Glacier 200 Origins
by Harold Bridge

1989-10-28 was a beautiful Fall Saturday. I used it to do what would have been a Permanent if we had such things in those days. I set out from home, headed east on Rte 7 to the Mission Bridge, paid scarce homage to the border & tackled Reese Hill without concern. I think I must have stopped at Glacier for lunch. The Fall colours were at their best and I wasn't carrying a camera!

I headed down to Nugents Corner and from there continued SW toward Bellingham. That ride UP Rte 542 into a sou'wester is a bit tedious with what was then considered busy traffic. At the Van Wyck store on the corner of 542 & Noon Road I turned north to Lynden, across the border to Aldergrove & so home via the Albion Ferry. My diary records 10:12. Whether that is event time or riding time I can't remember.

1990 Spring 200: I was allowed make use of my employer's parking lot (as well as other facilities) for the start/finish. A group finished in about 8:40, then 2 of us got in right on 9 hours, then nothing? The next finishers, first timers Gordy Cook & Bruce McKenzie came in with a time of 10:30. The ferry had lost power and was pushed back to the dock by the other ferry! Thus Hathaway originated the Albion start-Fort Langley finish we used to use.

The current version of the route is an improvement I think. The quiet back roads from Nugent's Corner through Cedarville & Goshen to Lynden are much better than 542. The downside is that Mosquito Lake Road has nowhere for a control & we need a constant source of information to keep everyone on their toes.

HJB

October 29, 2008