Earlier this summer, I spent two months working in the far southeast corner of the city. This turned my regular 25-minute commute to downtown over the Burrard Bridge into a 15-kilometre, hour-long ride right across Vancouver.
I spent some time planning my new commute with the UBC Cycle Route Planner (an absolutely essential tool for any Vancouver cyclist at cyclevancouver.ubc.ca) and settled on a route that was reasonably direct, though not particularly flat: West Eighth Avenue to Cypress; Cypress to 37th, Midtown/Ridgeway to Inverness, and then Inverness down to 54th, where I joined the regular rush-hour traffic for a few blocks to take me to Argyle Drive. The new route was an eye-opener for me, not just because I enjoyed the ride so much but also because it was such a great way to see new neighbourhoods and get a sense of parts of the city I don't know well.
In a car, you tend to stick to the routes that will get you from A to B as quickly as possible; there's no motivation to leave the main thoroughfares for slower diversions through residential areas. In fact, that kind of driving is discouraged. My schedule had me commuting at all kinds of different times through the day, but the early morning rides were my favourite.
Riding through sleepy Kitsilano up to Granville and on to Oak and then Cambie; seeing joggers and tennis players in Queen Elizabeth Park; passing groups of seniors doing Tai Chi in corner parks that I never knew existed; the momentary stillness and silence as I passed through Mountain View Cemetery.
It was an entirely different experience to my normal commute, which is mostly in heavy traffic. In the evenings I'd try alternate routes just to see where they would take me. One night, a coworker took me for a gorgeous ride through the new and planned developments around the River District and into Burnaby; another night I rode along the railroad tracks down Kent Avenue to Marine Drive, and then home via the tree-lined trails in Pacific Spirit Park. Bike routes are a fantastic way to explore a city. They take you off the beaten track and away from the roads where drivers sit idling in traffic. They take you into different neighbourhoods and give you glimpses of different lives.
Next summer I want to explore more new territory, regardless of where I'm working: it's worth getting up a half hour or 45 minutes early to ride a new route in the early morning sunshine, or taking a little extra time to explore on the way home. I've been back at my regular commute for a while now, and while it's fun in a different way-I love the glimpses of ocean and the ride over the bridge toward the downtown highrises-I have to admit that as I rode Midtown/Ridgeway to a morning meeting in Burnaby last week, I felt a pang of what is perhaps best described as bikesickness for my summer ride.
Kay Cahill is a cyclist, librarian and outdoor enthusiast who believes that bikes are for life, not just for commuting. Contact Kay at kay@sidecut.ca.
