First Ride Around Vancouver

You know, being a human and having a big brain is pretty cool. But one disadvantage is that we humans can quickly adapt to changes in our environment. And the reason I'm complaining about this is that I think our new city is beautiful and I don't want to get used to it.

I set out on my bike this morning just to ride around and explore. I took the Frances/Adanac bike route heading west. Some day I'll count the number of hills between our apartment and downtown, but it must be about five or six, none of them too severe. Except the uphill from Boundary Road, on the return - it's best not to look up when climbing that as it's discouraging.

And on this ride, there's something neat to see in all directions. Ahead, the towers of downtown Vancouver. To the right, the mountains. To the rear, Mount Burnaby. And to the left, the towers of Burnaby neighbourhoods like Metrotown and Brentwood.

I'd intended to stop for coffee on the way, and when I saw the Bean Around the World Coffees shop at Union and Gore I decided to stop there. I asked about a drink they called British Fog and tried it - it's Earl Grey Tea with a bit of vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Nice. It was also my second bike parking. I have a U-lock in a holster on the bike, and brought a cable lock as a backup, because thieves usually don't carry tools to break both types. Bike theft is pretty rampant here.

I carried on up Pender Street through the north side of the downtown peninsula. Glancing to the sides up the cross streets, the towers make the same canyoning effect you see in New York and Chicago. Traffic was quiet, today being Labour Day; I suspect it's much busier during the week.

Around Cordova I was able to go right and down to the water to join the Seawall path. This mixed-use path (pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers) goes along the shoreline around most of the peninsula.

And the beautiful beautiful buildings! Several times I had to stop and pull over and look and just go, Wow. I've seen this route before as a tourist, but this was my first time as a resident, and I know the importance of savouring the first time. I probably should have walked it, but I rarely lingered for more than a few moments, because I am a man of action, and that's what I do.

But! There are dozens, hundreds maybe, of these glass towers. Some have interesting colours, some lean out a bit, some bulge out a little, some cut in and cut out, and they are all interesting. And riding by at street level, some have water features like fountains and small pools that made me think, to live here is to live in beauty.

And on the other side, the Burrard Inlet, with the mountains, the towers of North Vancouver, and seaplanes landing near-constantly.

I made it to Stanley Park, the forest which takes up the northern end of the peninsula, and was soon turned back around facing downtown's towers from a more distant perspective. There's a new tower, named Shangri-La, that breaks the established rule - where most are about the same height, this one stands about 1/3 above all others. I wonder who's the lucky guy with the penthouse.

Soon I passed under the Lion's Gate bridge, and was looking out English Bay at the moored tankers. Then, heading south, I was soon out of the park and among the residential towers, passing Denman and then approaching the swankiest new towers in Yaletown, as the beach, and later Granville Island, passed on the right.

I stopped to get a bite to eat and decided to try to find something in the Roundhouse area, a neighbourhood I've visited in the past, built around an old railroad turnabout. I parked and settled in at the Urban Fare, a grocery and cafe that's the size of a parking garage inside and full of gorgeous-looking (and probably monstrously expensive) produce. But I managed to fill up for under $10 with a chorizo egg wrap and cranberry juice.

Then it was back on the path, ending up close to the shiny dome of Science World, and from there I got on the Adanac/Frances path heading east. And when I made it to the top of that fifth or sixth hill, I was genuinely winded a bit, though I'm glad for the opportunity to get such great exercise, and in such a fun way.