Today's ride and lunch was on the newest amazing Central Valley Greenway in Vancouver -- a connection of trails all the way from New Westminster to Vancouver along the flattest route available. The route starts further east in New Westminster but today Francien and I parked at Hume Park to begin the ride.
The route follows the Brunette River and connects with the park trails along Burnaby Lake. Technically we're not supposed to ride these trails -- the actual Greenway travels along Winston Avenue, but...how can we go along the noisy road when the forest is calling? So, be sure to "walk" your bikes through these trails (wink). Which brings to mind -- how about a cycle path somewhere through this park? The cycle path could follow beside the walking routes, just like the Rocky Point paths in Port Moody. A logical spot is along the gas lines right-of-way. I used to ride this route years ago before the area was made into a park. In those days it was called the Sawdust Trail.
At Sperling Avenue there's a fantastic new cycling bridge that is an easy slope up and down. It's meant to connect the road bike path with the Still Creek section, so if you've done the right thing and followed the road, then you will be able to cross the tracks on this new bridge. I'm still wondering exactly why they put this expensive bridge in...could have just put in caution when crossing the rails signs, just like the ones at Caribou Road and Gilmore...but still it is an amazing bridge.
The Central Valley Greenway is an eclectic route along forested streams, behind
businesses, and under the rain canopy of the skytrain. It is a segregated route that weaves through a part of the city that most people don't even know exists. "Where are we?" was Francien's saying throughout the day.
Kudos to the planners of this route -- I particularly like the section between Sperling and
Gilmore -- hardpacked and well lit. Where am I here -- somewhere in Holland?
Another example of good planning are the wide pathways along Great Northern Way -- this is exactly what we need for a safe mixed user route. Let's see some more of these off-road pathways.
There are two art galleries on East 1st Street that are worth a stop -- Elliott Louis Gallery 258 East 1st Avenue and Catriona Jeffries Gallery which is nearby on the back lane. It was Monday, so we didn't expect them to be open, but the Elliott's garage door was open so we enjoyed the exhibit of emerging artists.
Now the important part -- where will we go for lunch? Once we reached Science World we had a choice -- which way should we go? "I know a place," I said, "follow me." We headed west alongside the new Olympic Village and followed the (still fantastic) Seaside Path to Stamps Landing. There, tucked beside Monk McQueen's is a little gem -- Branas Mediteranean Grill.
Sitting on the patio, overlooking the sailboats in the marina and the city in the background, munching into a grilled vegetable panini, it felt like we were in the Mediteranean. The tomatoes tasted like they were picked right from the vine in the owner's garden -- and they probably were!
We headed back along Great Northern Way and at Glen Drive boarded the Skytrain for the return. At Braid Station there's a small trail opening that goes alongside the old railroad tracks and winds down to Hume Park and the car!
All in all a GREAT ride. More pictures to follow... soon.
I am really excited that someone had the vision of putting this route together and actually made it happen! These kinds of routes will help to get more people comfortable with commuting cycling. I hope we are going to have more routes like this in Metro Vancouver. Click on FULL VIEW to see the whole map...
Happy Riding! Colleen
