Day 2: Victoria To Jordan River (46.2 Miles)

I slept like a rock and then slept a bit more.  My body was obviously fighting something and I was determined not to get sick.  After coffee, a huge fruit salad, and some toast, we took a leisurely walk by my Grandad's old house.  It wasn't until about noon when I finally got on the road... it's hard to leave such great hospitality.

Hamar tells me stories of my Grandmum and Auntie Edith.

Blissful urban cycling connecting me to the Galloping Goose Trail.

Quick peek into a Chinatown alley in downtown Victoria.

And then before I knew it, I had found the Galloping Goose trail, a gorgeous tree lined rails-to-trails bikeway that connected me to Sooke.  Vibrant green moss and ferns lined the trail and a trailside cafe beckoned me in for lunch and an iced coffee.  The cafe even came equipped with a bike repair stand!  A pair of cyclists lingered at a table outside and chatted with me a bit before I hit the road again.

The Victoria harbor on my way out of town.

The Galloping Goose trail boasts some pretty amazing art.

Bike repair shops all over... this one right off the Goose refurbish bikes to keep bikes out of the landfill.

Beautiful paved sections.

And beautiful gravel sections.

A lovely invitation to lunch.

As I neared Sooke, I lamented having to jump off the Galloping Goose trail.  While the trail does go further, my dreams of sleeping next to the ocean meant that I would have to peel off onto Highway 14 to stay on the West Coast.  Luckily, I had a pretty good shoulder through Sooke and then the traffic thinned out.  I had done a little research beforehand and a veteran bike tourer of the island recommended the Jordan River campground, so I pushed on past the first few camping options.  It was worth it.  The campground was right on the Pacific Ocean with views of the Olympic peninsula, plenty of hammock trees, and dotted with surfers and puppies.

Sigh.  Yep.  This is the life.

My friend for the evening... he was patiently waiting for his owners to come back in from surfing.

Watching the sunset from my campsite.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• The Galloping Goose trail connects right to downtown Victoria.  There was some construction happening when I passed through which required me to reroute a bit, but I imagine that will be done for folks touring now.

• This was even a bit nicer than the Lochside trail because it was 100% bikeway.

• There are several camping options before Jordan River (e.g. French Beach), but they seemed more for RVs.  There are also camping options after Jordan River along the Juan de Fuca trail which could be accessed with a little work.  Jordan River was really nice because the RVs had a separate section and the walk-in sites and car sites were in another section.  There was a self-pay station but they were out of envelopes and the bin was full so I didn't end up paying the fee.