BC can be a bikers paradise, once you get away from Vancouver and the Lower Mainland that is. There are many great rides to be hard, some challenging and other just plain fun. There is the Duffy Lake Loop, the Hope-Princeton Highway through Manning Park, Green Mountain Road in Penticton, the Kootneys, the Fraser Canyon and the various hidden gems closer to Vancouver.
One of those hidden gems is the Sunshine Coast Ride from the Langdale Ferry Terminal, through Upper Gibson's Landing, past Sechelt and terminating at the Earls Cove Ferry Terminal. Coming from Vancouver, you catch the first sailing on the Queen of Surrey from Departure Bay to Langdale Terminal. It's a 40 minutes crossing, giving you enough time to choke down an overpriced BC Ferry breakfast of rubbery scrambled eggs, greasy sausages and not too bad hash brown and coffee.
Thanks to the lobbying of the BC Coalition of Motorcyclist (BCCOM), motorcycles are embarked and disembarked off the Ferries before other vehicle, give you a good crack at getting well ahead of the cage parade that can ruin a ride.
Most riders head straight up to Upper Gibson's Landing and onto Egmont or Earls Cove, however I say they are doing themselves a disservice and are missing a great little 13 run. Instead of going straight at the light at the entrance to the terminal, you turn right and head up a near trafficless 13 kilometre run for of twisties and tight corners ending at the main gate of the Port Mellon pulp mill.
The road is good condition, however you need to be careful of areas where gravel has been sprayed about, also the area is home to some rather large wildlife. It is not all that unusual to see Deer herds and the odd Black Bear ambling up the middle of the road, so it is advisable to keep that in mind when diving hell bent for leather into a blind corner.
Anyways, here the video of my ride up to Port Mellon, please enjoy and feel free to leave a comment or two.
(if the sound track does work, please visit my Vimeo Channel:
https://vimeo.com/125628266 )
Ceemes
