Cove N Spit
(aka: "Sidney Sooke") Permanent Brevet #245, 201 km
Ride Date: December 10, 2024
by Murray Tough

It was cold and dark outside when I woke up. My bed was warm and comfortable. But I was determined to complete my December 200. In BC Randonneurs, there is a pin for completing a 200 in every month of the year. I have always come up short. Often at the 11-month mark! According to the weather report, it was 4°C but there was frost on the Trestle Bridge as I pedalled across the Gorge to the start.

I started the course on the Galloping Goose trail at Interurban Road. The first leg was northward, up the Saanich Peninsula. By the time I reached the end of Interurban, the cloudy sky was showing the first signs of dull grey light. It was still dark on the ground but there were city lights and colourful Christmas lights to brighten my path. Soon, I could see wisps of fog clinging to the valley floors.

Continuing north, the views along northern Wallace Drive are always spectacular. In spring you can see fields of daffodils set in front of the Salish Sea and the Gulf Islands, and behind that, the Cascade Mountains, all under a big, open sky. Today it was a field of pumpkins in the foreground, their vibrant colours muted in the early light. The mountains were a silhouette with Mt Baker dominating the backdrop. The photo doesn’t do it justice but I needed the stop to take off a layer. Even though the sun had not yet risen, I was starting to get hot.

By the time I reached the control on James Island Road, the sun was up and the scene was spectacular. I spent too much time taking photos and having a snack. There was a sign on the dock about “local authorities being aware of the current danger”. I’m thinking, what local authority has the power to stem the tide? It took me a long time to connect the sign with the boat wreck on the shore. Oh, “current” means “present time” not “tidal current”. Perhaps I should get more sleep.

The course continued across the Peninsula, through the village of Saanichton before looping around Lands End. I stopped to take in the view across Satellite Channel to Salt Spring Island. The next control was just past the ferry terminal, at Canoe Cove marina—another pretty stop. Then it was over the highway to the quiet, country lanes north of the airport, I find this part of the Peninsula the most pleasant riding anywhere. I glided past farms. There was only birdsong and the occasional rooster crowing to keep me entertained.

The course continued south through Saanichton and onto Oldfield Rd. I had to stop at Mosi Bakery for a treat before tackling Prospect Lake Road. If you are thinking that I am not making good time, you would be right. I stuffed half the delicious pastry in my mouth and the other half in my jersey pocket then jumped back on the bike.

Prospect Lake Road is a fun road to ride. It is a narrow lane with twists and turns and ups and downs. The ups are short and steep and the downs are fast and fun. At every up, I would jump out of the saddle and power up the hill. On every down, I would tuck onto my aerobars to make myself as fast and efficient as possible. So much fun.

A quick stop and bathroom break at the control at Atkins Road before starting the long leg to Otter Point. The miles through Colwood and Metchosin were pleasant as I rode past fields and through forests. The sun was out and the winds were light. I tried to make up time for my earlier dawdling. There was a control at Aylard Farm in East Sooke Regional Park, which seemed like a nice place to return for a hike some day.

As I approached Sooke, my rear derailleur cable broke. My 22-speed bicycle was now a 2-speed bicycle. I stopped at the Petro-Canada east of Sooke to get some water and fix the cable. Of course, the cable was frayed and jammed inside the shifter. The fix was not something I felt I could do outside in the cold. I considered watching a YouTube video to learn how to do it properly but I knew I would not be able to stay warm if I didn’t get back on the bike. I considered abandoning but I had come so far—about 130 km. I figured I had about 25 to 30 km of riding before I was back on the Galloping Goose trail. The Goose is railway grade, which means the riding would be easy with only two gears.

The intervening 25-30 km was an unknown but I decided I would give it a go and just resign myself to pushing my bike up the steeper hills. I did, however, need to get the bike into a middle gear. A broken cable means the rear derailleur is stuck on the highest (hardest) gear. I was not going to be able to ride anything but the easiest hills in that gear. I used a cable tie to lock the derailleur in place. It lasted until I was out of the parking lot. I leaned my bike against a fence and tried again. Much to my amazement, it held!

With my two gears, I could comfortably manage speeds between about 15 and 40 km/hr. Above 40, I would have to coast. Below 15, it was a struggle that had me standing on the pedals for long stretches. I think in the end there were four hills that I had to get off and push. This meant a clumsy maneuver of standing on the pedals until I couldn’t keep them moving, then sitting down, quickly unclipping my foot and pulling the brakes to stop myself from rolling backwards. Getting the timing wrong would mean falling over. It reminded me of the Albert Einstein quote, “Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

I reached the control at the end of Otter Point Road without falling over. Time to head back towards the Galloping Goose and home. My earlier guess of 25-30 km was a bit optimistic—I still had about 20 km on the return leg to the Goose. There was one last control at Whiffen Spit in Sooke. A gibbous moon hung over the steady stream of walkers enjoying a sunset promenade on the spit.

My limited gears were slowing me down. There was no chance of finishing in daylight but there are two small “canyons” on the Goose that I really needed to complete before it got dark. They involve plunging down a steep hill on loose gravel, making a turn at the bottom and then climbing up the steep hill on other side. One of them had a bridge at the bottom that I expected to be wet and slippery. If I made the corner/bridge at the bottom without crashing, my clumsy dismount maneuver on the steep ascent was going to have to work flawlessly to keep me upright. In this case, standing on the pedals was not an option. With slick road tires on my bike, I needed to keep my weight on the back of the bike to maintain traction on the gravel hill.

The colours faded from the landscape as darkness descended but I made it through the canyons with enough light to see beyond the beam of my headlight. There was one last hill on Rocky Point Road that I had to push my bike up the final stretch. After that, it was clear sailing through Langford on well-lit streets. There were more colourful Christmas lights to enjoy. Then back on the Goose for the final few kilometers through View Royal to the finish.

The next day, I watched a YouTube video to learn how to get the frayed cable out of the shifter. The trick was accessing the removable panel on the bottom of the shifter assembly, to reach the frayed cable end. In hindsight, the cable fix was easy and could have been done on the course. My ride would have been faster and this story would have been shorter.