We figured that prior to our big cycling trip around Vancouver Island that we’d go for a “warm-up” ride to and around Salt Spring Island. We had set aside the August long weekend, loaded our panniers and set off on Friday evening.

We stayed the first night on Jordan’s friend’s sailboat. Rather luxurious way to spend the first evening.

We caught the first ferry in the morning over to Salt Spring and began our ride towards Ganges. Half way up the long hill heading towards Ganges, I got my first flat. This gave me the chance to try out my patch kit. Shortly after patching the tire, we were back on the road.

We took a small detour towards a small lake that I saw on my map. We decided to take a quick dip and cool off… it was f’ing hot out!

We got into Ganges around noon and stopped for some food and entertainment.

We continued our ride up a series of ridiculous hills (good warm up) over to the most northern tip of the island. Keep in mind this was our first try with this amount of weight on our bikes.

We setup camp on the beach on the north end of the island, no sooner to be kicked off the beach and told to go elsewhere by some old coot who lived on the beach. Instead of arguing, we packed up and started heading back to Ganges.

Arriving in Ganges without any lights, at around 10pm, we setup camp in a small field behind a community hall. We woke up pretty early and started our ride back to the ferries.

A good warm up, nonetheless… although I was rather worried that the weight of me, my bike and my supplies are going to prove a problem for the 3 week adventure that starts next week…