That's family!

I got up this morning to another beautiful morning. I was so cozy in my sleeping bag, and the air was so nice and fresh that I didn't want to get up, but we had to meet up with Travis today so we could get started on the West Coast Trail. I was a bit sore this morning, but after walking around a bit it went away.As we were cycling along the highway, everyone was warning us about the Malahat - a mountain just south of Mill Bay. I guess it was because we were so mentally prepared for it, but it didn't seem too difficult. Sure, it was relatively steep and fairly long, but it didn't seem to compare to those summits near Port Alberni. Going down the mountain was a beauty. Steady downhills that lasted a long time. As we were heading in to Langford, the trees grew thick around us, and there was a gorge along the highway that was very beautiful and scenic. For the first time since we landed, it rained... only for 20 minutes, but I was forgetting that I was in BC with the lack of rain we've lucked out on.

We arrived in Saanich to meet up with Travis at his brother's place by 3:30 pm. His brother, Derek, is on the National Rowing Team, and he was planning on having a bunch of naitonal team guys over for a bbq and a celebration since they figured out who will make the team for Worlds through a tough regiment of seat racing. When they figured out that Travis and Derek were brothers, they kept on saying "Oh man, that's family"; and when they found out that Nicole and I were twins, they extended that to everything. Shotgunning bear (opening it with a huge knife or teeth) - that's family; tossing around a cantaloupe and taking bites out of it after it cracks open - that's family. They were an absolute riot!

It was also pretty cool that they told us that were were intense for doing this trip. I mean, here are monsters of human beings, who wake up super early and row three times a day, six days a week, and some of them already have gold medals from the 2008 Olympics, telling us that we were hardcore. It was a pretty cool feeling.

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 82.08 km

Total distance travelled: 332.08 km

Starting point: Chemainus River Campground, in Chemainus.

Our Route: Took Highway 1 all the way to Helmcken Road in View Royale, which turned into Wilkinson Road, and then went North on Highway 17 and turned off on Haliburton road, where Derek resides. All roads have decent shoulders, except when passing through Duncan, and on Helmcken/Wilkinson where the bike path seemed to start and end at every block.

Ending point: Derek O'Farrell's place, in Saanich.

• Malahat summit is 352 m.
• We biked to the grocery store after taking all our gear off. The bike felt as unstable as the first time we put on the gear.