I've been collecting still images of bike facilities from places I've been for a few years now, but I figured it doesn't give you quite the same appreciation as actually riding them. So with that in mind, i'm experimenting with some video, starting with my ride from Lynn Valley in North Vancouver to Spanish Banks in Vancouver. The first bunch of videos are posted to my youtube page and embedded below.
The route I took worked out at close to 70km, and i'd say 95% of it is car free. I started with the Grand Boulevard Bike Path in North Vancouver. It forms part of the Green Necklace, a mostly multi-use path around the City of North Vancouver.
The Green Necklace then turns onto Keith Road where it becomes a traditional multi-use path. Watch out for the fun stencils indicating the different users.
From there I transitioned to the Spirit Trail multi-use path, a pathway generally running close to the water along the North Shore.
The Spirit Trail brings you to the Lions Gate Bridge where you can cross in to the City of Vancouver through Stanley Park. again, this is a multi-use path with cyclists southbound only.
From here, I cut down to Coal Harbour along the seawall and around by the Convention Centre.
The bike path by the convention centre brings you out at Burrard Street, much of which is just regular bike lane, but at the south end features some new protected bike lanes and protected intersection.
I doubled back on myself here to get some video of Hornby Street, one of Vancouver's two-way protected cycle tracks, or as some (with good reason) prefer to call them, two-way protected bike lanes, due to the perceived sportiness associated with the word track and the somewhat positive message sent by the word protected. Anyway, a good example of holding right turning traffic on red and providing dedicated bike signals to reduce conflicts.
From here, I then headed back up Burrard, and through Kitsilano, to the two-way protected bike lanes on Point Grey Road and then the Bicycle Boulevard further along Point Grey Road before arriving at Spanish Banks.
And there you have it, a trip to the beach of close to 35km mostly separated from traffic and stress free...
