True adventure can be had in your own backyard.

Cycling to Surrey.
National Geographic, Sept 2005

The first question one asks when contemplating a ride from Vancouver to Surrey is: why? There is a perfectly good rapid transit system in place which now allows you to bring your bike along. You could pack your bike into a train and ride to somewhere nice from the end of the line. Truth be told, sometimes one has to experience the urban jungle close up. Riding through the wilds of Metrotown with barely in control drivers swirling about you, one gets a chance to feel really alive that tamer places simply cannot provide. Between here and the mean streets of Surrey, there is an urban jungle into which only the most adventurous cyclists dare venture.

The next question to ask is: how to get there? The crumbling, ancient path put down by a long-gone Socred civilization that knew Grace McCarthy as Transportation Minister? Too broken up and meandering to be much use to the urban cycle warrior. A path strewn liberally with dog walkers and their feral pets, as well as treacherous hidden road crossings between the hidden temples and Mayan pyramids. Danger lurks around every corner on that path. It is far too dangerous for even this writer.

In the interests of saving time (the society grant won't last forever), the choice of simplicity has to be made. To run with the herds along the most direct route possible: Kingsway. To ride with the armoured carriages of bulbous steel, the rhino herds of motorists galloping to and from the malls and the suburbs. To experience danger firsthand, return from the shadow of death in one piece and live to tell the tale.

Continued in installment #2.