Look out Vancouver....

[bouncybouncy]

here we come!!!!

OK, for a day...but I want to ride my bike!!! (or a rental )

Hubby and I are going on an Alaskan cruise and will be in Vancouver for a day before and a day after and would love to find someplace to rent a couple bike for tooling around! We will not have a car and will be staying at a hotel near the cruise ship port. What I am asking for now is

1 - Where do I look for bike rentals?

2 - I thought I heard something about mtbike trails near Stanely Park?

Just occured to me that this should be posted in the "Cananda" Thread...ooops...that is what I get for throwing out my coffee cause I just did not feel like it this morning.

3 - It will be the last week of August so hopefully the weather will be nice...right???

4 - Any & All bike related info you can throw at me!!!!!!!!

Thank you all in advance...hope to have FUN FUN FUN!!!!

OH...and
5 - Any & All info on JUNEAU, KETCHIKAN, & SKAGWAY (or ports) is more than welcome too!!!!

[East Hill]

Can't help you with the bike rentals in Vancouver, but I can tell you that if you don't go on the train in Skagway, you should try to go on the same excursion we did--a van ride up into the Yukon for pie, a lake to try canoeing in, and a horse ride. That was a lot of fun! Skagway has a great museum, too.

What ship are you taking?

East Hill

[salsabike]

You can rent bikes right in Stanley Park, I know. Don't miss the huge great blue heron colony in Stanley Park right by the Park Service house on English Bay. Best restaurant in that English Bay neighborhood: the Banana Leaf (Malaysian). And re the cruise: definitely worth doing a side trip in Juneau to whale watch. We did this cruise four years ago, took the side trip, and got to spend an hour with a dozen humpback whales while they were bubble-net fishing. Truly awesome experience.

In August, the weather is likely to be great.

[bouncybouncy]

Thanks Salsa....I saw you responded to both threads!

We are on the Holland America line...we have several days cruising the Inland Passage. It is a cruise with my bosses so I am not sure my "job requirements" as of yet but hopefully after hubby & I help lugg all their luggage wherever it needs to go we will have free time

I am figurin' on time in Stanely Park as well as hoping to find some singletrack to tear up...

[LBTC]

Hi, Bouncybouncy

I think you'll really enjoy the sights in Vancouver, along BC's coast and into Alaska. Have an awesome trip!

My experiences riding in Vancouver and area make me believe that mountain biking there is either extreme northshore style riding - the stuff you see in crazy videos - or very tame wide multi purpose trails in the parks and around UBC.

You may want to check in with John Henry Bikes http://www.johnhenrybikes.com/community/default.asp
before you go, to see if there are organized rides during the time you have available. They probably can also steer you towards good places to rent bikes, too. They are across the water in North Vancouver, but quite easy to find.

Of course, even better if any of our Vancouver TE'ers are available to meet up with you. Local knowledge is always the best!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Grog]

1 - Where do I look for bike rentals?

For a road bike, I strongly recommend Reckless bikes (two locations, including one in Yaletown, not very very far from your hotel probably - they have a web site you will easily find). They are consistently cheaper than the places on Denman, which do not have more than one or two road bikes for rent usually, and charge $60 a day. If you are looking for a hybrid, cruiser, etc. Denman street is the way to go. For a casual ride around Stanley Park that will do.

2 - I thought I heard something about mtbike trails near Stanely Park?

Check out the Vancouver Bicycle Club (or Bicycling club?)'s web site. THey have a mountain bike ride or two every week. I do not think the park is very good for mountain biking, I would imagine lots of conflicts with other users, but I could be mistaken. I would strongly recommend going to the North Shore instead. But I'm not a mountainbiker.

3 - It will be the last week of August so hopefully the weather will be nice...right???

Good weather usually holds up until at least mid-September, very very consistently. I might be "hot"-ish but rarely above 30s.

If you have other questions, let me know!

[bikerHen]

We did an Alaskan Cruise a couple of years ago. We did a fun "bike and brew" ride in Juneau. The bike ride was fun, nothing long or hard, and then we went to the Alaskan Brewing Co. for beer tasting.

This was advertised in the shore excursion book from the cruise line.

bikerHen

[bouncybouncy]

We did an Alaskan Cruise a couple of years ago. We did a fun "bike and brew" ride in Juneau. The bike ride was fun, nothing long or hard, and then we went to the Alaskan Brewing Co. for beer tasting.
bikerHen

I saw that and wondered if it would be fun and worth the $$$ if we don't drink??? do they have maybe a non-alcoholic beer or a ginger beer???

[East Hill]

I think that teigyr has a very nice jersey from the Alaskan Brewing Co....she might be able to answer the question about ginger beer/non-alcoholic beer.

East Hill

[teigyr]

The brewery didn't have anything non-alcoholic. They did have things like soap and beer related merchandise.

Hmmm....in Juneau there's the tram to the top of the hill and a restaurant on the top. There's also a float plane excursion to a lodge for a salmon bake. Since you see so much on the way, it is a lot of fun. You spend quite a bit of time at the lodge and can walk around on the trails before flying back. We did a helicopter trip up to Mendenhall Glacier and did some trekking up on the ice.

I don't know Ketchikan but know people from there and could ask, if you're interested.

In Skagway, there's the White Pass. There is also just a lot of really interesting walking and hiking. The cemetaries outside of town are fascinating and I just enjoyed hanging around. There is a brewery in town that was nice and I'm sure they have non-alcoholic things.

I can provide links to anything if you're interested!!!

[bouncybouncy]

Thanks for the input ladies!!! We have decided to take (for sure) 2 shore excursions...the White-Pass Rail & Bike tour in Skagway and the Bike & Brew in Juneau - even tho I don't drink maybe I can use the beer to wash my hair (I have done it before and it does work...hehe)

...nothing yet for Ketchikan but I think we will try to get a couple Kayaks there and tool around!


In Vancouver we are going to rent a tandem and test our marriage in Stanley Park...

**because of the fact this is a trip with my bosses and I am not sure my "duties" along with the limited time in each locale we are not commiting to too much! Expecially in Vancouver with all the transfers from port to port and possibly having to lug baggage around for the bosses I do not think we would have time for a "real" mtb trip unfortunately!!! OH well...maybe next time!

[LBTC]

Bouncy, Stanley Park is beautiful. (bear in mind there was an extreme windstorm there in November 2006, with many many trees downed. I'm hoping it's still gorgeous.) You'll have a very nice time!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[bouncybouncy]

OK Gals!
You have all been very helpful! I have officially handed over my credit card number for the 2 shore excursions...our stay in SKAGWAY is allllllllll day so if anyone has ANY tips about restaurants or must see places please chime in...

***tiegyr...nudge...nudge!!!

NOW...in Vancouver I have lbs phone numbers, tandem to rent, suggested bike route around town & through Stanley Park...BUT, where, OH, where do we nourish ourselves???? Anything between the ship port and the park. Here is a link to the bike route map if we have time so anything on that route as well...

http://www.vancouverbikerental.com/d...pletourmap.pdf

Hubby is a picky eater and we want quick and easy and bike friendly (no fancy joints) I most likely will be smelling of sour orchids!!!! hehe

Thank you all so much!!!