... Swift's Stoked Spokes event this last winter, Ana and I were really excited to try our own cycle adventure, but for a while we weren't sure what that might be. Until... Ana shared a post with me about a rad restaurant that was coming back to Cumberland, Canada all the way from Switzerland - Gonza Okonomiyaki. What exactly inspired us to ride hundreds and hundreds of miles just to have some onigiri and okonomiyaki I don't know but we ended up scheming and scheming and found ourselves planning a tour around the Salish Sea, sampling all of the onigiri spots we could find. It was a cyclist foodie's dream and we were psyched. 

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Our first day began with a bang as we left Ana's house around noon and rode... half a mile to our first onigiri stop. Modern Sushi had onigiri to-go and that onigiri provided a fantastic lunch later on in our ride. Fresh, with stuffing such as mayo tuna, spicy salmon and ume, it was a great start to our food focused ride. 

After another mile or so, however, we started feeling the little plops of rain, then some more, then a complete downpour. The type that makes you go, "well, you know what they say... summer doesn't really start in Seattle until July 4!" and then you walk inside your house or your car. But in our case, we were cold and exposed on our little bikes, gear getting soaked. As we rode on up the Interurban we realized our hands weren't functioning so well, and seeing as though functioning hands were a good idea, we decided to warm them up in a Starbucks. After convincing the baristas to let us bring our soaking wet bikes in the cafe (thank you!!!) we sat and thought through our plan... 

We were planning on staying at my aunt and uncles house in Arlington and my sweet aunt offered to come pick us up if we needed. An offer that we spent some time seriously considering, but the rain eventually let up a bit and we ventured out in to the world once again. We started off freezing and unsure, but once we bombed down Seattle Hill Road, the temps got a bit warmer and we found the energy to make it up the Centennial trail and to their house. We rolled in to Arlington with dead phones, soaking wet everything, and a deep gratitude that we were staying in a warm house that night. 

After a well needed long morning at my aunt and uncles finishing up drying out all of our gear, we hit the road again and made our way towards Bellingham. This second day was one of my favorites simply because of the vast terrain change throughout the day! We started on the Centennial trail, cycled through Skagit valley amongst farmland and cows, along the Skagit river, and then up Chuckanut drive and in to the woods of Bellingham. We were welcomed in to town by a racoon and some deer indicating that we were truly in Bellingham, as our friend that we stayed with had mentioned that she's been fighting off the deer from her garden ever since the garden's inception. 

Day three was a celebratory day, as it was the day we cycled across a country border from the USA to Canada! I was excited because I have walked, boated, flown and driven in to Canada, but this was my first time cycling in to the country. Our destination today was our friends house in Surrey. After an  uneventful crossing, we were riding thru Surrey when we went to ride up on a bike path and had an unfortunate crash on the 3-4" lips that the city makes their sidewalk ramps. We realized after the crash that they were all oddly high, and though the crash was a full-on over-the-handlebar crash, we only had road rash and a wonked out handlebar to adjust. It could have been worse, but we were happy again to be staying with friends to recover that night. 

Day four we kept short for a couple of reasons, the primary being that Gonza (our OG destination) had early summer hours which meant that they were opening on Friday this week. We didn't need to get there early, and also having a chiller day in the middle of a big ride is a really great way to keep the legs feeling good, and a good way to re-set anything that has been bothering you in the first half of the ride. We rode 23 miles that day in to Vancouver, and stayed the night in a B&B. Turns out rates are super discounted if you do it uber last minute! The riding in Vancouver was surprisingly stellar, with protected bike paths everywhere, and a gorgeous sunset to ride in to. 10/10 would recommend Vancouver as a great bike city. This day also included our Vancouver onigiri stop at Takenaka. Takenaka had my favorite onigiri for sure, as they had a whole lunch bento with tons of onigiri options to choose from. I ended up getting the Unagi, which was so delicious. 

Days five and six were our creme de la creme of the tour, as we were finally on the Sunshine Coast! We road through West Vancouver which is like the West Seattle of Vancouver. Hence the name, but also in vibes. iykyk. We rode down in to Horseshoe bay for our first ferry and enjoyed the stress-free ferry experience that is the walk/bike-on experience. Cycling on to a ferry is the best way to go if ferry lines, reservations, and passive aggressive driving stresses you out. Day five was our first day of camping at Homesite Creek campsite. It was a really quiet and chill forested area, and was easy to get a spot without a reservation.

Day 6 was more Sunshine Coast riding and while most of the riding was on a little highway, cars were generally courteous and we almost always had a shoulder. We rode along the ups and downs and finally made it in to Powell River which was my favorite stop of the ride. We camped at Willingdon Beach and found tons of open hike/bike spots, but fair warning - they're all up on the hill and some spots are real slanted. I think we were in site B and it was good for those curious. Sunset and Thai food was on the docket for the evening in Powell River and we sat and watched the seals, otters and eagles dancing around the water. 

The next morning we took off on our ferry ride across the sea over to Courtenay where we had a quick ride up to our destination - Gonza up in Cumberland! We finally made it to the cute little stand, and ate delicious okonomiyaki and got onigiri to go. The onigiri was seasoned so well and so fresh, I was in love. We decided we were going to end our day - and our ride - in Parksville at Rathtrevor Provincial Beach Park since the riding from there to Victoria was all on big highways and just sounded much less enjoyable than the little highways we had been on. Rathtrevor was a nice enough spot, however somehow the hike/bike in spots were all taken by families that had parked nearby and "walked-in" with their wagons full of gear and crying kids. After the park attendants found an emergency spot they could put us in (thank you!) we fell asleep fast and bussed in to Victoria the next day. There is a bus system (I think it is new this year?) that will take you all the way there from right outside Rathtrevor. Just be prepared to take bike bags off and make sure the hooks can go over the front wheel of the bike.