Smugly Floating Along: Life in the Cargo-bike Lane

White Rock.  That's Mt Baker in the distance.

When Bike Snob came to Vancouver, the man and I wanted to see him, to hear him speak at his book signing.  We had to leave before Snob took any questions, but as we left, I asked the man what he would like to say to Mr Weiss. He thought for a moment before he replied "I'd like to thank him for the term "Smugness Flotilla."

Me, too.

Snob's moving.  He's leaving Brooklyn.  One of his seventeen children is under the age of five, so you can see why he might feel the need to flee the Big City.  Anyone who has ever had anything to do with children under the age of five knows full well that the needs of any and all children under the age of five determine the outcome of pretty much every decision the adults under the child's influence ever make.  Evah.

                                      

I was under the influence of a pre-school child when we returned to Canada from the UK in early 2007 to settle in quiet, suburban White Rock.  As it happens, the move suited the wee young master to a 't'.

We lived at the red star at about five on the wonky circle. This was the basic route I loved to ride first thing in the morning, just cause I could. Lots of beach, lots of forest... my private, early morning meditation.

The google map is slightly off.  The darkest, greenest forest blob, the place where I placed the baby pink star, is in fact Sunnyside Urban Forest, and while there are some multi-purpose trails you can ride your bike on in there, the technical trails, the jumps, and the skate park are actually located where google puts Sunnyside.  If you are in the neighbourhood, do check it out.  It's great for kids and their adults, alike.

Sometimes I would skip the daily peninsula loop and just spend an hour or two on the single track trails at the bike park instead.  There's something for everyone in that place, from beginner to expert and everything in between. It's a great place to ride a bike.

It's a sweet place to learn to ride, too.

When we arrived from the UK, the boy was only in pre-school two and a half hours a day, and I was contracting my services as a scribe overseas, which meant we could spend our afternoons in play.  His favourite thing in the whole world - for years on end - was to head over to the pond in the middle of Crescent Park (the green star). It's loaded with wildlife.  You'll find ducks, frogs and turtles galore during the warmer months of the year, and your typical assortment of forest critters year round. There are coyotes, too, though we never saw one. The usual feathered suspects abound, with plenty of heron, eagles and owls allaround.  It was a perfect place for his age and stage.

We went almost everywhere by smugness flotilla back in the day, except I had no idea at the time what it was called.

Even the tree came smugly home. 

It doesn't occur to him to stop riding because it rains or snows, because riding, rain or snow, is all he's ever known. It doesn't occur him to turn his lights on, either...

It's all good, though, because he doesn't mind if you want to take a joy ride across the line...

to enjoy a Peace Arch picnic.

Zero Ave - that side of the ditch is the US, this Canada.  i never thought I would see the day when the pot laws were more liberal on that side of the ditch than this, but here we are.  Proof positive that anything is possible. 

I loved living in White Rock while we were there, and I get why the suburbs attract people with small children.  It just makes sense. That does nothing to change the fact that it tickled me pink  to have a really good excuse to move back into the city again.  Urban life in a place that promotes bikes is a sweet combination I never tire of. I love that there are bike paths all over town so that I can live my life the way I do, and still get around in relative safety.

This town is unlike so many others, though, cause when you need to ground yourself in something wild and uncultured, you can just hop across the bridge to find some seriously vertical trails.

Mmmm,  mountains.

If you keep going along highway 99 for an hour and a bit, you'll find yourself in Whistler, where there's all kinds of vertical going on.

Well, we can talk about Whistler another day.