Yesterday we opted for the second recommendation we’d been given the day before – a bike trip around Stanley Park.
I’d done some Googling ahead of time and found the Bee’s Knees bike shop did rentals, so off we went to find it. For some reason we changed our minds when we got there & we went to Yes Cycle just next door instead. I don’t really remember why we changed our minds, but we did. The bikes were comfy & the girl who worked there was friendly, so I’m happy with our choice.
After a quick demo of how to do the locks, we strapped on our helmets & off we went! We had some trouble finding the park, despite having been given another map & very specific instructions before we left the shop. After a couple of wrong turns & some polite “Are you lost?”‘s from the locals we found it. The sun was shine, there was a beautiful sea breeze & we were ready to riiiiide.
Our plan was to pit-stop for a quick coffee then head round the outer trail a bit, before cutting in to see “Beaver Lake” and do some of the forest paths. Then we’d cut back out and finish the outer looped. It looked super simple on the maps, but there was a lot of stopping, turning round, being confused & changing our minds. We only had one mini-tiff about which way was what. (I was right, obviously.)
We also totally failed on the coffee front as none of the coffee places are open on Monday. (Feel like this closed-on-Monday is a bit of a recurring theme… we probs should’ve learnt by now!)
Etienne tried to teach me to descend a bit quicker. He’s got that kinda mountain-bikey style where you stand on the pedals, lean on the handlebars & let the bike just do it’s thing. I tend to squeeze my brakes so hard I end up stop-starting my way down the hills. I go uphill quicker though, so one-all.
We snapped a lot of photos, chatted & even saw a seal splashing about! Both of us loved it, which is deffo a good sign as we’re planning on cycling the Pacific Coast Cycle Route next year.
We had a bit of time left once we’d done all the Stanley Park trails, so managed to squeeze in a trip to Granville Island. (The third recommendation we were given when we checked in) We cycled back along the waterfront, over a bridge & then round to the island where we parked our bikes & mooched around a bit. The island was a bit odd, but still nice with some little boutiques & food places so not a bad place to visit, especially with the weather being so lovely.
After a coffee in the sun & some deliberating on what souvenirs we should buy*, it was time to head back as I had to work that evening. We dropped the cycles back, wander round the waterfront a bit more then went back to the hostel, for dinner, drinks & work.
*We bought nothing. We’re both pretty indecisive so this tends to be the result whenever we look. Hoping something just “speaks to us” one day soon though, as we want a little keepsake to remember the trip by.
See the full Gallery
See the route: Stanley Park Trails / Strava