I’ve been on Saltspring Island for a few days now, but today I went for a lovely ride. I started out close to Ganges, and rode to the South end of the island. Geoff and I stopped at a friends house, then I continued on my way. I ended up riding toward Ruckle Park. The route out there was twisty, turny, up and down. It was a very fun road. Along the way I kept wondering when I should turn around. Eventually I decided I wanted to go all the easy to the ocean. That was until I hit the gravel road that went to the parking lot. As I was turning around a glint fought my eye. There was a twonie on the ground. I snatched it up and put it in my jersey pocket.
My bacon and scrambled eggs breakfast was weighing heavily in my stomach to this point. So much so, that I couldn’t think about eating my Clif Bar. As I was starting to get hungry, I rounded a corner and spotted a sign that said “fresh baked organic food today”. Beside the road was a little stand. I checked out what was available for $2, and lo and behold, the chocolate chip pecan coconut cookies with hand milled organic flour were $2. I snatched one out deposited my money and bit into it. The container was sitting in the sun so the cookie was still warm, and the chips still soft and gooey. Wow, that was one delicious cookie!
Feeling better I got back on my bike and kept riding. I toured the back roads of Saltspring and had a great time in the process. I chased after Geoff, trying to find him at a centre (he took a different route), but never did. Upon my return to the cabin the first thing that Geoff said was that he only got there a couple minutes before I did.
Lunch, followed by an ice cold beer while sitting in the warm sun was the perfect end to the ride.
View August 14 Tour de Saltspring in a larger map
Total Distance: 47.26 km (29.4 mi)
Total Time: 2:32:59
Moving Time: 2:13:16
Average Speed: 18.54 km/h (11.5 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 21.28 km/h (13.2 mi/h)
Max Speed: 65.02 km/h (40.4 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 1 m (4 ft)
Max Elevation: 194 m (638 ft)
Elevation Gain: 897 m (2942 ft)
Max Grade: 10 %
Min Grade: -12 %