Bicycling on Sea Island
Sharing happy memories of our airline careers is the purpose of 'The NetLetter' so I'm going to be a little self indulgent for this issue's article.
Hearing from Eunice Robinson (see 'Remember When') reminded me of many pleasant days of bicycle riding around Sea Island during my twenty years of working at YVR.
Besides being able to ride to work while living in Richmond, I often spent a full day off riding around by myself just enjoying the beauty of the area.
From the 'No. 2' Road bridge (from Lulu Island) along Russ Baker Way runway 26L is on the left, usually with a line up of aircraft ready to take off. Through Burkeville with its picturesque homes, residents have taken great care to keep these wartime houses and landscape clean and tidy.
There is a path underneath the 'No.3' Road bridge that leads to Templeton Street where there are always several photographers (or videographers) parked to capture aircraft approaching runway 26R.
Continuing along Ferguson Road around the north side of the island, there used to be an almost unobstructed view of the back of the Ops Centre and the hangar, with landing aircraft touching down.
Canada Post and UPS have now built large cargo facilities, so there is quite a bit of traffic to watch out for, but once beyond those warehouses, the contrasting views of the busy runway on the left and the Coastal Mountains on the right are awesome.
On to Iona Beach Regional Park at the northwest tip of the island and along the Iona Jetty, which stretches 5 kilometres out into the Strait of Georgia, for some aircraft watching. From the tip of the jetty is a view of aircraft climbing after liftoff. Mid afternoon is the best time because of several wide bodies departing for destinations in Asia.
The ride back builds an appetite (and thirst) for a stop over at the Flying Beaver Bar & Grill, on the south side of the island, for a burger & beer while watching the seaplanes arrive and depart.
Today there is a YouTube video for just about everything. I found the video (linked below) posted SHHH Moto Travels of a motorcycle ride around the island. Click the image below to get a bit of a feeling of what I have been trying to describe.
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