Salt Spring Island to Vancouver, BC
Traditional territory of the Tsawwassen, Tsleil-Waututh and Sto:lo Treaty Association
Cloudy and a bit of rain, sunshine and cool temperature
Considering this my last regular log entry for the bicycle expedition. I’ll post an update/reflection from the airport but in terms of the numbered days, here I am. Vancouver. Actually, I’m writing this on the bus east across British Columbia but the point still stands.
I left the Saturday market in Ganges and caught the mid-afternoon ferry. Still food poisoned. Arrived in Tsawwassen, bussed to Bridgeport, then down to Richmond where picked up my backpack. Cycled back up to Bridgeport and caught the SkyTrain to Waterfront, then cycled again to Mt. Pleasant where I fished a bike box out of a dumpster outside a bike shop. Strapped everything onto my bicycle and made it to my friend’s apartment. Then I disassembled the bike, repacked my belongings and caught a few hours of sleep before calling a taxi to the bus station in the early morning. Taped the bike box like a maniac and got to the bus platform with ten minutes to spare.
(And then the bus was late.)
This is called ‘Vancouver, I’m Sorry’ because I had plans and nebulous commitments to spend more time in the city and do a bit more research and interviews. There are, of course, lots of stories to be told and I was looking forward to getting to know Vancouver’s history and cultures better. But throw together mental challenges and food poisoning and my much-less-nebulous commitments on the other side of BC and I felt like I was lucky to have made it out of the city even as late as I was.
To echo my friend Sadie-Phoenix, there’s never enough time to be in Van. So here’s to the future.