Sunday 29 July 2018
Well, that was hot! Day 7 on the Great Canadian Trek started off a bit industrial under the Golden Ears Bridge, but soon took us on to the most lovely trail along the Fraser River.
Wooded, alongside rolling fields and punctuated with funky cutouts of eagles, cows and a ploughman, this part of the Canyon to Coast trail was one of the nicest we have had the privilege of riding.
The early morning light and relative cool took us along the Fort to Fort trail which weaves between where the historic Fort Langley originally stood, through the lands of the Sto:lo (“River”) people whose village was wiped out by smallpox in 1782. The local Sto:lo are now known as the Kwantlen and the Katzie, and our trail took us past their salmon fishing sites, which have been passed down through the generations.
The trail runs past BC’s oldest apple orchard where the original Fort stood, and the town of Langley has marked all the various fruit trees along the way. We also rode through the most delightful RV/campsite on the river, where campers have taken the trouble to put flowers on their tables. A very Canadian way to camp… We were early, though, and it was dead quiet – our cheery greetings met with hushed returns.
We rolled on through riverine forests and farmland in to Fort Langley, a quaint little town where we stopped for breakfast at Wendel’s Bookstore.
Out of town the trail took us past the newer (but still old) Fort Langley and out of the Greater Vancouver Area into the Fraser Valley.
The biggest disappointment of the almost 400 kilometres we have covered so far was the number of beer cans, Tim Horton’s cups and McDonald’s wrappers strewn along the rural roadsides once we crossed into the Abbotsford municipal area. Beer can tossing is clearly a local sport.
Most of today’s riding was flat, either through farmlands or along the wide and mighty Fraser River, but we did have one big hill to contend with – between 17 and 20% gradient for a few kilometres, but it was shady and quite mild compared to some we have climbed on previous legs.
Lunch – yes we brought food! – was a shady spot right next to the river on the Matsqui First Nation lands.
We were very happy to wind through the farmlands outside Abbotsford and see where so much of our food comes from. Our aim of eating local whenever possible meant we could ride through the corn, blueberries, cauliflower, raspberries and dairy that end up in our tummies.
Bur the predominant crop in these parts is marshmallows! So many fields with giant versions of them dotted around!
We ended up in the suburbs of Abbotsford, and stopped in a local church parking to wait for a taxi to take us back to Langley. There a delightful old neighbour, who had moved here from Holland in 1953, came out of her house and asked if we needed to use her washroom or if she could make us a cup of tea. Since it was 36 degrees and we were covered in trail dust, we declined both, but loved her stories of cycling 200km in Holland as a girl.
Finally Barwinder the taxi driver arrived, creatively fitted the bikes in his van and took us back to Langley where we had left our car several hours and 68 kilometres before.
Travelled today: 68km
Total distance 392.8km
#thegreattrail #transcanadatrail
Trans Canada Epic 