Ride Recap: Seaplanes, Seabuses, & Seaports, Oh My!

Vancouver Family Biking Ride August 1: Yuba Mundo, Pedego Stretch, & Norco with a BoBike Mini

Saturday morning we got up bright & early (okay, 8:30am--we're night owls!) to head down to Science World for our Vancouver Family Biking ride. We almost got there on time & were soon joined by a couple other families, including two new faces.

Watching seaplanes land outside the convention centre

As we were chatting & waiting to leave, the two grooms in My Big Fat Gay Wedding arrived for their big Pride Weekend nuptials. (read more on that if you're curious here) We wished them congratulations & headed off on the bike path.

Since we had a few getting-close-to-nap-time toddlers, we decided to take a shorter route, about 5km, via the Dunsmuir cycle track to Hornby & then down around the new convention centre. Dunsmuir was pretty full of cyclists & at our leisurely conversational pace we were passed by many riders.

When we got to the convention centre, we parked in the shade & saw all kinds of watercraft, including a paddlewheeler & a police boat. We were able to watch several seaplane landings, before we left. We zoomed down around the west side of the new convention centre & tested out the echoes while riding through the 'secret tunnel' under the building. On our way into CRAB park, we got to see a few Helijet landings & Seabuses docking, as well as dozens of transport trucks with Taylor Swift emblazoned on the side. (I'm guessing she is doing a big stadium show here somewhere?)

Picnic lunch in CRAB Park.

CRAB Park is really well hidden, between the train tracks & Burrard Inlet to the south & north, the busy container port to the east & the Seabus terminal & Helijet port just to the west. I had never been to the park until this summer, when I went there on a Cycle City Tour. It has a beach, a playground, a user operated water park (so it's open even on level three water restrictions), washrooms & an off-leash dog area.

In case you're wondering why I use all caps for the park name, it's because the name is an acronym. Opened in 1987, CRAB Park was originally named Portside Park. However, it was renamed in 2004 after the neighbourhood park committee – Create A Real Available Beach (CRAB) – that was active in supporting the creation of this greenspace.

After a picnic in the shade & some playground time, everyone headed back home again individually for all the toddler naps. Unfortunately, Bronte fell asleep on our way home & had a 'micronap', refusing to sleep once we arrived home. Other than that, the ride was great & I hope we can do it again with more of the Vancouver Family Biking people!

Have you got any ideas for the next ride? Themes are always fun, or suggestions for locations you'd like to bike to. Leave them in the comments below!

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