Cycling in Abbotsford

A quick ride to the Matsqui area north of Abbotsford, with some good hills to climb.

Mission

With the exception of the descent from our AirBNB to Highway 7, which was maybe 100+ meters, this was one very flat ride. (I’ll ignore the minor climb on the pedestrian/bike path on the bridge over the Fraser River along Highway 11.) With the exceptions of when we were on Highways 7 and 11 and while within Abbotsford, for the most part, we were on nice straight roads with little traffic. The traffic was particularly light once we got on to Vye Road heading east with there finally being a little more traffic, though still light, once we were on Keith Wilson Road coming into Chilliwack. In that latter half of the ride, the countryside was very pleasant and nice to ride through.

As today is only one of two days this coming week that shows some sunshine and no rain, we went out for a short ride to Hayward Lake. It turned out to be a non-bad ride, though, again, with the limited roads in rural Canada, there was more traffic and traffic noise than one would like. The number of heavy-duty pick-up trucks here is astounding. The roar of their engines added to the road noise from the oversized tires is deafening. Fortunately, we did a counterclockwise circle today. “Fortunate” because our side of much of the ride (especially along Dewdney Trunk Road) was where there was excellent road shoulder. There was little or none for the most part on the other side of the roadway. Overall, we were on good forest roads that made for good riding, aside from the traffic and noise. After descending on Wilson Street to the dam crossing, we rode directly to Highway 7 and turned east to return to the Wallmart for a few things we’d forgotten yesterday. While this is a major highway, the road shoulder was excellent. So, while not a great pleasure, Highway 7 was convenient and pretty flat. From the Wallmart back to the AirBNB was, as expected, a serious challenge from two of the very steep…and not short enough…climbs. We made it up both of them, though Helen seriously thought about giving up on the second one that was particularly steep and just a little too long for comfort. Helen commented that the principal word that occurs to her about today’s ride is “pain”. While most of the ride’s climbs weren’t bad, these short sharp inclines within Mission were devastating.