The Once Over Pre-Ride
Brevet #5490, 300 km
Pre-Ride date: July 5, 2025
by Murray Tough

This is the pre-ride for the Island Summer 300 which will take place on July 19.

My journey began at 6:00 a.m. to get through the Malahat ahead of the weekend traffic. It was sunny and windy. The ride started with some easy riding on paved trails and bike lanes through the City of Langford. Streets that are normally busy were deserted. It wasn’t long before I reached the highway and started the first big climb of the day.

The early start paid off. Highway traffic was light. I felt quite safe on the shoulder. There were some areas where the shoulder debris was worrisome but I made it through without any flats. The climb was lovely. The wind was gone, the sun was shining and the views of Finlayson Arm were stunning—views that you can’t appreciate from a car.

The course left the Malahat at the Shawnigan Lake Road turnoff, a couple of kilometres short of the Malahat summit. I continued along the west shore of Shawnigan Lake passing through a mixture of forest and lake front. The summer homes on the lake shore ranged from modest to extravagant. The first control was in the forest at West Shawnigan Lake Provincial Park.

I cycled past farms and through forests. I crossed rivers and creeks. I saw cows and horses, corn fields and hay fields, sheep and goats. I traveled through Cobble Hill, to Cowichan Bay, with its picturesque shops and restaurants, and through the Cowichan/Koksilah estuary. The tide in the estuary was out leaving boats high and dry.

The next control was at the Third Wave Coffee Company in Crofton. It was a busy coffee shop, bakery and gift shop. I decided that the “Best Ever Nanaimo Bars” were too good to pass up. Delicious! A long line of cars waiting for the Vesuvius ferry gave the coffee shop a steady stream of customers.

I continued past the Crofton paper mill, across the Chemainus River, through Chemainus with its ubiquitous murals to the turnaround at Saltair. From there I backtracked to Duncan before starting the climb to Lake Cowichan. The sunshine brought out a flotilla of tubers happily drifting down the Cowichan River. A boy was diving off the bridge—as a previous lifeguard, I was horrified. After Lake Cowichan, there is a 60km stretch with no services and no water. I stopped for a sandwich and filled my water before the long ride to Port Renfrew. As I approached the summit on Pacific Marine Road, the wind returned. It seems that no matter which way I cross this summit, the wind is always against me! On the descent, the headwind was noticeably cooler as I approached the coast.

The Port Renfrew control was at the General Store. I made a quick stop for water and a snack. The hill out of Port Renfrew is the toughest hill on the course. The grade is manageable but there is no reprieve as you climb about 350m. After the hill, there are some expansive views across the Juan de Fuca Strait. In the first clearing, a fog bank obscured the Washington coast. At the next clearing the fog was gone. There were whitecaps on the Strait, ships bound for ports like Vancouver and Seattle and the Olympic Mountains in the background. Speaking of whitecaps, I was enjoying a terrific tailwind. Most of the time. The West Coast Road winds around contours, which occasionally pointed me back into the headwind but never for long.

Port Renfrew to Sooke is about 70 km of hilly riding. By the time I left Sooke, the sun was low in the sky and it was cooling down. The wind was howling but it was still behind me. I donned my safety vest—mostly because I was getting cold—and turned on my lights. The last control was in Metchosin. From there it was only 16 km to the finish. As I climbed the hill at Royal Bay, the distant Mount Baker was fading to pastel colours behind the city.

The final highlight of the course was the Esquimalt Lagoon. Herons were feeding in the lagoon. Across the harbour, there were cruise ships at the terminal in Victoria and the historic Fisgard Lighthouse standing proudly at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour. A short climb had me back on the Galloping Goose to the finish. Kathy had been following my progress and was waiting for me at the finish line! I was home before nightfall.