Vancouver Island Day Trips

Has anyone seen the show "Prisoner"? This sign is actually for "Bubble Man" of Fernwood - a guy who does just that, blows bubbles in the street to bring cheer and happiness to all!

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Put on by the Children of last weeks motorcycle casualty, the Malahat Fire Department, and the Vancouver Island Safety Council, the 1st annual Rally for Safety event brought hundreds of bikers from all walks of life.
It was amazing to see so many people come together on such short notice for such an important cause.








Nice getup! The local Steam Punks would love it!



We swarm onto the Legislature demanding that the Malahat be divided by concrete the entire length of it.

This is not a new issue. Anyone who lives here, knows how deadly this road can be. There are many safer roads with fewer turns that have barriers the whole way, so why not the Malahat? This is the ONLY road to Victoria, and gets shut down routinely because of accidents. Too many people have died in head on collisions.





A moment of silence is held for all highway victims, not just bikers.



The Malahat Fire Chief makes a speech. This man has seen more than enough tragedy on our highway. We want to put an end to head on collisions! Thank you all for coming out. Write to the ministry of transport people! Make this an election issue! Tell them we have seen enough!

Well, I'm taking full advantage of the extra hour in the day, or was that yesterday?I can't even tell! That's what afternoon shift will do to you. Anyway, it's rare that I am up early enough to see the sun rise, but this morning, I was wide awake, and it was well worth it! It's a cool -2 Celcius (about 30F) and there's alota frost about! Black ice season is upon us! Time for some heated grips!



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Up a certain "secret" road.



Can you see the quad in the distance?



Mount Finlayson to the right, shrouded in fog.

Off to my favorite Cowichan Bay muddy road tangent to the river! Someone got smart and tried to booby trap the muddiest part of the road at the open gate with fishing line.:huh To no avail though, it was only about 10 lb test. I didn't want anyone else to fall into this, so I ripped it all down. dumb asses! You won't ruin my fun!



TKC 80's holding their line pretty well, considering the conditions! They fling their mud pretty good!

Spawning salmon are jumping here and there. I'd try to catch one if they didn't look so sickly!

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Was this his last breath?

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Down to Skutz Falls. Gonna take the Back way into my hometown, Lake Cowichan.




They banned motorcycles from using the old railway tracks, which are now part of the Trans Canada Trail. Why did they not make parts of it Multi Use??? Well, local culture prevails, and you can still ride them, with people waving as you pass!What a long, boring trail this would be to hike. It is dead as it has ever been. It is much more conducive to dirt biking!!!

This was my back yard growing up! It feels great finally getting to dirt bike on all my favorite old mountainbiking/hiking trails! It gets nice and technical this time of year! Great town for riding, if you know where to go!

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"Lost Lake". This seemed so far away from my house as a kid! it's really only a 20 minute hike from the edge of town, or a 5 minute ride!

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And how little it has changed!!!

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The inmate Motojournalism (my brother) will recognize this one! Same ole puddles from 20 years ago! While they haven't got bigger, they haven't got smaller either! Anton and I used to walk our neighbors Dalmation "Rookie" on these trails(my mom dubbed it "That Damn Nation"!) He was a really fun dog, strong and fast, but dumb like stick! This dog probably would have pulled your bike right through the mud if you were stuck! Absolutely no fear of mud or water!!!

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Remember this place Anton? Someone lives on the property now.

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Almost got stuck at the end of this one!!!

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One last stream to cross.

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It's a pretty slick trail this time of year, which also makes it the most fun time to ride!!!

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Leaves hiding every detail.

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A quick stop at one of Papa's favorite fishing holes! The same spot I tried a few weeks back, not a sniff today though! I never thought I would miss living in this town, as much as I do now!

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Here's the Other Grandpa's old digs. Grandpa Wilson drove a bulldozer in either the 40's or the 50's building Highway 18 from Duncan to Youbou. Later on, he became a millwright at the old Youbou Sawmill. He built this shop on his Neva Road lot, right next to the highway, and he also built a home made, sawdust burning furnace underneath the house! It made perfect sense, bringing sawdust home from the mill to keep the house warm. I remember seeing him descending into this mysterious "dirt room" in the basement to stoke it. pretty strange, seeing this as a 5 year old!

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Well, time to start heading back. I take Greendale Road, another favorite, to connect to the old highway. But wait! I forgot something!

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This is one of my favorite local fall traditions. If you head towards Mesachie from Lake Cowichan just after Halloween, there are a few kilometers of road known as "Sleepy Hollow"! Hundreds of carved pumpkins are placed here every year by the locals!

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Civic elections are coming!

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Heading home on Old Lake Cowichan Road. 26 kilometers of twisties! This was of the funnest day trips I have had in a long while! Great Dual Sporting country!

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Great photos. I love Old Lk Cowichan road, lightly traveled and nice corners. As for the Nov 5 rally at the Leg, I had heard there would be one but after that nothing until I was sent this page by my brother in Rhode Island, go figure. The Hat can be scarey at times and when I first moved here it was 2 lanes with a third suicide lane in the middle that could be used providing it was empty (LOL) by people traveling in either direction to overtake.:huh

Nice to see the ol' stompin' grounds!

All those roads around Lost Lake would be a blast to boot around on - is it still undeveloped?
I'm glad that the old cabin has somebody living in it now. Rod was living there for a while 'till it got "discovered" and trashed by some highschool dipshits.
Cool to hear about Grandpa W too, I didn't know all that.
Really miss that area, I gotta get back there.

You'll have to let me know how rideable the winters are there...

Stay sharp on the highways! Take care,

A

Here's what I did today! Replaced my shot, old seals and spacers. The spacers, I machined at work. This is a big perk of the job, but any part I make, I end up doing it in 15 minute intervals (on breaks) which makes it a bit of a pain.. Oh well. These Stainless ones should last a good while longer than the stock aluminum ones! I also installed some grip heating elements with the help of a friend.



Now I just need to come up with a design for a switch mount/box for the grips. I'm thinking I might turn some kind of water tight one on a lathe. Damn, that extra warmth sure put a smile on my face today! It was sitting right on freezing all day long!



Old vs. New





Feels good to finally get these in!



Here's another shot of the peg eliminator I posted earlier. I put in a delrin spacer to help soak up vibrations a bit. Urethane would have been better, but I couldn't find any around the shop. Oh well, when it's free, one can't complain!

Well I did get out for a short ride after replacing the seals and spacers, It was sunny, but near freezing, with frost in the shadows. The heated grips are treating me well!

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I love how windswept the plant life is here! We just had two separate 100kmh wind storms pass through there this week. They are quite common here in winter.

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Nice to have a sunny day after so much grey!

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Wow... that's got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth ... when it's not raining of course! Thanks for sharing.

Great stuff !

I was on the island for a day and a half in Oct. Not much time but, at least I got a taste. I was on an overloaded big bike so no trails for me.
It wasn't raining the first day though the roads were wet. I went to Port Renfrew the second day and had just enough sunshine to cause me to put on my Ray-Bans , that lasted for about 10 minutes and the rest of the day it rained.
Do you know the guys at Victoria Cycle Salvage ?
One of the guys there said he had 30,000 klicks of GPS tracks for the logging roads on the southern part of the island. Seemed like they'd be some fun guys to ride with.
I'd love to get back there sometime with a smaller, dirt worthy bike.

If I could find work there in my current career I'd move to the island in a heart beat. I just love it down there.....

great stuff. shoot me a pm if you are ever in the tofino/ucluelet area again.

Thanks! I always think the same thing of Arizona and other desert ride reports I have seen! The closest thing we have to that is the south okanagan! I'm thinking I need a passport real soon! How far south would I have to go to get out of the cold?

For sure man, same to you if you're in vic, or the Cowichan Valley! I'd love to get a closer look at those three daunting mountains in the distance to the north! Are they in Strathcona?

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