in front of Bere Point Campground. If you’re lucky, you might see killer whales giving themselves a rub-down.

It was pretty cold and rainy on my arrival day, but I woke up on day two to a new day of beautiful blue skies and breathtaking views across the Queen Charlotte Strait. The campground takes reservations, and it’s only $20 per night in season (open and free out of season).

I had to make my way back home the next day, but took note of some riding and hiking excursions for a future visit to Malcolm Island. Cycling around 10 kilometres to the west, mostly paralleling the northern shores of the island, takes one out to picturesque Putney Point, or one can ride 20 kilometres eastwards to Mitchell Bay along the spine of the Island.

By Gregg Strong
Backroads Bike Touring, Vancouver, BC

Photographs
Credit: All photos by Gregg Strong
Top Featured Photo: A parting view of Sointula seaside, from the ferry terminal.

All around the world, railways that are no longer useful are being replaced with long-distance cycling and hiking routes. And as we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island, which first ran in 1886, maybe we need a new vision. Maybe we should be dreaming of a bikeway, not a railway.

Picture it: A safe, serene, off-road route all the way from Victoria to Courtenay, passing over the Malahat to Shawnigan Lake, Cowichan Station and downtown Duncan, then continuing north to Chemainus, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Courtenay. From Parksville, it would run through the forest to Coombs and Port Alberni.

It would be a pleasure for cyclists and pedestrians, maybe for horse-riders too, in places, with an unpaved path alongside it. Along the way, it would pass through a tunnel, cross impressive bridges and wind its way through deep forests, rural acreages, and alongside the ocean. In every community along the route, it would open new safe off-road possibilities for commuting, shopping and leisure travel, and for children going to school.

And then there would be the cycling tourists, coming to the Island and staying at bed-and-breakfasts along the route as they do on Quebec’s Route Verte, on the Kettle Valley railway and all over Europe. There would be other benefits, too, since people who cycle regularly take fewer sick days, have lower health costs, have increased productivity at work and are happier.

For 13 years, the Island Corridor Foundation has been trying to persuade us that a restored railway could be viable if only it could receive a sizable investment and an annual operating subsidy.

An alternative to the Malahat seems enticing, but it would be very costly, and for only modest benefits. The Malahat carries 40,000 people a day. In 2010, the IBI Group study found that if the railway were upgraded, it might carry up to 622 passengers a day — just 1.5 per cent of the Malahat traffic. With new planned housing developments along the route, that might rise to 2,000 passengers a day, but so would the overall traffic.

And at what cost? The study found that preserving the railway and making it safe would cost about $70 million in 2009 prices, and need an operating subsidy of $4,000 a day. For freight, bridge repairs would increase the cost to $120 million. Including the capital investment spread over 25 years, the railway passengers would need a $15,000 daily subsidy to operate a fossil-fuelled railway.

The ICF says it can get the trains running again for just $20 million, and it’s asking the federal, provincial and regional governments to cover the cost. But this is highly unrealistic. Serious analysis of ICF reports shows this would cover just a fraction of the upgrades needed to provide a functioning railway.

Last month, the Nanaimo Regional District voted against providing the money, saying it had grown impatient with the lack of progress.

So maybe it’s time for a rethink. Maybe, in spite of the hopes and dreams of hard-working train enthusiasts, it’s just not going to happen. The track is just too old, and the 48 bridges and trestles, some built more than 100 years ago, are too rickety.

So let’s change our thinking. Let’s pay for a solid engineering study to look at the cost and benefits of building a bikeway. The weight of the bikes would be almost nothing compared to a diesel train, so bridge repairs would cost far less. Instead of 600 people a day, an Island bikeway might carry many thousands of people a day.

The ICF says bikes and trains can co-exist, since there’s room on the railway right-of way for both. That’s true on the land, but not on the bridges. And would any analysis support running a modern train over those old bridges? We doubt there’s an engineer in Canada who would say so.

The Galloping Goose Trail took 10 years of effort by hundreds of volunteers, local politicians and government staff to turn the vision into a reality. It has been so successful, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wishes the old train still ran.

The ICF, municipalities and First Nations along the rail corridor have performed a truly valuable service by protecting the right-of-way, which future generations will thank them for. But maybe it’s time to let the old dream go, and start paying serious attention to the new dream of a safe, enchanting, long-distance bikeway.

By Guy Dauncey and Denise Savoie

Guy Dauncey of Ladysmith is the author of Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible.
Denise Savoie of Comox is a former Victoria city councillor and former member of Parliament.

A passionate debate is growing in Victoria over whether or not to pave a section of the Lochside Regional Trail between Martindale Road in Central Saanich and Lochside Park in Saanich in Greater Victoria. In addition to the substantial cost involved, doing so would trigger a Captial Regional District (CRD) rule that bans horses from paved CRD trails.

Lochside Trail is a popular multi-use trail used by runners, walkers, bike riders and horseback riders. The prevailing harmony is jeopardized by those who complain that the surface is too soft, and the trail is muddy at times. They complain about the wood chips laid on one side of the trail for the benefit of horses, and they whine about the horse droppings on the trail and having to slow down so as not to spook or collide with a horse. They want the trail paved and the horses gone.

This is not a city trail. This is a rural section of a multi-use trail. Instead of embracing the opportunity to enjoy a fabulous stretch of trail through trees and farmlands, we search for the minutest inconvenience, then demand that it be rectified so we can ride or run on a paved trail without muddying our equipment, or we don’t have to slow down or respect a horse and rider, or so the spandex peloton can blast along at 50 km per hour on racing road bikes. When a special-interest group demands their rights, it invariably infringes upon the rights of others.

Dave riding 13-year-old Cory on a section of Lochside Trail that some want paved.

We complain that riders don’t dismount and remove horse droppings. Just how safe would it be for the horse, the rider, and trail users for riders to dismount and remount on the trail? Horse manure is simply grass and feed whose nutrients return to the soil in no time at all. Perhaps the complainers could stop and observe a pile of horse manure and recognize the vital role it plays in the ecosystem, providing nutrients, minerals and vital liquids to a host of creatures, such as butterfiles, beetles and bugs. Mould finally takes over and eventually all value is extracted from the manure – and no humans are harmed in the process.

We are fortunate enough to live in a magnificent province in a first-world country that operates relatively efficiently and provides us with so many amenities and opportunities, yet we complain about what others could only dream of having. There are those that have to walk to school or carry water from distant rivers, those that live without clean water, without running water in their homes, without electricity, without sufficient food, and without the basic neccessities for a comfortable, safe and healthy life. Some live amongst violence, murder and unspeakable conditions that we simply could not conceive of, yet we complain about riding on a fantastic trail because it is not paved.

Dave riding 13-year-old Cory on a section of Lochside Trail that some want paved.

In our chaotic, stressful world, we should be connecting more with Mother Earth instead of paving the path ahead of us. When trail users reach this section of the trail, which resembles an enclosed green tunnel, they could try removing their shoes and continuing barefoot, feeling the pulse and rhythm of the earth through their feet, breathing in the fresh air, enjoying the trees, the birds, the critters, and the general magnificence. Twenty minutes of that will soothe the soul and encourage appreciation for the wonderment that surrounds us in our beautiful corner of the world.

A brief encounter with a horse could be viewed either as a nuisance and hindrance, or the highlight of your day; a notable interaction with a magnificent animal; a memorable encounter to be celebrated; an opportunity to depart the trail feeling a little less stressed and tense.

This is a typical first-world dilemma; an example of how society can lose the plot and allocate scarce resources to the most unimportant matters for reasons known only to the lobbyists. If the CRD does in fact have the resources available to enhance Lochside Trail, then spend it instead on building a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over busy Mackenzie Road at Borden Street.

It may be time for those who do not appreciate what we have, and those that seek to pave paradise for their own selfish reasons, to sit down quietly and mindfully … and pull themselves toward themselves.

More information on the Lochside Trail in Victoria

I have had the pleasure of working for CycleTreks over the last few months, and have realized there are quite few common questions we get from our lovely customers. This post was created to address some of these questions and provide some insight from the point of view of a staff member. Here are the questions below…

Should I be worried about being a cyclist on the road in Victoria?

Not at all! Victoria is the cycling capital of Canada, and drivers here are very accommodating and aware of cyclists. Most of the city is marked with bike lanes and signs indicating popular bike route destinations. If there happens to be no bike lane, then stay to the left side of the lane and use your hand signals as much as you can. We are happy to go over hand signals and the rules of the road in B.C. before you head out if you are unfamiliar.

Do I have to wear helmet?

Yes, in B.C. you are required by law to wear a helmet on your bike at all times. All of our rental fees include a helmet, as well as trunk bags for your bike, which include a tire repair kit, 2 maps and a lock. Before jumping on your bike, we find a helmet that is right for you and adjust it accordingly, so not only are you glamorously safe, but comfortable too.

What routes would you suggest?

There are several great routes we suggest to customers depending on what they would like to see and experience. If you’re looking to explore the city and have a gorgeous seaside view, then we suggest a loop that takes you along the ocean and through many historic and picturesque areas of Victoria. If you’re looking to spend some time in nature outside of the city, then we would suggest hopping onto one of our fabulous, city maintained, bike paths. There are two options, either the Galloping Goose or Lochside Trail, both beginning at a five-minute ride from our shop!

Come stop by the shop and we can recommend a route in more detail that is tailored to your needs as a rider.

Do I need to make a reservation?

If you are planning to join one of our guided or self guided tours, then you will need to make a reservation. If you will be renting our bikes, you don’t need to make a reservation however, that way you are guaranteed to have frames that fit perfectly set aside for you. You can book online, on the phone, or in person anywhere from several weeks to a day in advance.

Which of our services do we suggest to customers?

All of the services we offer, from rentals to guided tours, are excellent and provide different experiences that are suited for different customers needs. However, the one service we offer that stands out particularly is our self-guided tours. With this service, you are driven out in our van with your bikes, and dropped off at one of three locations. The three destinations we offer are Butchart Gardens, the end of the Lochside Trail, or Sooke Potholes on the Galloping Goose Trail (referred to as our West coast Adventure.) After spending some time in the gardens, or hoping right onto the trails, you can ride back to our shop downtown at your own pace.

The self-guided tours offer a unique opportunity to see some of the best sights Victoria has to offer, by getting out on a bike, and only having to do a one way trip. You will also receive expert advise from the tour guide driving you about your ride back into town.

Check out some more information on our website and feel free to book online, on the phone (250-386-3147) or in person (1000 Wharf Street, Victoria, BC).

This post was originally written by one of Cycle Treks summer staff about the common questions they get asked about cycling in Victoria, British Columbia. Thanks to Iliana!