We’ve spent the last two days exploring the wonderful Galloping Goose Regional Trail, a rail trail that runs from Victoria’s Inner Harbour to Sooke and beyond. Since it is early in the season–this is the first outing for our tandem since last summer–we decided to do the trail in sections of 30-45 km (18-26 miles). Though we started from the Victoria end, we took photos on the return trips.
The trail starts at the downtown end of the Johnson Street Bridge, and follows the old CNR line.
The trail follows city streets for a few hundred meters, then winds along the waterfront, crossing the inlet again at the Selkirk Trestle, another lift bridge and heading north to the Switch Bridge crossing TransCanada 1. The Goose turns to follow the highway west, while the Lochside trail heads north toward Sydney.
The day started cool, but sunny, turning warmer as we moved inland. The old rail bed climbs gradually toward Colwood, while the highway dips down along Portage Inlet.
The trail crosses under the freeway, where there is a parking lot and toilet facilities, before climbing up to Colwood, through a relatively secluded wooded area south of Thetis Lake Park. A couple of days before our ride, tragedy struck, as the murdered body of a local teen-aged girl was found near the Mill Creek bridge. The area around the bridge was swarming with TV news camera crews, but they lost interest in us when they found that we weren’t local and (at the time) were unaware of the incident. We ended our ride near kilometer 13, returning to Victoria.
Our first day took us 19 miles total. We celebrated with lunch at Crepes & Cream, a tiny four-table restaurant on Menzies at Simcoe, possibly the best crepes to be had in Western Canada. We tried the vegetable curry crepes, which were wonderful, with a dish of mango ice cream for dessert. The neighborhood restaurants are always best, and very reasonable, compared with the offerings in the downtown tourist areas in most destination cities, and Victoria is no exception. On our visit last December, we found a fish-and-chips place just a few doors down the street that served up better than the much-ballyhooed fare in the downtown pubs–minus the beer, of course.
The Galloping Goose Trail is named for the gasoline-powered train that carried 30 passengers and mail between Victoria and Sooke in the 1920s and 1930s. A number of these hybrid rail vehicles were used in the American Southwest as well as Vancouver Island, built from a Buick or Pierce Arrow bus chassis grafted to a rail car. The old rail route was developed into a hiking/biking/horse trail early in the 21st century, and is paved for most of the first 13 km. The rest is hard-packed crushed rock, which we found a bit rough, but easily managed by our fat-tired tandem, which usually becomes nearly un-steerable on loose surfaces.
The second day, we loaded the bike on the Jeep, punched in the address where we stopped the day before, and headed out to tackle the unpaved Metchosin section of the trail. The trail continued to climb past the Royal Roads University to the business center of Langford, then through neighborhoods and past Glen Lake before crossing Sooke Road once more and entering the more rural Metchosin district.
Past kilometer 25, the countryside turns more rugged, as the gentle grade weaves through wooded canyons with occasional views of farms, country estates, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At kilometer 30, the trail crosses Rocky Road and enters a narrow canyon leading to Matheson Lake and Roche Cove. At Matheson Lake, the trail drops steadily to Gillespie Road at kilometer 35, skirting the steep sides of Roche Cove, the easternmost reach of the Sooke Basin. We finish the last crumbs of our snacks and head back up the trail toward Colwood, 22km (13.5 miles) away.
Climbing out of the canyons, the mid-day sun finally dispels the morning chill that has followed us down through the shady trail. Back at the car, we load up the bike and head for the nearest all-day-breakfast restaurant to replenish 26 miles worth of calories. Afterwards, we take the auto route to Sooke, since we probably won’t ride the remaining 20 km of the Goose this trip. On the way back, we drive past the point we ended our bike trip, winding around the rugged coastline before heading inland to criss-cross an d parallel the trail. The roads are curvy and hilly, compared to the gentle, straight grades of the rail trail.
Next, we plan to ride the Lochside Trail, or as much of it as our tender bodies can stand, after 44 km of riding gravel trails today and a total of 75 km in two days at the start of our biking season.