12 ISLANDS, 2 WHEELS
B.C. author rolls out guide
For 75-year-old John Crouch, a bike ride of a thousand kilometres or more seems to be no big deal.
To celebrate his 70th birthday he cycled from Whitehorse, Yukon, to his home in Victoria, an adventure recounted in his 2014 book Six Highways to Home.
Two years ago he rode for 15 days from Victoria to San Francisco.
But Crouch, author of a series of Victoria guidebooks, retains a special fondness for pedalling through the bucolic, hilly landscapes of the San Juan and Gulf Islands, a Salish Sea archipelago bisected by the Canada-U.S. border.
In his new book Cycling the Islands, released by Rocky Mountain Books, Crouch suggests 36 routes to explore on 12 islands. The rides range from under an hour to allday affairs, depending on how often you stop to admire the scenery.
Following are edited excerpts from a conversation with Crouch.
What makes the San Juan and Gulf Islands a good cycling destination?
The mild Mediterranean climate means it never gets roasting hot or really cold. The islands get much less rain than Vancouver, Victoria or Seattle. They’re fairly close to those large urban areas and relatively easy to get to: there’s good ferry service, frequent and not too expensive. The ferries make it very conducive to go island-hopping.
What kinds of landscapes can cyclists expect?
You get these beautiful bays and inlets. Some of them are very interesting for their solitude. Others have appealing villages or towns on them. The islands attract artisans — you find studios with pottery, jewelry, woodwork or whatever, so there’s always something interesting to visit. In the summer there are craft and food markets. And there are beautiful beaches.
How much variety is there, island to island?
It’s one archipelago that through the vagaries of politics over the last 200 years has split into American and Canadian groups. Geographically and geologically, though, they’re the same group. The major industry of almost all the islands is tourism, so they make it very appealing to be on the roads. Cyclists are welcomed. You will often get waves from people — Lopez is particularly noted for that.
Describe a few of your favourite rides.
Orcas is physically challenging, so it gives a great sense of satisfaction, but it’s also very visually pleasing and emotionally pleasing. Not to sound airy-fairy, but it feeds my soul. Hornby has my favourite place on all the islands, Helliwell Provincial Park. You lock your bike up at the trailhead, walk about half an hour through a coniferous forest, then all of a sudden come out on this grassy cliff edge, with the conglomerate cliffs plunging into the ocean. You get a beautiful view down the Salish Sea, and if the weather is good you see Mount Arrowsmith in the distance and in the east the Coast Range — it’s absolutely spectacular. Saturna is the most southerly of the Gulf Islands and is sparsely populated. Narvaez Bay and Echo Bay are gorgeous. There’s a little walk-in or kayakin campground on Narvaez Bay that is kind of a little paradise.
Any advice for someone considering a cycling holiday on the islands?
They are uniformly hilly, so you have to be prepared for ups and downs — and that means a certain level of fitness. Also, get a decent bike with a good selection of gears.