Get to know you Metro - An Idea

Metro-One · #1 Posted **Aug 24, 2010, 3:31 AM**

Hello

This may be kind of a silly idea, but since we haven't really had any good meet and greets since i joined this forum (I think two years now), I though of creating a type of meet and greet that will also be interactive and fun.

My proposal is this, to base such an event on a sunday and do a bike tour of a local area hosted by one of our forum members.

I was born and have grown up in Maple Ridge (I did live in Metrotown for a while as well) and I would like to share some of what Maple Ridge has to offer with the rest of you.

What I would like to do, is on a sunday this September, to have a cycling tour of Maple Ridge. I though we could meet near my house or near the Maple Ridge bus depot, cycle around downtown first, maybe get some ice cream or a snack, then cycle down towards the dykes, then do a journey over the Golden Ears Bridge and then go back downtown for some diner or beers. It all depends on how much time people are willing to spend doing such an event and how much they want to cycle.

If this idea takes I will post more detailed plans in the coming days, such as how to get to Maple Ridge on transit, the possible cycle route, types of food we could go for, time, etc...

And then maybe after the Maple Ridge ride another forum member can organize a local ride / tour in their community.

It can be an event to show those who don't leave Vancouver proper very often (or their area of the metro) that there is indeed a lot to be discovered and viewed in every part of our city.

I was thinking maybe the 12th or the 19th of September, in the hopes of still catching some nice weather.

This is just an idea I had today while cycling across the Golden Ears Bridge.

Please let me know if any of you guys would be game for this.

Cheers

Metro-One

LeftCoaster · #2 Posted **Aug 24, 2010, 7:40 AM**

I think its actually a really good idea, just maybe start with a neighbourhood that isnt so far out as Maple Ridge. Ya know build the reputation of the event first, then convince people to drive to the far reaches of the metro

If anyone is ever in Singapore I'd be more than happy to give a bike tour of my neighbourhood, although it would have to be at 5 in the morning or midnight due to the perpetual excessive heat.

Metro-One · #3 Posted **Aug 24, 2010, 7:53 AM**

But Maple Ridge is my hood, hehe, so it is the one I know best, and I would like to introduce it to many of the forum members on here.

That is what I find so funny of people who live in or near downtown, to come to the eastern burbs for an outing is way to far, but for someone like me, who lives in the eastern burbs, to go downtown Vancouver, or Richmond for an outing is really no big deal. In fact for about 3 weeks straight this April I drove from Maple Ridge to kits and back everyday for work.

In fact, if one is taking transit from downtown, to get to Maple Ridge is only a single transfer (off skytrain at Braid onto the Bus to Haney Place bus depot). And I do believe we made our transit system cycling friendly for such uses

And if people want to drive, they would also be going against the flow of rush hour, so no big problem there.

Again, just an idea, I would love to take people here along the dikes, over the Golden Ears (fantastic for snapping some photos on a clear day), maybe to the corn maze if it is open, through downtown Maple Ridge, you know, make a day of it.

Essentially a more personal tour of a town, and then maybe someone from Richmond or North Van would do the next, get a nice intimate bike tour of those areas.

RosstheBoss · #4 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 2:38 AM**

this sounds like a good idea, next stop where i live abbotsford. I can give those vancouver dwellers a working example of what suburban sprawl looks like. FYI abbotsford is so spread out one would have to be in pretty good shape to see it all.

Metro-One · #5 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 6:14 AM**

I would love to do a bike trip of Abbotsford. I would also love to see a little more interest on this thread, oh well, I will try again tonight. (this really is the virtual generation here, we want to see all these town / city developments and mega projects, but it seems no one wants to make a fun healthy bike trip to actually tour some of them up close and personal, such as the Golden Ears. Which is strange, considering all of the bike / transit enthusiasm on this forum one would think people would not mind taking transit to the burbs and going for a sunday bike ride, and get food of course, hehe)

So, as stated before I would like to do this on a Sunday mid / late September. Here is a crappy map I quickly whipped up in a minute to give a basic outline of the tour I would like to do (originally I was going to make it about twice as long and go all the way to the Pitt Bridge as well and back along the dikes, but in the hopes of trying to make this appealing to more people I cut the biking distance in half)

So basically, I would like to start at the Bus depot in the hart of Maple Ridge (at Haney Place Mall) a good place for people to meet, and there is an underground parking centre right beside it as well with 50 cent an hour parking (I think 3 dollars for all day). From there we would tour the core of Maple Ridge, I would show a few spots I feel are prime for redevelopment and some spots that are being redeveloped as we speak. We would then go north down 224th to the 123 bike ways (to avoid the traffic on Dewdney) There we will go through some classic 70's / 80's bedroom burbs west to 203. At 203 we would go south to the Golden Ears Way. There we will cross the bridge, take lots of pics of course, land in Langley, go back on the bridge and go back to 203, but then go along River Road and area down to the Haney WCE train station area and eventually head back to the bus debot. Of course during this trip we could plan a meal at a local pub or restaurant.

The easiest way to get to Maple Ridge via transit on a Sunday is the 701 from the Coquitlam Centre Bus depot, sadly the Braid Station bus is only a monday to friday service.

If there ends up being no true interest on this thread in a group form, but some individuals are interested in doing such a biking event, please let me know.

cabotp · #6 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 8:41 AM**

I might be interested.

I guess the big question is how long do you feel this tour would be?

I'm free either sunday so both would work for me.

Also what time were you looking at starting.

Metro-One · #7 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 5:21 PM**

I was thinking of starting around noon.

If just straight biking this tour would take about 2 hours, but since this would be much more of a sight seeing tour, 3 to 4 hours, plus a meal, hehe.

It would be more fun to do it as a relaxing event.

cabotp · #8 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 7:58 PM**

Noon sounds good to me.

I'll just have to figure out a way of getting out there. I know my options, but which one to choose.

Metro-One · #9 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 9:09 PM**

yeah, on a weekend you have to go through the Coquitlam Bus Depot, unless you are coming in from Langley or South of the River.

For now lets make it Sept 18th, there is a slim chance that I may have to switch it to the saturday before (the 17th) (depending on my work schedule). And of course if the forecast the day before shows pouring rain we can always try and delay it to the following weekend. Hope this is ok with you (if not, we can set it in stone)

It would be nice to see a couple other forum members join us as well (then instead of discussing the GEB / GEW on this forum they can see it up close for themselves, hehe).

Looking forward to touring you around!

DKaz · #10 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 10:01 PM**

This would be cool, I'd be up for it.

Metro-One · #11 Posted **Aug 25, 2010, 10:46 PM**

Sweet, so that is myself, cabotp and Dkaz. And what about you RosstheBoss?

Will be fun you guys. there is also a great gelato place on 224th (near where we start) if it is warm out

And if were are not tired / strapped fro time by the time we make it to the WCE we could also cycle around the mouth of Kanaka Creek Regional park, which is a very pretty park along the Fraser River.

Metro-One · #12 Posted **Aug 26, 2010, 11:09 PM**

So is everyone good with a noon meeting at the Haney Bus depot on the 17th or 18th? (and Dkaz, if you are driving there is cheep underground parking right beside it)

And just for fun, here are some pics of maple Ridge I took last week. These are in the vicinity of where we will be cycling.

(good sushi here)

(The sweet GEB bike off ramp, this part is fun!)

All pics are my own

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30634635@N03/page2/

Again, I hope more people are interested to join!

cabotp · #13 Posted **Aug 27, 2010, 8:16 AM**

If this is for the month of September.

Then the 17th is no good as I work that day.

But the 18th is good and even the 19th is good. Pretty much any weekend day is good for me. While all weekdays are no good for me.

Noon is fine for me.

Metro-One · #14 Posted **Aug 29, 2010, 3:45 AM**

Sweet (and yes it is for September). And if you guys are in for a little longer of a bike ride, instead of going east after returning from the GEB we can go west, through Pitt Meadows and down to the Pitt River Bridge. From there we would go back east along the dikes. Of course I would only recommend such a long route if the weather is really nice. If this does seem to long, then the first route will remain the same for the day.

But just for fun, here are some pics I took today as I rode my bike over the Pitt River Bridge.

Looking east from the centre of the span

This is the view looking north from the centre of the span. It is one of my favorite vistas is all of BC, and it is in Metro-Vancouver.

And looking a little more east from the same spot on the bridge is the Golden Ears Mountains (These are the peaks the Golden Ears Bridge is named after)

All pics are my own

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30634635@N03/?saved=1

Cheers

DKaz · #15 Posted **Aug 30, 2010, 5:21 PM**

:S Talk about double booked... I was planning to go to Portland that weekend... sorry! The weekend before or after would work great otherwise.

cabotp · #16 Posted **Aug 30, 2010, 9:53 PM**

I'm open either weekend that Dkas mentioned. So no problem changing the weekend on my end.

As for the longer route. Lets wait and see how the weather will be. We could make the decision when we all meet up.

Metro-One · #17 Posted **Aug 30, 2010, 10:08 PM**

No worries Dkaz, the weekend before or after works well for me as well. I will keep on checking the weather forecast.

And i completely agree cabotp, planing what route to take can be completely done when we meet up (but the Golden Ears bridge and 224th street in Maple Ridge are the two musts, hehe)

Metro-One · #18 Posted **Sep 24, 2010, 5:03 PM**

Hello

So the weather forecast says it is suppose to be a nice mild cloudy with sunny breaks day tomorrow (Saturday). If anyone wants to go for a good bike adventure through Maple Ridge and over the Golden Ears Bridge please let me know today. We are meeting at the Haney Bus Depot at noon.

Cheers

whatnext · #19 Posted **Sep 29, 2010, 2:12 AM**

So how did the ride go?

Metro-One · #20 Posted **Sep 29, 2010, 4:54 AM**

Hey, it was a lot of fun, only 4 of us though. Still it was a great day. The sun was shinning the entire ride and the views from the bridge were amazing. Got up to 26 on Sat so it felt like summer. We got some ice cream down town Maple Ridge at the start and some sushi at the end.

I would like to do another ride in the future, maybe the dikes next time if there is any interest.