Vancouver and environs

The thought of cycling in British Columbia might stir up images of beautiful coastal riding, but with the coast comes the promise of a sea breeze – ranging from refreshing to stiff. Near Vancouver, the water offers more than just a nice view. Even though the average winds of 12.2 km/h in the city don’t seem too bad, the popular option of heading south and riding a loop around Richmond, for instance, promises a wind off the ocean on one side and off the river on the other. Imagining a sea breeze gusting at 129 km/h – the recorded max in the city – is almost enough to send cyclists racing inland. But those heading inland shouldn’t expect to escape the breeze, at least not according to Mike Woods, founder of Odlum Brown Cycling Club in Chilliwack, B.C. “It can get pretty bloody windy here,” he said. With summer winds generally blowing in from the coast and funnelling through the valley from the west, a southwest route toward Abbotsford along Parallel Road makes for a breezy ride with headwinds on the way out and tailwinds coming back. The average daily winds in Abbotsford are only 8.3 km/h, but they can escalate quickly – the city’s recorded maximum gust is 145 km/h. Environment Canada’s data for Chilliwack doesn’t include wind statistics, but Brown justified his stance. “It was so windy a couple years ago during the winter that a semi-truck blew over,” he said before asking rhetorically, “Is that ‘pretty bloody windy?’”