The first section was the flat easy ride. Except for one part. I left a little late, and quite quickly realized that it would be tight on making the ferry. Riding on the Lochside Trail I put the hammer down and rode as hard as I could. I kept having to slow down to pass people, but I would quickly get back up to speed. In Sydney I knew that getting on the ferry was going to be tight, so I started doing an almost all out sprint the last couple km’s. I got on the highway and as I climbed the final hill to the toll booths I could see a police officer on the side of the highway. I could see him raising his laser speed detector, yet no cars were passing me. As I passed him he informed me I was doing 25 KM/H up the hill.
At the booth I though I would have enough time to pay and hoof it down to the ferry. As the window opened the agent asked where I was headed and as soon as I said Saltspring, she sadly let me know the ferry had left the dock at 10:55, and the time as 10:56. The ferry was supposed to leave at 11! Just then my phone started ringing and I knew it was Sue. I was so out of breath I could barely talk. Nothing like riding hard for 1.5 hours to do that.
I then figured I would go for a shorter ride, then get on the 1 pm ferry to Saltspring.
View Tour de Victoria, April 3, 2011 Part 1 in a larger map
The stats for the first leg of my ride:
Total Distance: 34.17 km (21.2 mi)
Total Time: 1:17:30
Moving Time: 1:13:43
Average Speed: 26.45 km/h (16.4 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 27.81 km/h (17.3 mi/h)
Max Speed: 43.20 km/h (26.8 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -17 m (-56 ft)
Max Elevation: 76 m (250 ft)
Elevation Gain: 360 m (1181 ft)
Max Grade: 19 %
Min Grade: -25 %
Pretty decent average speed.
The next leg of my ride I had no clue where to go, nor where I would ride. I ended up riding along Land’s End Road until I hit West Saanich Rd. I knew where West Saanich would take me so I went down there. As I got close to the airport I took another left and headed into Sidney to stop for a coffee and a snack. Then it was back out to the terminal.
View Tour de Victoria, April 3, 2011 Part 2 in a larger map
The stats for leg 2 on the day:
Total Distance: 19.85 km (12.3 mi)
Total Time: 1:07:52
Moving Time: 51:15
Average Speed: 17.55 km/h (10.9 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 23.24 km/h (14.4 mi/h)
Max Speed: 44.25 km/h (27.5 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -11 m (-36 ft)
Max Elevation: 41 m (135 ft)
Elevation Gain: 176 m (576 ft)
Max Grade: 7 %
Min Grade: -7 %
Recorded: Sun Apr 03 11:01:23 PDT 2011
At the terminal I grabbed a sandwich, a drink, and a chocolate bar, and tried to stay warm. I was so grateful that the lounge on the ferry was heated.
By the time the ferry docked and I got off, my break time was close to an hour. Right off the bat there is a largeish hill. Uggh. My legs felt a little full of lead. I got warmed up pretty quickly and tried to hammer hard and meet up with my family. Then I met my match. A large hill coming out of Burgoyne Bay. I actually stopped partway up the hill to take a breather.
When I finally started the descent into Ganges I was feeling pretty fried. In Ganges I had something to eat, and caught a ride with Sue back to her Sister’s place where we had a great visit.
View Tour de Victoria, April 3, 2011 Part 3 in a larger map
The stats for leg three of my ride:
Total Distance: 14.59 km (9.1 mi)
Total Time: 41:21
Moving Time: 36:48
Average Speed: 21.16 km/h (13.1 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 23.78 km/h (14.8 mi/h)
Max Speed: 61.20 km/h (38.0 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -53 m (-174 ft)
Max Elevation: 106 m (349 ft)
Elevation Gain: 199 m (652 ft)
Max Grade: 8 %
Min Grade: -8 %
Recorded: Sun Apr 03 13:32:25 PDT 2011
The total mileage on the day was 68.61 (though my bike computer recorded over 71KM). What a day of riding though.