Day 1 | Vancouver to Fort Langley | 73 km

We depart UBC shortly after 8 and take a group photo, which I’m told didn’t turn out well because we had to be distanced. It was really nice to see my friends from Victoria – Amanda, Ian and Gavin – who came to see us off.

It’s a short ride today but getting out of Vancouver is quite complicated. I decide to follow Matt from Toronto because he has a Garmin and it saves me from digging out the map at every intersection. Jay from Ottawa joins us as well, but he decides to stop at MEC since it’s on the way.

Part of the ride through the city is on a bike path. At one point we have to stop to let a peloton go by.

After 35 km it’s starting to get really warm. We find some shade in Fort Moody and take a break on the grass. Breakfast was quite a while ago (I’m still on Atlantic time) so I have an apple and some cookies I brought from home.

Traffic is heavy in spots. On one particularly busy section a transport truck roars by less than a foot away from me. I’m so startled that I instinctively bring my shoulders up to my ears and lean to the right to keep from getting sucked into the slipstream.

I run out of water with 20 km to go, so we take another break at a Petro-Canada, just long enough to top up our bottles. After we cross the Golden Ears bridge, the rest of the ride is farmland.

Matt and I reach the campground in Fort Langley at 11:45 but the truck doesn’t arrive until 12:45. There are plenty of mosquitos to swat while we wait.

A little later I walk into town. By this time it’s 33 degrees so I’m glad it only took 15 minutes. I buy a lemonade at the coffee shop and hit up the chocolate shop for a truffle bar and some chocolate-covered almonds. I suppose I’ll have to eat them before they melt. The forecast says it’ll be even hotter tomorrow.