Cycling in the City
Navigating downtown Vancouver
As a denizen of the paved trail, I gravitate toward quiet and predictable passages that are safe from cars, buses, trucks, and crowds. I was, admittedly, a little nervous about riding through Vancouver’s central business district. I know how hard it is to drive in many big cities, so cycling seemed equally, if not more, daunting.
Greg was less daunted by this notion and very encouraging about attempting it so we planned our first foray into the city. We followed a portion of the Seaside Greenway trail, which is car-free, so a perfect introduction! We hopped onto this trail in Vanier Park in Kitsilano and headed southeast. First you ride under the Burrard Street Bridge and soon after that, you ride under the bridge at Granville Island (Hwy 99). This is a very scenic and fun trail that curves in and out of harbor views mixed with residential and urban scenery.
Once your arrive at Granville Island, you have to cross a busy 4-lane street under the bridge, but cars are very good about stopping for pedestrians and cyclists at the crosswalk. Once past the bridge, we continued on the trail taking us toward False Creek, so named because the inlet is actually a dead end. On Google Maps this trail is labeled the Island Park Walk, but the trail is lined and separated with pedestrians on one side and approved wheeled vehicles (bikes, scooters, skateboards, wheelchairs, inline skates, one-wheels, unicycles, you get the idea) on the other side.
From here we followed this scenic trail alongside False Creek to its terminus where the very recognizable spherical Science World building sits.
The trail loops around to the other side of the inlet, passing British Columbia’s largest stadium called BC Place, where the FIFA World Cup will be held next year!!
It just so happened that as we were approaching this area a bike race was taking place! We managed to catch several cyclists as they crossed the finish line. So much of life is about fortuitous timing and it feels like we’re having impeccable (and mostly lucky) timing on this trip.
We wound our way around the trail until we neared the Burrard Street Bridge, our path home to complete this loop. To get to the bridge you have to leave the trail and head over to Pacific Street, following signs to the bridge. This required a few blocks in the city, but all the bike lanes were clearly marked. This also gave us a chance to see this marvelous chandelier under the Granville Street Bridge. Unfortunately, fortuitous timing wasn’t on our side at this moment and we didn’t see it spin, which apparently happens three times a day.
This ride offered us our first chance to ride our bikes over the Burrard Street Bridge, which is just blocks from where we’re staying. It has dedicated walking and bicycling lanes and is very safe from car traffic. It also has an amazing view from the top!
Since this successful outing, we’ve taken several others that actually took us through the heart of the city and not on the greenway. We easily navigated the bike lanes and felt safe doing so. I will say that before EVERY trip I research it ahead of time on Google Maps, sometimes going as far as previewing each road to be assured it has a bike lane. Of course, there are always a few blips along the way (closures, detours, etc.) but we’ve always found safe passages. Our first trip through downtown was to the neighborhood of Yaletown to try the brewery there. We also stumbled upon an amazing artisan ice cream spot called Mister where they make the ice cream in front of you using liquid nitrogen.
Now that we were comfortable riding on the city streets, our next cross-town adventure took us all the way across to the opposite side of the peninsula to Canada Place, which is basically the Grand Central Station of Vancouver. There, we purchased tickets for the SeaBus, a 10-minute ferry ride to North Vancouver across Vancouver Harbor. We took Penny and the bikes on the ferry to The Shipyards where we attended the Friday Night Market and had a nice dinner on the waterfront. Bikes have to stay in the front of the ferry (Door 1) and Penny was required to stay in her basket, but there was no surcharge for bikes or pets. Pro tip: take bikes through the turnstiles marked with the handicap sign so they fit easily. After dinner we took the ferry back in plenty of time to return home before dark.
Our final adventure thus far through downtown Vancouver was a ride over to the neighborhood of Gastown, known for its hybrid steam-powered/electric clock with its iconic whistle. We enjoyed absolutely DELICIOUS eggs Benedict on Water Street right in front of the clock. This is actually very close to where we’d ridden before to take the SeaBus. Although there are very well marked bike lanes throughout the city, it’s busy and you have to watch for other cyclists, scooters, and pedestrians. Many cyclists are DoorDashers and go really fast on their e-bikes.
With all these successful journeys under our belts, I’m no longer intimidated to ride through the city, but still take extra care with intersections and using visible turn signals. I want to be very predictable! It’s been such a pleasure riding in a city that understands pedestrian and cyclist traffic and respects it. It’s also been nice to not be burdened by taking a car everywhere, but you do sometimes have to get creative and of course allow for extra time. One evening Greg rode up to a nearby liquor store and used Penny’s basket to haul the goods home.
Here’s a Google Map outlining all of the rides mentioned above. The red pin at the top is Canada Place, a very active seaport for all modes of travel, including cruise ships and cargo ships.
