Day 65: Sanity is overrated

Today was my 26th birthday and the last day's ride to Vancouver - I can't believe I've done it! It was a brilliant day, I'm so glad I cheered up these last two days and made the most of the home straight.

It was raining when I woke up and Gary made me a cup of tea. We sat in his wisteria-entwined conservatory and talked for ages about inspirational environmentalists whilst the rain pattered on the roof. Then he made delicious breakfast and we chatted some more with Dan. They were such lovely company, I didn't set off on my ride until 11am but the rain had slowed to a gentle drizzle by then so that was a happy coincidence. When I set off, the clouds, rain and mist were mingling around the mountain tops, almost indistinguishable from one another, and distant blue clouds masqueraded as distant blue mountains. A peaceful, ghostly landscape. But a noisy highway.

I was zooming along towards the city suspiciously fast... what's this, a tailwind? On my way to the coast? How delightfully bizarre! Zoom, zoom through the drizzle, into the busying traffic. At one set of traffic lights, I looked at the driver next to me and gave her a grin and a wave, rain dripping off my helmet. She looked me up and down and gave me a smile and shake of the head as if to tell me I was nuts but in a good way. Then she wound down the window, gave me a thumbs up and said "Sanity is overrated". I couldn't agree more!

The weather, the traffic and the road spray weren't enough to dampen my spirits today and I hugged the hard shoulder as I made my way through suburbia after suburbia, any mountain views that might have been there lost in the mist and the drizzle. At one point, I found a cycle path and followed it along the river but I lost it after a while and took the highway all the way downtown. At least that way I didn't get lost!

It was busy downtown but I found my way to Kitsilano beach and the rain let up for long enough for me to get my end of trip photo. Not the sunny finish I imagined in the picture, but a happy ending.

Werner, a cyclist I met near Nelson, met me at the beach and drove me to his house where I met his wife Vera and I had a lovely warm shower and delicious dinner. They even got me a birthday cake! It had a candle and everything :)

I have had a brilliant birthday and feel I have a lot to reflect on, as well as a lot to look forward to in the next two months. It's pretty late now so I will save my reflections on the ride for tomorrow, along with my last cycle photos!