Totem Poles, Sea Views, and Lord Stanley's Cup

 

The 2024 Van Isle 1200 starting in Saanichton, British Columbia turned out to be a terrific adventure.  The Van Isle 1200 had been on my radar for a few years but the event had not been held since 2014. I had a hard time finding many 1200s that fit my work schedule this year, so this was a perfect time to give the Van Isle a go.

 

As I travelled to Saanichton, I really did not know much about Vancouver Island. I had a general sense that the southern part of the island was well populated, the north was more wild and remote, and the scenery would be impressive. In pre-ride planning, I learned that there were significant stretches of the route without services.

 

Throughout most of my life I have been involved in hockey, either as a player, fan, or official. After falling behind 3-0 in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals, Edmonton won game 4. This meant that I would be in Canada during the Stanley Cup Finals, a Finals in which a Canadian team was fighting for the Cup. The hockey series was a noticeable backdrop to the ride.

 

After arriving in Saanichton late on Monday night, I spent Tuesday reassembling my bike and doing all the normal pre-ride fussing and fidgeting. As I got my bike together, I discovered that my rear brake was not working. Luckily, there was a great bike shop a couple of miles from the hotel and they were able to bleed the hydraulic line and get me on the road. I did a really nice, scenic shakedown ride on quiet roads and beautiful ocean views. 

Spencer Klaassen joined me on Tuesday night and we settled into the hotel pub to watch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Edmonton won again, which kept the locals in a jovial mood and guaranteed that the Finals would continue into the ride.

 

Thursday morning’s 5 am rollout was one of the more relaxed 1200k starts I can remember. Everyone in the field of 18 riders seemed happy with slowly easing into the ride. We headed into Victoria on a main highway, although the early hour meant there was very little traffic on the highway. The organizers designed a route that passed all of Victoria’s main sights, including the harbor, Parliament house, and old town Victoria. After a brief control stop, we left the city on a combination of bike trails and highways, along the south side of the island.

 

By the time we reached Sooke at around 39 miles, the group had spread out. I decided I needed a proper break. My recollection of the pre-ride meeting was that there were limited services after Sooke so I pulled into a McDonald’s for a quick sit-down breakfast. I assumed that I was the last rider on the road at this point so I was surprised to see Spencer at a gas station just after I pulled out of the McDonald’s. He had also picked Sooke for a break. We rode together briefly before the challenge of riding a fixie caught up to him and he dropped back. The section after Sooke turned out to be one of my favorite sections of the ride. The scenery was spectacular. The road passed through a dense forest along the shore with views of Washington’s snow-capped mountains visible across the ocean. 

Following a staffed control with great sandwiches and every other possible snack, we headed inland across the island.  By this point, I had joined Francis Lim from Sydney, Australia and Phil Neff from Seattle. The spectacular scenery continued and we passed through Port Renfrew and crossed the island on a beautiful, lightly travelled road. The road had the definite feeling of western mountains.

 Eventually, the sun and hills started having their effect. We dragged in to Lake Cowichan and were thrilled to find J&V’s Diner, advertising burgers and milkshakes. Apparently, most of the field had the same idea as the diner was bustling with riders. Graham Ross joined our group here. The 4 of us would ride most of the event together.

 

After Lake Cowichan the terrain moderated significantly and the traffic increased. The route included intermittent sections on the Trans Canada Highway, a 4 lane divided highway with a wide paved shoulder, and busy two lane highways with a 2-3 foot wide paved shoulder. A mid-evening stop at Wendy’s was a lifesaver. We returned to the coast just in time to enjoy the fading light of a beautiful sunset over the ocean at Qualicum Beach.

 

We arrived at the overnight in Comox, 242 miles into the ride, just before 1:30 am. At the overnight, the BC Randonneurs volunteers had an impressive spread, a main course of chili with a huge selection of snacks and drinks. I made short work of dinner and opted to rush to bed as quickly as possible.

 

While riding into Comox at the end of day 1, we had passed many miles debating the merits of various start times for day 2. Eventually, we settled on 7:00am. So, at 7:00 am, our group of 4 rolled out. The 35 miles to Campbell River passed easily by. We stopped for a quick photo break just prior to Campbell River and again at the 50^th Parallel monument in Campbell River.

While eating gas station pizza on the outskirts of Campbell River, Thai Nguyen caught up and joined our group. Thai was a strong rider who had run into some bad luck on day 1. He had lost a few hours with a mechanical issue, before powering through and catching us. Heading north the terrain became increasingly mountainous with several long gradual climbs. A highlight of this section was the out and back to the Ocean View Café at Kelsey Bay. The tiny snack and gift shop was built on a wood pier. The pier provided an impressive view of the mountain-lined Inside Passage.

 

After a quick photo op, we rolled back to Sayward. Phil and I left Sayward a couple of minutes behind the rest of our crew, leaving just enough time for a small black bear to walk out on the road in front of us. As he moseyed onto the pavement a few yards ahead of us, I started talking to the bear, suggesting that he wanted to go back in the woods. After listening to me and Phil for a couple minutes, he apparently agreed and retreated into the woods.

As we approached the staffed control at a rest area just south of Woss, BC, Francis and I were discussing how much we were craving a sit-down meal. The staffed control had a large selection of food but nothing that really hit the spot Frances and I were craving. Fortunately, the volunteers told us about a restaurant just off route 3 miles down the road.  Frances and I made a quick decision to move on. Part way there, 2 large elk waked out in front of Frances and slowly crossed the highway.  However, the restaurant provided another collision with the Stanley Cup Finals. We arrived about half way through the second period and it appeared that anyone living within 30 miles of Woss was in the tiny restaurant watching the game. The small staff was clearly not keeping up with orders and it was pretty obvious we were not going to get food here anytime soon. So, we left with the news that Edmonton was leading 3-0 after 2 periods and moved to the gas station next door where we raided the shelves for calories.

 

Our next stop was a small convenience store in Hyde Creek.  Eight or nine riders arrived here at the same time about 15 minutes before the store’s 10:00 pm closing time. The store clerk agreed to stay open while we refueled. While waiting for the others, I struck up a conversation with the clerk by asking if she knew who won the game. She quickly covered her ears and made it clear that I was not to share anything I knew about the game because she was taping it to watch after her shift. She also offered that her little town of 2500 people had 3 players currently playing in the National Hockey League. I later learned the Edmonton won the game 5-1, setting the stage for a game 7 the night following the ride.

 

The remaining 30 miles or so to Port Hardy were fairly uneventful except for a cold, driving rain that soaked us in the final hour to the hotel. I arrived just after midnight weary from the 190 miles, ate as fast as I could, took a hot shower to warm up, and got into bed.

Day 3 started with a short loop through Port Hardy, winding past the harbor, and small downtown. 

The roads were dirty and grimy from the previous night’s rain and my bike was soon coated with fine, sticky sand. The route for Day 3 was basically a reverse of day 2. Going into the day I was dreading some of the long climbs. However, we kept a nice steady pace and the miles and climbs kept ticking away. Back near Woss, the volunteers had set up a staffed control loaded up with much needed food. My general rule is to never try anything new on a 1200k, but I gambled on an egg salad sandwich, followed by a tuna sandwich, Ensure, and lots of other snacks and I left feeling ready to tackle the rest of the day.

 

We arrived back in Campbell River just at dusk. We had debating for quite a while where to stop. Finally, we decided that this ride needed at least one Tim Horton’s stop, so we had a winner. We got to Tim Horton’s about 15 minutes before close, ordered our food, and sat down to eat. Almost immediately, a worker came around and told us they were closing but they would could finish eating. He then turned off all the lights in the store and stood about 5 feet away starting at us as we gulped down our food. Probably could have done without the Tim Horton’s stop.

 

The last 35 miles back to Comox was a struggle for me. I was really uncomfortable on the bike and the 185 mile day with plenty of climbing had me ready for a break. Additionally, some kind of weather front moved through and brought really strong winds. A group formed that consisted of around 8 riders and we all rode in together, arriving back at Comox around 12:40am.

 

The Van Isle has a quirk that changed the entire nature of Day 4. The official route included a ferry crossing just over 4 miles from the finish. The final ferry of the day left at 6:30. In other words, to catch the ferry you would need to be on pace to finish the event in approximately 86 hours (instead of the 90 hour official cutoff). Missing the ferry meant taking an alternative finish and possibly waiting a couple of hours for a shuttle to the finish party. Planning Day 4 to catch the final ferry was a main topic of conversation among the riders. The ferry cutoff also changed the entire mood of Day 4. The fourth day on most 1200s tends to be a rolling celebration. Usually by that point, everyone knows they will finish, large groups form, and the mood is happy. The ferry cutoff kept us focused on the clock and doing calculations all day to make sure we were on pace.

Francis, Phil, and I more or less rode the final day together. Thai only took a short break and basically rode through the night. Graham opted for an early start to try for an earlier ferry.  We did some rando brain calculations and decided on a 6am start, giving us just over 12 hours to make the ferry. We seemed to slog through the day with one eye on the clock and the other counting down the miles. We never really seemed to gain much on the clock. It wasn’t until we reached Crofton about 25 miles before the ferry that we were finally pretty certain we had put enough time in the bank and the pressure eased. The village of Cowichan Bay was a picturesque town set on an ocean inlet. With a few minutes in hand, Phil and I walked out on the pier for some quick sightseeing before tackling the steep climb out of town.

 

With the time pressure off, the handful of miles after Cowichan Bay floated by effortlessly. Phil and I made the decision to stop in Mill Bay, just 3 miles from the ferry, for ice cream with over an hour before the ferry sailed. After a relaxing break, we rolled down to the ferry to rejoin Francis.

 

The half hour ferry trip across the ferry gave me a nice chance to reflect on the whole adventure before the short spin across the peninsula to the finish. On the ferry we had devised a strict plan to expend no energy on the 4 mile ride and we diligently stuck to it. Our finish at 7:29 was met with a cheering crowd of volunteers and other riders. My official was 86 hours and 29 minutes.

 

The day following the ride, I took the bus into downtown Victoria to do some sightseeing. I hobbled around all of the popular waterfront hotspots and had an awesome seafood lunch overlooking the harbor. 

I then went back to the hotel and settled in at the pub to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The bar was full of raucous hockey fans hanging on every play and hoping for a return of the Cup to Canada. Unfortunately, Edmonton lost a close game and Florida won the Cup. In the words of a fellow passenger at the airport the next morning, “All of Canada is sad today.”

Overall, the Van Isle 1200 was a grand adventure. The only negative was that the geography of the island necessitated more riding on busy highways than I would have preferred.  The BC Randonneurs provided amazing support and hosted one of the friendliest, most welcoming events I have ridden. The scenery was spectacular. Pretty sure I will be daydreaming about those ocean views for a long time to come.