Blog: I Think It's This Way » Bike Ride – Cowichan Valley Trail – Duncan, BC

Bike Ride – Cowichan Valley Trail – Duncan, BC

Kris — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:39:00 +0000

I think I brought rubberized death from above to more than one or two slugs today. Alison, Michelle, and I did kind of an out and back ride on the Cowichan Valley Trail today the poor, slimy bastards are sometimes difficult to spot as they lounge on the trail. I do not take pleasure in running over slugs, so I did my best to avoid doing so, but it was difficult in spots.

Our ride ended up being about 50km (Michelle and I); Alison rode from downtown Duncan so I imagine she netted 70-80km. We started from the end of Vaux Road and headed out to Lake Cowichan on the south portion of the Cowichan Valley Trail, which gradually gains elevation pretty much the whole way. Heading back toward Duncan from Lake Cowichan, we started out on the north portion of the trail, but deked down Mayo Road back to the south portion to finish up. I did the ride on my cyclocross bike, which proved to be an efficient slug killing machine, albeit somewhat bumpy to ride. Michelle and Alison seemed somewhat more comfortable on their mountain bikes. I struggle a bit with what to call this sort of ride… not really a road ride, but not a mountain bike ride either. Whatever, it was good.

Rain threatened today, but didn’t actually happen, which made for one of those misty west coast days where everything in the forest seems extra green. It didn’t hurt that most of the trail is in some pretty awesome rainforest. I like days like these.

GPS Data: 46km – 2h46m – GPS route

46km Cowichan Valley Trail ride. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

Michelle and Alison heading toward Cowichan Lake on the Cowichan Valley Trail.

The Cowichan River south of Skutz Falls.

Alison and Michelle on one of the trestles on the way to Lake Cowichan.

Shadow man on the Cowichan Valley Trail.

This would have been better if it was a sasquatch.

Misty hills near Lake Cowichan.

The Cowichan River not far from Lake Cowichan.

Trans Canada Trail sign on the Cowichan Valley Trail.

Old rail bridge in the village of Lake Cowichan.

Lake Cowichan, home of cougars in trees.

Cowichan Valley Trail map.

Start of the return trip to Duncan aka Lake Cowichan.

Dead Volvo alongside the Cowichan Valley Trail.

Short stretch of Mayo Road between the north and south sections of the Cowichan Valley Trail.

Some well-formed water drops on trailside vegetation.

Trailside vegetation along the Cowichan Valley Trail.

Heading south on the Cowichan Valley Trail.

Goats heading into the bush after a morning lounging in a field with some horses.

Road Ride of Sorts – Trans Canada Trail – Duncan, BC

Kris — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 07:16:43 +0000

Headed out of town today to the thriving metropolis of Duncan for a pretty casual road / cross-bike ride. Road ride is probably not the best description since most of the ride was on the Trans Canada Trail; not impossible to ride a road bike on, but better on a cyclocross bike, or something with slightly wider tires.

Starting at Canadian Tire we headed west towards Lake Cowichan on the former railbed turned bike / multi-use trail. The original plan was to check out a branch of the trail that will eventually head towards Ladysmith and Nanaimo; we did indeed check it out, but didn’t get too far before running into a dead end – the trail is still under construction. Back on our westerly tack, we rode for a while until Paldi, a community that is not so much a community anymore. From there it was back to Duncan for some bagel-wiches and coffee.

GPS Data: 30.7km – 1h56m – GPS route

A 30km road ride of sorts west of Duncan on the Trans Canada Trail. Click on the map to see GPS details on the Garmin website.

Part of the group, deep in conversation, on the Trans Canada Trail west of Duncan.

Our turnaround point at Paldi part of the way to Lake Cowichan from Duncan. Not much going on in these parts today.

A Cowichan Valley residence alongside the Trans Canada Trail near Duncan. The compost bin appears to have some perimeter security going on, complete with bells. Perhaps the bells are meant to enhance the dining ambiance for any bears that choose this particular bin.

We thought we'd check the trail map on the way back into town, rather than on the way out. Makes sense I guess .

One of the fancy looking new bridges along the Trans Canada Trail near Duncan.

It was hard to miss this on the way to the bagel shop in downtown Duncan.

Hike – Mt. Tzouhalem – Duncan, BC

Kris — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 03:52:27 +0000

A weekend of hiking it has been; about 20km in total. I figure this level of activity should not be abnormal, but lately I have been coming up a bit short. Both of the hikes this weekend were great, yesterday East Sooke and today Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan. Mt. Tzouhalem is a popular mountain biking spot, but it’s also damn good for hiking, with the best part being the view of Cowichan Bay from the 500m summit (about 1600ft).

GPS Data: 9.7km – 2h45m – GPS route

A 10km hike at Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, BC. Click on the map to see details on the Garmin website.

Looking towards Cowichan Bay from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem.

There's lots of green amongst the shadows at Mt. Tzouhalem.

Looking towards the Cowichan Valley and Mt. Prevost from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem.

There are some big leaves on the forest floor these days.

Even the little leaves are turning orange.

Oh yeah, it's also mushroom season out here.

XC Ride – Duncan, BC – Mt. Tzouhalem

Kris — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:56:31 +0000

XC = cross-country mountain biking if you are wondering. DH = downhill mountain biking, which you are unlikely to see in this blog since my move to Victoria from Kelowna some number of years ago has effectively removed that portion of my brain responsible for DH processing. A glance into the magic eight-ball reveals “Maybe” I will be DH capable again in the future.

Weather is fickle, thankfully. Today was a vast improvement over yesterday; no precipitation that I noticed here in Victoria or in Duncan, where I spent the morning doing an XC ride with Dan.

Mt. Tzouhalem is a pretty cool riding spot. Climb to top, admire view, ride down, and repeat as necessary. Today was a one-repeat day due to time constraints, but that was fine, it was a great ride on a beeeautiful day in late October.

On a culinary note, I enjoyed a sushi brunch after the ride at One More Sushi in Duncan on the recommendation of one of my co-workers. Asparagus Roll and Emerald Roll are excellent sushi brunch items.

GPS Data: XC Ride – Duncan, BC – Mt. Tzouhalem

Route map for our XC ride at Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, BC.

On the way to Duncan this morning. Looking north / north-east towards Finlayson Arm from a lookout on the Malahat.

On the way to Duncan this morning. Looking north-east towards Finlayson Arm from a lookout on the Malahat.

According to Garmin: about 6km to the top of Mt. Tzouhalem where the elevation is about 500m ASL.

View from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem looking west / north-west towards Duncan and the Cowichan Valley.

View from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem looking west towards the top of Cowichan Bay.

View from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem looking west / south-west towards the village of Cowichan Bay.

View from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem looking west / south-west towards the village of Cowichan Bay. The Olympic mountain range in Washington State is just barely visible.

Inukshuk village on the way down from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem.

Mmmmm... Emerald Roll (tempura salmon, cucumber, avocado, roe), which of course looked better in person than in this cell phone photo.