Cowichan Valley Ride - Saturday Feb. 23

[jmpb]

Sunny skies and relatively dry roads were a welcome sight for 5 intrepid cyclists planning a ride into the Cowichan Valley on Sat. Feb. 23.
Joe and Kim Gard, Mick Bryson, Trevor Orme and Shannon Baerg met at the switch bridge near Uptown at 9. The wettest part of the ride was up the Malahat, but once we descended into Mill Bay the rest of the ride was relatively dry. The ride from the Mill Bay ferry terminal to Cowichan Bay was enjoyable, as there was very little traffic, and the roads were in great shape. We passed by Cherry Point Road, site of the Master's Race Series finale and rolled into Cowichan Bay and stopped briefly for Coke, espresso, and treats.
Out of Cowichan Bay, through Maple Bay and towards Crofton we settled into a solid pace-line and made great time into Duncan. Along the way we passed an old stone church up on a hill that none of us had ever noticed before. Joe and Kim were still thinking about the movie they had enjoyed the previous night and thought we had somehow ridden to Skyfall!
Once in Duncan we made a quick stop, but quickly decided to continue into Lake Cowichan, where we re-fueled for the climb back up to the Malahat and then down into Victoria. The only mechanical of the day was Trevor's rear tube exploding half way back down the Malahat. No harm done as he was able to come to a safe stop quickly and replaced the tube and we were back on our way.
This route is one of the planned supported group rides that Joe is organizing, and the route is fantastic. Beautiful roads, little traffic, great sites and plenty of opportunities to load up on food and drink, I think this will be a highlight for many of our club members. It would also be a great training ride for any of the racers who are looking for a long training day. It has everything: long climbs, high speed descents, fast flat sections and some technical corners and turns.

Total time for me was just under 6 hours, with 3 stops and a total of 156 km.

[trevor]

Well done guys!!
This ride is going to be a blast. I'm looking forward to it. How was the traffic on the Malahat? Was the shoulder pretty clean? I'm thinking of doing a Shawnigan loop in the next few weeks.
And any photos?

Good on ya.
Trevor