Start: Victoria & Adanac

End: UBC

Time to UBC: 50 minutes                Distance: 18.3 km

Time to return: 55 minutes           Distance: 18.3 km

Safety: 3 stars

Difficulty: moderate

Route: Adanac -> Seawall (south side) -> Seaside route through Kitsilano -> Balsam -> Point Grey Road -> 4th Avenue -> Chancellor Blvd -> UBC

For comments on the seawall portion of this ride see the False Creek tab. The only difference with this ride was that instead of biking along Jericho Beach, I took a left (after passing the royal yacht club) and got on to 4th Avenue. This was a bit risky I found, as  the traffic is fairly heavy in this hill and there is not a designated lane for bikers (although there is quite a bit of space and has marking for cyclists). Once you reach the turnoff for NW Marine Drive, you must cut across a lane to cross the lights to the bike lane going up 4th. I found this section rather dangerous and wouldn’t recommend this portion of the ride. Once past NW marine drive turnoff, the hill is quite safe, but long. I would prefer to ride up the hill on NW marine drive as that one is steep, but short lived. The 4th hill is long, drawn out, and fairly unenjoyable. At the top of the hill 4th turns into Chancellor Blvd which is also a dangerous section if you choose to remain on the road (there is a bumpy bike path on the south side of the road). All in all I would prefer the scenic and arguably easier ride along NW marine drive.

the long road ahead (4th avenue hill)

mid-hill selfie…having a hard time

Start: Victoria & Adanac

End: UBC

Time to UBC: 50 minutes                Distance: 18.6 km

Time to return: 52 minutes           Distance: 18.9 km

Safety: 5 stars

Difficulty: easy

Route: Adanac -> Seawall (south side) -> Seaside route through Kitsilano -> Balsam -> Point Grey Road -> Jericho Beach -> NW Marine Drive -> UBC

With my brother in town from the States this week I only managed to bike once to school this week, but what a great ride it was! The false creek route is for anyone that wants an easy, laid back ride out to UBC. Biking along the seawall takes traffic out of the equation as well as frequent stops from traffic lights. There are portions of the seawall that are a little bit rough, and depending on the time of the day there can be many pedestrians sharing the seawall with you, although most of the route has a designated side for biking. The ride along Jericho and Spanish banks was enjoyable as always with the challenging hill up to UBC to finish the ride (the only big climb of the ride). I would certainly recommend this ride for those who aren’t in a rush to get t school.

See false creek 2 for the same route except taking 4th up to UBC rather than NW Marine Drive.

Start: Victoria & Adanac

Finish: UBC

Time to UBC: 47 minutes                   Distance: 17.3 km

Time to return: 46 minutes             Distance: 17.4 km

Safety: 4.5 stars

Difficulty: easy

Route: Adanac -> Pacific Street -> Burrard Street Bridge -> Cypress -> Balsam -> Point Grey road -> Jericho Beach -> NW Marine Drive

This was the second ride of the project, but I can see it being one of my favourites. Instead of jumping on the Georgia viaduct at main street I continued along Pacific Street through downtown. The route takes you behind B.C. Place and Rogers Arena before going through Yaletown to the Burrard Street Bridge. There was a designated bike line almost the entire way. The only time that the route was ambiguous between Richards Street to the Bridge. After this I learnt from my previous mistake of biking along Cornwall and decided to turn right on Cypress after to bridge to take a leisurely ride through the back streets of Kitsilano Beach and then through the park to Balsam Street. From here I continued down Point Grey Road which was very enjoyable with the changes to the street organization including a planned bike lane. I then continued on like my first ride (see A ride through downtown) to UBC.

What I liked the most was that there were few elevation changes. The route was also very safe.

Start: Victoria & Adanac

Finish: UBC

Route: Adanace -> Georgia viaduct -> Dunsmuir -> Hornby -> Burrard Bridge -> Cornwall -> Balsam -> up Trafalger to seaside bike route along 3rd Avenue -> Jericho Beach -> Along Spanish Banks -> Up the hill of NW Marine Dr to the Chan Centre

Time to UBC: 55 minutes                        Distance: 17.8 km

Time to return: 50 minutes                   Distance: 18.6 km

Safety: 4 stars

Difficulty: intermediate

The first ride is complete! I started by trying one of the bike routes through downtown and then finishing through kitsilano and NW Marine Drive. The ride went very smooth until reaching the Hornby Street bike lane. Travelling North to South I found that you were working against the lights and often had to stop at every intersection. Other than it being great to have a separated bike lane through downtown, I would probably try and avoid travelling South on this route. Going through Downtown also requires you to ascend and descend adding difficulty due to elevation changes.

Once at Pacific Street the route become a little complicated. You have to turn right on Pacific street and cross Burrard Street at the pedestrian crosswalk before getting on the correct side of the bridge. After crossing the bridge there is currently construction going on where the road diverges to Cornwall and Burrard Street. This includes the addition of a bike lane that is not yet complete which will be great. I tried riding down Cornwall, but I found it very tight with the traffic so I ducked into the park before getting to Balsam Street. It then went up Trafalger Street and followed street signs on to 3rd Street. This was unnecessary as point grey road has now been made a bike route.

Jericho was a relaxing ride, but is gravel and requires proper tires. This leads to NW Marine Drive along Spanish Banks (also nice) before climbing up the hill to UBC. This was the hardest part of the ride, but went by fairly quickly with a goof pace up the hill.