Recyclistas - Community Bicycle Shop

Today was the day to get rid of a couple of bicycles that were collecting dust in the garage for probably the last 15 years. One bike a Raleigh Criterium road bike bought in the early 1980’s, the other a bike was a Nishiki Bushwacker Mountain Bike from the early 1990’s, one of the first mountain bikes to come out, 18 speed, chro-moly, all rigid suspension.

Both bikes were bought through the years at the original Caps Bicycle Shop at 434 East Columbia Street in New Westminster. The bikes had new tires put on recently but had got in the way, been move about 10 times or so and not seen any use for a long time. The Nishiki was looking a little tired having survived many sections of the KVR (Trans-Canada Trail).

The bikes were well past their prime but still had lots of life left in them for someone who did not mind older technology and wanted away to get around without the high cost of a new bicycle. Both needed some maintenance especially the Nishiki, as Wayne from Performance Bicycles put it the drive train was held together by grit, grease and dirt. The problem was where to get rid of them and who could find the people who would want to take the effort and clean them up.

Then a solution to the problem came up, why not the odd looking bike shop decorated by bicycle art located next where the Lochside and Galloping Goose Trail meet called Recyclistas. Situated close to the new Uptown Development near Douglas Street in Saanich, right near the beginning of the east side of the Switch Bridge at 25 Crease Ave. The community bike shop recycles and reconditions bikes plus offers bike repair lessons at a reasonable cost to the public totally geared for people who want to fix their own bikes.

It turns out that Recyclistas accepts bicycles in any condition plus any type of bicycle part. Recyclistas also has lessons available for those of you who would love to learn the terminology, cleaning and regular maintenance for your cycle.

The two bikes now have a new home and hopefully will find themselves in the future hands of someone who could really use a bicycle with thanks to a local business called Recyclistas.

• Recyclistas

• The Bike Lab Society

• Performance Bicycles

• Caps Bicycle Shop

Old Baldy Mountain

We went with a hiking group called Club Mud up Old Baldy Mountain which is located near Shawnigan Lake on southern Vancouver Island.

To get to the start of the unmarked trailhead we had to travel along Shawnigan Lake Road to McKernan Road, then on Galland Road to Baldy Mountain Road, turn on Strathcona Heights Road to Hawking Road. Travel to just near the end of Hawking Road and look for the closed yellow gate across a old forestry road on the left. This is the start of the trail up the peak of Old Baldy Mountain.

The trail at the beginning follows a steep gravel road up to a radio tower perched above a beautiful western view of Shawnigan Lake. From here you follow an unmarked trail that meanders through and along a slippery rock face into a slight forested area to the top of Baldy Mountain. At the top there is now a view towards the west of the Gulf Islands and the Gulf of Georgia (Salish Sea), unfortunately for us it was raining and quite foggy with very little visibility.

The hike down was very fast compared with the fairly steep climb going up. After the walk the Club Mud group celebrated the trip up Old Baldy Mountain with a visit to the Village of Shawnigan Lake and lunch at a small cafe called the Village Chippery. The group mainly ordered fish and chips and to the enjoyment of everyone the meal was very good.

• Shawnigan Lake Map - Google
• Village Chippery

Labour Day Weekend 2010 Sooke Potholes

The end of summer 2010 and camping seemed to have come this last weekend at the Sooke Potholes Regional Park. Not only was Labour Day weekend the closing date for camping at the Sooke Potholes it also seemed like the end of the summer weather as well.

Saturday started off with sunshine, but as we made the Seventeen Mile Pub on Hwy 14 the weather was starting to cloud over. Still in good spirits the campground was alive and well with campers and only 6 or so campsites left available around 2pm.

The night was very enjoyable especially with the company of two members of Club Mud coming over and sharing a fire along with a hot dog and refreshments complete with the tranquil sounds of the Sooke River flowing in the background.

During the next morning though things started to change with a number of campsites being vacated for that night and the temperature cooling off. This was very peculiar as in order to stay for the Labour Day long weekend payment for Saturday and Sunday night is required. So much for the recession.

Sunday was very enjoyable but starting to get quite cold especially felt during a swim in the local swimming hole. That night the campground seemed to be vacated with only a third full and yet everything was pleasant, especially with fires allowed.

That all changed this morning, with rain starting about 2 am and poring continuously all morning. The Sooke Potholes transformed instantly now looking like a typical fall day, dark, wet and miserable . As the scene changed dramatically the look on a number campers packing up was where did the summer of 2010 go.

Muchalat Lake Recreation Site

Going back to work after a summer vacation is always interesting especially if you experienced a number of discoveries along the way. For the people where I work a topic of camping came up and it seems like a number of other people found a few good spots to stay as well.

For one person he experienced the west side of Slocan Lake and found a hidden gem with a spot right on the lake and very little people. Another fellow still swears by Nanaimo Lakes with it's large slightly treed camping sites with a lot of privacy and close to the lake. Then during a large power outage at the corner of Blanshard Street and Bay Street the foreman talked about some Recreation Sites in the Okanagan where he could relax and take his dog for a walk.

For me the top spot on the list had to be at Muchalat Lake Recreation Site just 13 km (8 miles) north of Gold River It is located on the Nimpkish Main a forestry road that continues north eventually coming out at the Mount Cain turnoff on Hwy 19 just south of Woss.

Located in a large valley that runs north and south Muchalat Lake has the hot sun that you can experience in Gold River making for some great swimming in the lake, fishing for a good size fish has nice large semi private campsites in a quite atmosphere and very little bugs because of a slight breeze that comes up in the night.

If you do go here expect to see very large logging trucks taking up most of the road and a road that is made up some of the largest crush rocks seen in British Columbia.

Scarlet Iris Pub

Just got back from a short motorcycle trip into Winter Harbour. Along the way got a chance to stop for a short visit in Holberg outside the Scarlet Iris Pub.

The Scarlet Iris brought back great memories from a few years ago as a place to celebrate with Club Mud on a recent hike that was completed into Cape Scott Provincial Park. The thoughts of hamburgers, french fries and a cold berverage made my mouth water for a quick fix from campground food.

Once leaving Holberg and the Scarlet Iris the travel into Winter Harbour seemed a bit sluggish and little on the unnerving side with large gravel rocks making up a lot of the road base. The 21 km (13 miles) or so distance took around an hour to complete with a total of four sightings of Black Bears, either climbing a tree or scrambling into the bush.

Winter Harbour was a pleasant sight after driving in. We were able to find the local store called the Outpost for a quick chocolate bar, unfortunately the thought of the Scarlet Iris and the celebration kept coming back in my mind.

Yalakom River Fire

On the way from Gold Bridge to Lillooet today we had a chance to watch to witness the fire suppression helicopters load and transport fire retardant to help stop the large wildfire ragging on the mountain side up the Yalakom Valley.

The wildfire which has been going for a number of days now had made the sky around Gold Bridge and Bralorne very hazy making the mountains barely visible.

On the north side of Carpenter Lake along Hwy 40 the sky was full of air traffic noise in the background. Once pass the bridge over the Yalakom River the road winds up to the where the Yalakom Road starts. This was the staging area for the tanker trucks loading Phos-Chek Fire Retardant, Class A Foam & Gel for the helicopters.

From this vantage point the 7 square km fire could now be scene ragging on the side of the mountains towards the north-west. The loading site was amazing with helicopters landing and taking off in a matter of minutes and other crews arriving and getting mobilized to head in and fights it head on with 31 degrees Celsius temperatures present.

Spinnakers Brew Pub

Had a great lunch the other day and if you happen to looking for a place to have refreshments and/or something to eat also and you’re near Downtown Victoria try going to Spinnakers Brew Pub & Guesthouse situated along the Westson Walkway in Vic-West .

With a reputation as Canada’s oldest brewpub Spinnakers offers hand-crafted beers and an up-market cuisine served in a beautiful setting next to Victoria’s Inner Harbour. The facility which is housed in a waterfront location at 308 Catherine Street has beautiful easterly and southerly views of Victoria’s coastline towards Ogden Point.

Everything is fresh and unique from Spinnakers Brew Pub including the different types of ales, in season menu from local ingredients, in-house bakery and a bounty of seafood. The facility is very convenient and all within a stones throw of the walkway from the hotels next to Johnson Street Bridge, the Galloping Goose Trail and the regional transit system of Victoria.

Any time in the year is a good time at Spinnakers Brew Pub as the chefs tend to capitalize on local products that the CRD and the rest of Vancouver Islands harvest throughout the four seasons. If you have children Spinnakers also has a restaurant located on the main entrance way into the facility.

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