Today was the fairest of them all, as we got to take two separate ferries, crossing Salt Spring Island inbetween.

Our route today quickly led us to Trans Highway 1 (unrelated to California Highway 1, which we’ll be spending a lot of time on later). As we got out of Nanaimo, it quickly shifted into an Interstate-style freeway with four lanes in each direction. We approached a two-lane exit, and, just as I found a break in traffic for us to cut across, Anne announced that we were taking the exit. There was a bike bypass at the top of the ramp. The entrance to the bypass had concrete barriers set to discourage cars, but also placed too close for the trailers. I found a way through the brush that we could use.

Back on the highway, it stopped being controlled access freeway, and was more like a large road. The shoulder had a fair amount of gravel and other debris, but at least the highway aspect meant the grades were gentle.

Anne caught something in a trailer tire. I thought it was a piece of foil or something, but when we stopped I saw that it was a motorcycle pin, like you’d put on a jacket. The two studs had embedded themselves into the tire. I pulled it out. The road was too loud to hear a hiss, but it wasn’t obviously leaking, even after spitting on the site to look for bubbles. We decided to keep an eye on it and hope for the best. So far, so good. Score one for Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

A local cyclist caught up to us and stayed to chat a bit. He offered a bit of route advice, and told me of the various touring people he knew, including some trans-Canada, China, and Morocco to South Africa. There’s always somebody crazier.

Anne and I saw a pair of young deer drinking out of the ditch a few feet away. Before we could get Ruth looking in the right direction, they spooked and ran off.

Eventually we got of the highway to a much smaller two-lane road. There was an earlier option, but Anne’s research said that on weekdays there would be an overwhelming number of logging trucks. There were quite a few on this road, but it was still much quieter than the highway, and was more scenic. We climbed the last hill, then descended to the ferry docks.

Based on the schedule, we expected to just miss one ferry, but we had packed our lunches and would eat while waiting for the next. As luck would have it, they were running late. The ferry was just pulling up. We had just enough time to pay and get situated.

This ferry was much smaller than the one yesterday. Just one open-air vehicle deck, with some lounges somewhere we didn’t explore. We sat with our bikes and enjoyed lunch. The kids were much happier on this one. Then it was time to get off and ride across Salt Spring Island.

The island had a lot more climbing. The main road was also pretty busy, and with one small exception, narrow shoulders. We made our way up and back down to sea level for Ganges, the community at about the midpoint.

On leaving Ganges, I saw an older woman with her thumb out. At first, I thought she was laughing at and/or with us, suggested we’d give her a ride. Then I saw a bunch of others trying to hitchhike. It seems that’s a standard way to get around the island, supported by official signed car stops (although I didn’t see anyone trying to catch a ride at one).

The climb out of Ganges was steep and busy. Steep enough that I was happy when Anne announced she would be walking. So we walked up, then when it started to level off, mounted back up. After some more climbing, at a hard-but-not-impossible grade with traffic, we saw a sign for cycling to Fulford Harbor, our second ferry, on quieter streets. We decided to take it.

Instantly, we were happy with the decision. It went down to a 1.5 road, but with infrequent cars. The rolling hills were more interesting, and it had more interesting buildings and views. My guess is that this was the old road.

We got to a “private road, owner maintained.” Without any turn options, or stronger language telling us to stay out, we figured it was okay to keep going. Within a minute, a big white van appeared behind us. I joked that I hoped it wasn’t a dude with a shotgun, and if it was, they had a great response time. They passed us without comment. I guess my landowner showdown will have to wait.

Once the road switched back to public, we enjoyed a really great downhill. Good sight lines, almost no conflicting traffic, and some level bits to keep you from going too crazy. I opened up and left Anne and Max behind, much to Ruth’s delight. At the bottom, we reached the shore, but there was no ferry terminal. The only non dead end was a pretty sharp climb up. While waiting for Anne to catch up, I consulted a map.

We had missed our turn. There was no connecting road at along the shore. That awesome downhill we just enjoyed? Turns out we needed to climb back to the top. We were still pretty far from the ferry terminal. This was highly demotivating.

Anne arrived, and I shared the news. We were both pretty peeved, but trying not to give into it. The only thing to do was to start climbing.

Between the disappointment and starting to tire, Anne started needing to walk parts of the hill. It was hard, but I was able to keep in the saddle. When it leveled off for a bit, I’d stop and wait.

I had time to figure our options and fret/plan contingencies. I knew we had about five miles to cover, but I didn’t have elevation information. If the retraced hill was most of the climbing, we’d still be able to make the 5:50 ferry and get to the hotel at a reasonable hour. If there was more climbing, maybe we’d have to catch the last ferry of the day at 7:50, which wouldn’t get us to the hotel until 9 at the earliest, 10 more likely. Or if we got exhausted and super slow, maybe we’d miss that and need to figure out where we could stay, and if we could still get the Sidney in the morning in the to catch our once-a-day ferry to Washington.

Ruth announced that she was ready for the next ferry. Unfortunately, saying that didn’t make it happen.

We made it back to the missed turnoff. There had been no sign, but it would have sat in the private road section. Owner maintained indeed. Fortunately, we saw a cycling sign back to Ganges for the other direction, so we knew we were on the right track.

It turned out there was more climbing. But once we stopped backtracking, it was less demotivational. We were now continuing our quiet road alternative, even if it was longer than expected. We heard a big truck’s engine ahead, sounding like it was working pretty hard. We had made it to the top.

Down down down back to sea level, rejoining our planned route, and to the ferry terminal. We were in time for the 5:50 (the one we thought we would catch before going down the wrong hill). We even had time for Anne and Ruth to hit the store for some pre-dinner to enjoy onboard.

The second ferry was much like the first. We tried to leave the bikes and hang out in a patio lounge, but the seats were taken. So we sat again, as car peeps watched.

The ride from the Swartz Bay terminal to our hotel in Sidney was really nice. We followed the nearly flat Lochside Regional Trail. It was well signed, and took us right up to the Sidney Waterfront Inn, at the end of a cute shopping district.

Anne got our room. Thankfully, the check in person today was nice and supportive, unlike yesterday’s. We got ready for dinner, thinking we’d just walk down the strip and pick something. It turns out this town practically closes at 8pm, so we had few choices. We found some takeout pizza and a grocery store.

Anne says she’s glad we changed routes, even though it took longer and was hillier than expected. I’m not sure I agree, although really, if we had planned with an extra 5 miles and 400 feet of climbing, say, I wouldn’t have objected.

Tomorrow, we’ll do very little cycling while we take the three hour ferry to Anacortes, WA. Or maybe we’ll do a bunch. Hard to say for sure.