Stanley Park Seawall Path - Vancouver BC

In Late February and early March I took a trip with my Daughter to visit some colleges in the Pacific Northwest.   For those of you keeping track on our Map of states we have ridden in, I will be adding Washington and British Columbia!  Will also be posting up about my ride in Bellingham Washington.

On my final day on the trip to the pacific northwest I drove up to Vancouver for the day and rented a bike near Stanley Park((Stanley Park Map Guide) at Spokes Bicycle Rental(http://www.spokesbicyclerentals.com/).   

This was the start of the beautiful trail that circles the park along the water. 

This is a map of Stanley Park from Google Maps highlighting the Trails throughout the Park.  I rode the trail that goes around the Outer edge of the Park along the water, a ride of just under 8 miles.  I then stopped and recharged my phone battery because I wanted to ride across the Lions Gate Bridge that you see in the picture below going over the narrow portion of Vancouver Harbour and over the trail I had ridden.   I also indicated with a Star the location of the Spokes Bicycle Rental where I got my bike. 

That would be the Lion's Gate Bridge behind me in the below picture.  Same design as the famous Golden Gate bridge.    Included this here so you could see the bridge I was talking about.  

Now I am going to start with pictures working my way around the park.  It starts with a look back towards downtown Vancouver.  The old building you see is the HMCS Discovery, part of the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Discovery)

Below is a Statue of an Olympic Runner. The strange looking building you see on the left across the water is Canada Place(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Place)   I also found the floating Chevron station interesting!

Here is a picture of a wider shot of Vancouver Harbour looking off to what I would guess would be east! :D

Here I am nearing the little tip on the western most portion of the park looking across the harbour to North Vancouver. 

Here I am looking at a bicycling tour group learning about the Brockton Point Lighthouse(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brockton_Point)

Here was my first glimpse of the Lion's Gate bridge as I circled around on the trail headed back inland from the Brockton Point.  The trail continues to wind along the water.  Forgot to mention that they have both a bicycling lane and a walking lane clearly marked which was really nice. 

This is a picture of one of the areas where the Walkers and Bicycle lanes merged.  The sign you see up there was telling you to dismount your bicycle and walk in that area for safety.   

As you can see I am now approaching the portion of the trail that goes under the Lion's Gate Bridge.  You can see here where the bike lane is on the left and the walker's lane was on the right.  Nice picture looking across the Harbour to the North with the Mountains behind! The views on this ride were breathtaking! 

Here I am looking back towards Brockton Point as I am working my way closer to going under the bridge. 

Here I am under the Lion's Gate Bridge looking over towards North Vancouver.  Little did I know that the next month in our Bicycle Ride an Seek group that I would need an under a bridge shot!

Trail narrows as you approach the northeastern corner of the park.  You can see the the trail still remains divided between a walking and riding lane. 

Looking off to the west towards open water.  You can see some ships out there. 

Returning back to civilization on the western side of the peninsula.  Looking to the south. 

More breathtaking views!

Nearing the end of riding along the water.  Looking back to the north towards North Vancouver across the inlet. 

Back in civilization riding back across the peninsula to the center of the park.

 

 Okay now I am headed up the Stanley park causeway towards the Lion's Gate Bridge!

Crossing the Bridge going north. 

Honey its a long ways down to the water! 

View back across the park towards Vancouver was spectacular!   You can see the trail I rode along earlier down below.

More spectacular views towards North Vancouver. 

Here I returning across the bridge heading south. 

View off to the West from the Bridge.  You can see the trail along the water there on the other side from the bridge.

Looking West from the Bridge towards North Vancouver

Traffic on the bridge is controlled by lights.  They switch the number of lanes going either direction with the lights.

This is how I concluded my ride as I returned to the edge of the park.  Being welcomed to Beautiful Vancouver!   I ended up using this picture in our Bicycle Ride and Seek group from facebook because I needed a picture with a Welcome sign!  Beauty Eh! 

 

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

After my ride I had to go find a Tim Horton's for dinner since I constantly see ads for them when I am watching Hockey games.  

Speaking of Hockey my reason for sticking around the extra day was to see my beloved St Louis Blues play the Vancouver Canucks.  

 Really cool National Anthem before the game.   When an American team plays a Canadian team your hear both teams anthem. 

It was an awesome game even though the Blues lost in overtime 6 to 5.  They stormed back in the third to tie the game.  Most exciting game I have attended in a long time!  

South Bay Trail, Ride #1-- Bellingham, Washington

While out visiting Western Washington University with my daughter in late February,  I stayed over a couple of extra days to see my beloved St Louis Blues play the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.  My daughter and her mother headed back home on Saturday, so I was left all by myself.  I decided to rent a bike from Fairhaven Bicycle Company and ride the South Bay Trail that runs along the bay starting in Fairhaven, WA and on into Bellingham, WA. A portion of the trail goes on an old railroad bed so it is a Rail Trail.

This is a picture of the start of the Trail just on the outskirts of Fairhaven. 

The trail for a short time actually goes out over the water as you can see.  You go down and then off to the right over the water. 

Here I am out over the water.  As you can see there were several other people out enjoying the nice day. 

Interesting historical marker along the old rail trail portion about the history of the boundary between Fairhaven and what was to become Bellingham. 

Some interesting Cycle art along the trail!

Trail did go through some urban area. 

Looking up at hill that overlooks Western Washington campus.

Still had some time left on the bike rental so there were some trails going through a park near by.   This trail ran along Padden Creek.  Was a bit of an up hill to start with. 

Thought this was a nice picture of the trail going under a bridge.

The trails went off in several directions as you can see by this sign!

Trail ended up coming back down along the bay.  Thought this was a neat picture with the mountains off in the distance across the bay!

Ended up down by where the Ferry to Alaska leaves from Bellingham. 

Don't know if you can see the boats back behind the building.  Don't know if those are the Ferry or not.

View from Marine Park.   There were some brave souls doing some scuba diving in the water.  Bet that was cold!

Some sort of boat I thought looked interesting. 

Very much enjoyed the ride around both Fairhaven and Bellingham.   I then went and found a place for me to watch the Blues game on TV that night.

Found Extreme Sports Grill.Yes I did have to sample some of the local beverages! 

 

Now I will share some pictures of the Colleges we came out to see.  We visited Western Washington University there in Bellingham and also went up into Canada north of Vancouver and visited Simon Fraser University.  Daughter has decided to attend Western Washington University and hopefully run Cross Country and Track.  

Pictures from the Western Washington Campus, what a surprise it was foggy and raining all day!

Daughter is in the grey sweatshirt holding the pink water cup.

Our tour group of the campus in front of the oldest building on campus. 

Nice view from Campus! 

Next day we went North of the Border to visit Simon Fraser University.  Some of you may notice this campus from some TV shows and movies as several have been filmed here.

~~S

VIDEO of the ride