Kinsol Trestle-Chemainus ride – 6th June Start 6am Cook Street Starbucks
Original we (Mark Ford and Paul Christopher) planned to ride the Port Renfrew-Cowichan-Brentwood Ferry loop (280k). Who needs that much pain? We don’t, so we have modified the ride to visit the Kinsol Trestle and Chemainus.
Date: Wednesday 6th June 2012-06-04
Time: Meet at 6am for a 6:30am start
Place: Starbucks Cook Street Village
Route: Galloping Goose to 6 Mile Pub
Up the Malahat take the south exit to Shawnigan Lake
Around the south side of the lake to the Kinsol Trestle.
Back around the north side of Shawnigan Lake to Cobble Hill
Back roads via Cowichan Bay to Chemainus for lunch
Turnaround and ride back to Mill Bay via the back roads to Duncan
Mill Bay-Brentwood Ferry and back to Victoria via the Galloping Goose Trail
Bring some food and water as the first opportunity for bying food and drink will be in Shawnigan Lake at 63k on the way back from the Kinsol Trestle.
As this is a no-drop social ride I anticipate we will have a number of stops along the route. Depending upon the number of stops, the weather and mechanicals we will catch the Mill Bay-Brentwood ferry at : 4:10pm or 5:20pm or 6:30pm.
All riders are welcome – please send me an email or give me a call if you need any more information on the ride.
mford@conwayinfo.ca
250 595-6790
Wednesday June 6th - Kensol Trestle
Moderator: mfarnham
Re: Wednesday June 6th - Kensol Trestle
Hi Mark...so, how did yesterday's ride go? Being stuck out here at sea without my bike for two weeks is driving me up the wall!
J.
J.
"Talk - Action = Zero" - Joe Keithley
Re: Wednesday June 6th - Kensol Trestle
Mark Ford, Vanessa and I, [Paul C.] rode 190km to Shawnigan Lake , Kinsol Tressal, Chemainus and Mill Bay to Brentwood Bay and home. A leasurly all day ride with only one flat [with a rookie like 13 minute change by yours truely] For more info talk with us at coffee.
Re: Wednesday June 6th - Kensol Trestle
T
Kensol Trestle-Chemainus-Mill Bay-Victoria ride Report
We (Vanessa, Paul C and Mark) met at Starbuck’s in Cook Street Village at 6:30am. The temperature was 9C, a little cool, but we were optimistic the temperature would rise as we rode north up the Malahat. Our optimism was well founded the temperature did rise to 15C and for a short period during the day we enjoyed the warmth of the sun. However, the greatest reward for our optimism was, we encountered little wind and only a few drops of rain at the end of the ride.
From downtown Victoria we rode along the Galloping Goose Trail as far as Colwood and then took the path to join the Island Highway. The path was blocked by a cyclist, a motor cyclist and a bus driver who had some sort of accident. Who did what to whom we don’t know? However, the cyclist came off worse. He had cuts and bruses to his face and a crushed front wheel. What was a high powered motor cyclist doing on a very narrow cycle path? Why was the bus driver involved? This is a problem for Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Periot to solve. After clearing the obstruction we rode up the Malahat and took the South Shawnigan Lake exit. After review all the new housing developments at the top of the Shawnigan Hill we took the plunge down the hill hitting speeds of 72kph – what a rush. It was then 10k to the Kensol Trestle. We stopped there to admire the trestle.
The Kensol Trestle was built in the 1920. Its dimensions measure 44 m (144 ft) high and 188 m (617 ft) long, making it the largest wooden trestle in the commonwealth and one of the highest railway trestles in the world. It was refurbished in 2011 at a cost of $5.7M and now forms part of the Canada Trail. By the end of this year one should be able to ride the Canada Trail from Victoria using the Galloping Goose Trail to the Sooke Pot Holes and then north to Nanaimo via the Kensol Trestle. The trail is wide, well maintained and can by ridden using a road bike!
After taking a few pictures and chatting to local residents who reside on each side of the trestle we headed back towards Shawnigan Lake Village. In the best tradition of Tripleshot, we stopped at the village bakery/coffee shop to enjoy a coffee and a fresh muffin. Fully refreshed we headed for Chemainus via Cobble Hill, Cowichan Bay and Crofton. We arrived in Chemainus just after noon (110K) ready for lunch. We settled for the local restaurant rather than the local bakery which I highly recommend. The tourists have not arrived in Chemainus so far this year, so we received very helpful and speedy service.
We now made a U-turn and headed back to Victoria. It was our plan to catch the Mill Bay-Brentwood Bay Ferry which leaves at 3:10pm or 4:10pm. We opted for the 4:10 ferry and then decided to ride partially down the highway, skirt Duncan using Somenos Rd. This worked very well. After joining the highway south of Duncan we rode in a pace line averaging 43K down the highway. We made Mill Bay in very good time (3pm), so once again we were able to enjoy a coffee in Mill Bay before riding the 8K to the Mill Bay ferry terminal. This coffee stop, I understood to be mandatory. We had deemed the ride to be a Tripleshot ride and therefore it was understood that least three coffee shop stops are required on a 190k ride.
After Paul and Vanessa had purchased their ferry tickets at Thrifty’s, they saved $1, we rode to the Ferry. I have been awarded a Gold Card by the Province so I ride free on the ferries during the week. What a deal. However, we all have to pay $2 for taking our bikes on the ferry. We managed to scrap to gather $4 in change – I think the “conductor” took pity on the poor Gold Card member and said”Don’t worry - $2 is not worth bothering about!!” That’s good BC Ferries customer service.
The last 35k back to Victoria was interrupted by a puncture and dog minding duty. We arrived back in downtown Victoria at about 6:30pm – 12 hours for the ride.
Distance 190K average 23.2. We enjoyed three major stops and many sightseeing stops on our no-drop trip. It was a great ride, good company, no safety issue, only one puncture and great weather. In conclusion all I can say id “Thank god we rode Wednesday and not Thursday! Thanks for the company Vanessa and Paul.
Mark
Kensol Trestle-Chemainus-Mill Bay-Victoria ride Report
We (Vanessa, Paul C and Mark) met at Starbuck’s in Cook Street Village at 6:30am. The temperature was 9C, a little cool, but we were optimistic the temperature would rise as we rode north up the Malahat. Our optimism was well founded the temperature did rise to 15C and for a short period during the day we enjoyed the warmth of the sun. However, the greatest reward for our optimism was, we encountered little wind and only a few drops of rain at the end of the ride.
From downtown Victoria we rode along the Galloping Goose Trail as far as Colwood and then took the path to join the Island Highway. The path was blocked by a cyclist, a motor cyclist and a bus driver who had some sort of accident. Who did what to whom we don’t know? However, the cyclist came off worse. He had cuts and bruses to his face and a crushed front wheel. What was a high powered motor cyclist doing on a very narrow cycle path? Why was the bus driver involved? This is a problem for Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Periot to solve. After clearing the obstruction we rode up the Malahat and took the South Shawnigan Lake exit. After review all the new housing developments at the top of the Shawnigan Hill we took the plunge down the hill hitting speeds of 72kph – what a rush. It was then 10k to the Kensol Trestle. We stopped there to admire the trestle.
The Kensol Trestle was built in the 1920. Its dimensions measure 44 m (144 ft) high and 188 m (617 ft) long, making it the largest wooden trestle in the commonwealth and one of the highest railway trestles in the world. It was refurbished in 2011 at a cost of $5.7M and now forms part of the Canada Trail. By the end of this year one should be able to ride the Canada Trail from Victoria using the Galloping Goose Trail to the Sooke Pot Holes and then north to Nanaimo via the Kensol Trestle. The trail is wide, well maintained and can by ridden using a road bike!
After taking a few pictures and chatting to local residents who reside on each side of the trestle we headed back towards Shawnigan Lake Village. In the best tradition of Tripleshot, we stopped at the village bakery/coffee shop to enjoy a coffee and a fresh muffin. Fully refreshed we headed for Chemainus via Cobble Hill, Cowichan Bay and Crofton. We arrived in Chemainus just after noon (110K) ready for lunch. We settled for the local restaurant rather than the local bakery which I highly recommend. The tourists have not arrived in Chemainus so far this year, so we received very helpful and speedy service.
We now made a U-turn and headed back to Victoria. It was our plan to catch the Mill Bay-Brentwood Bay Ferry which leaves at 3:10pm or 4:10pm. We opted for the 4:10 ferry and then decided to ride partially down the highway, skirt Duncan using Somenos Rd. This worked very well. After joining the highway south of Duncan we rode in a pace line averaging 43K down the highway. We made Mill Bay in very good time (3pm), so once again we were able to enjoy a coffee in Mill Bay before riding the 8K to the Mill Bay ferry terminal. This coffee stop, I understood to be mandatory. We had deemed the ride to be a Tripleshot ride and therefore it was understood that least three coffee shop stops are required on a 190k ride.
After Paul and Vanessa had purchased their ferry tickets at Thrifty’s, they saved $1, we rode to the Ferry. I have been awarded a Gold Card by the Province so I ride free on the ferries during the week. What a deal. However, we all have to pay $2 for taking our bikes on the ferry. We managed to scrap to gather $4 in change – I think the “conductor” took pity on the poor Gold Card member and said”Don’t worry - $2 is not worth bothering about!!” That’s good BC Ferries customer service.
The last 35k back to Victoria was interrupted by a puncture and dog minding duty. We arrived back in downtown Victoria at about 6:30pm – 12 hours for the ride.
Distance 190K average 23.2. We enjoyed three major stops and many sightseeing stops on our no-drop trip. It was a great ride, good company, no safety issue, only one puncture and great weather. In conclusion all I can say id “Thank god we rode Wednesday and not Thursday! Thanks for the company Vanessa and Paul.
Mark
Re: Wednesday June 6th - Kensol Trestle
Thanks Mark for your great report[slightly longer than my report] and for leading Vanessa and I on what we hope, was this summers first, EPIC BIG RIDE!!!! Watch this space for future EPIC BIG RIDE information. Limited participation spots available.