Two-wheel iT
See the Island from bottom to top or
coast to coast, from behind handlebars.
Island Joy Rides (islandjoyrides.com)
will take you on a multi-day cycle tour
from Victoria halfway up the Island to
Campbell River, or just circle the pastoral
eastern side of the Island in the Comox
Valley, checking out the local culinary and
cultural scene. On the south end of the
Island, cycle the Goose. The 55-kilometre
Galloping Goose Trail (gallopinggoose
trail.com) stretches east to west from
Victoria to Sooke, going through a ghost
town, towering Douglas fir forests and
over trestles on an old railbed. Or stick
to the city, and hop on one of The
Pedaler's (thepedaler.ca) tours of
Victoria, where you explore up-and-
coming neighbourhoods and hipster
coffee shops for a cold-brewed pick-
me-up. Consider it pedalling fuel.
side TriP: Go southeast to the bike-,
hike- and equestrian-friendly Cowichan
Valley Trail, where the historic Kinsol
Trestle rises 145 feet above the Koksilah
River as one of the tallest free-standing
timber rail structures in the world.
Surf'S up
Surfing isn't easy. And that's the joy of it.
It's about trying to literally ride the
unbridled force of Mother Nature.
On Vancouver Island's west coast
the waves are gnarly enough for
serious surfers to have made a
surfing haven of Tofino. Cox Bay
and Chesterman Beach are go-to
surf spots – wet suit required (this
is cold-water surfing, brisk even in
summer). Before catching a wave,
get a lesson from Pacific
Surf Co. (pacificsurf
school.com) and learn the
basics of popping up and
paddling out. Then there's
SUP. Stand-up paddleboarding is
the new must-try sport. Given a
paddle, surfers can navigate the
sea's swell with aplomb, but for
newbies, Tofino's sheltered inlet
offers sweet scenery and a
smooth surface. Lessons are
available from Tofino Paddle
Surf (tofinopaddlesurf.com).
side TriP: Beachcombing is its
own adventure. Spend hours
walking along Chesterman Beach
near Tofino, tracing patterns in
the sand and marine life in tidal
pools, or head south to the Wild Pacific
Trail (wildpacifictrail.com) in Ucluelet
for the beach-skimming Lighthouse Loop.
Take a hike
The epic and legendary 75-kilometre
West Coast Trail (pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/
pacificrim/activ/activ6a.aspx) traces the
shoreline between Bamfield and Port
Renfrew in Pacific Rim National Park, a
bucket-list hike that attracts visitors from
across the globe. It can take a hardcore
three days to a more leisurely week to
complete, trekking through mud and
across boardwalks, climbing ladders,
traversing bridges, pulling cable cars and
recouping in beachside camps.
But eating breakfast next to the hum of
Tour on wheels with Island Joy Rides; test your
balance with Tofino Paddle Surf (above); or grab
a lesson from Pacific Surf Co. (below).
14 bca a .com summer 2015 (top to bottom) Kelly Funk/all canada Photos, courtesy Island Joy Rides, brooke arnold/Tourism Vancouver Island
