Bike the beaches of Vancouver Island’s west coast

November 12, 2011

TOFINO, BC, Nov. 12, 2011/Troy Media/ – As we loaded bikes onto our car for a weekend of fall fun on Vancouver Island’s west coast, the weather was not cooperating. Rain was forecast for the next two days.

So much for plans to pedal the glorious stretches of hard-packed, sandy beaches with my husband, the surf pounding beside us, the wind at our backs and seagulls soaring overhead.

When summer crowds have departed and winter weather has yet to arrive, Tofino’s beaches are at their best. It’s literally the lull before the storm.

Surf’s up!

Our first morning dawns dark and dismal. We head to the closest surf shop with our 16-year old daughter and two of her friends to outfit them for surfing. “You better go right now,” the woman at Westside Surf School urges in a French-Canadian accent. “We’re supposed to get big surf later today and the rest of the week-end.”

: An offshore reef protects MacKenzie Beach from the full force of the Pacific Ocean, making it popular with families.

We drop the kids at the north end of Chesterman Beach, a favoured beach for surfing, unload our bikes despite the rain and pull on full armor: rain hats, rain coats, rain pants, gloves. I also put a raincoat on our pooch, Oscar, who rides in a crate on the back of my bicycle.

Ten minutes later the sun breaks through, as if to laugh at our precautions. So much for weather forecasts! We cycle past the kids, now black dots bobbing in the surf trying to catch a wave, and pedal down the beach, feeling joyfully alive and free. No helmets, no problem.

We ride close to the breaking surf, our wheels kicking up water, then race back up the beach before the next approaching wave. We make big circles on the smooth sand, taking full advantage of the wide beach at low tide.

The point is not to get from one end of the beach to the other as quickly as possible, but rather to have as much fun as possible along the way. We’re like big kids playing in the sand.

The next day the sky is still clear, but the waves are too big for surfing, at least for our three-some. Instead, we rent them bikes and we all head to Incinerator Rock at Long Beach, about 20 km south of Tofino and part of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. It takes two trips to get all five bikes there.

When we’re finally assembled we realize we’ll be racing against the incoming tide. Can we get to the end of the first six kilometre stretch of beach and back before the whole thing is under water? “Floating logs are a huge public safety issue,” I was warned earlier on the phone by a Parks Canada official. With an eye to the breakers, we take off.

Long Beach is justifiably famous. A smooth windswept crescent of sand, it follows the gentle curve of Wickanninish Bay, waves crashing down one side and a wall of impenetrable greenery growing up the other.

The birds, the roaring surf, and just us

We dodge driftwood and manoeuvre around coils of slick seaweed. A flock of low-flying Sandpipers overtakes us, as perfectly synchronized as Canada’s Snowbirds, but silent, each turning its white belly towards us at precisely the same second.

After a kilometre or so, we see no more people; it’s just us, the birds and the roaring surf.

We reach the headland that separates Long Beach from Combers Beach, stop just long enough to catch our breath, then head back. The waves are creeping ominously higher, but now the wind is at our backs. We’re sailing, not biking! And when Incinerator Rock appears out of the mist, we grin and relax. We’re home free.

Beaches

Family fun: MacKenzie Beach

Location: two km south of Tofino

What to expect: An offshore reef protects MacKenzie Beach from the full force of the Pacific Ocean, making it popular with families. From our beachfront cabin at Ocean Village, we cycled this sandy beach in about 15 minutes.

Unbridled beauty: North and/or South Chesterman Beach

Location: Between MacKenzie Beach and Cox Bay

What to expect: A dreamy seascape connected at low tide to Frank Island. The renowned Wickanninish Inn anchors the north end and million dollar homes front the rest of the beach. That thud you hear is a hot tub lid closing.

Surfers’ Delight: Cox Bay Beach

Location: Between Chesterman Beach South and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

What to expect: Big surf. No reefs or islands get in the way of the raw force of nature here. Public hot showers are available near the entrance to the Cox Bay Beach Resort.

Nature lovers: Long Beach

Location: Between Tofino and Ucluelet

What to expect: The longest stretch of sandy beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Because it’s in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, development is prohibited. The Twilight movies were filmed partly at Incinerator Rock, at the beach’s north end.

It’s possible to cycle Tofino’s beaches year-round. The worst storms are between December and February. Daily average temperature in January is 4.5 degrees C.

Bike rentals:

The Groovy Movie Store
1180 Pacific Rim Hwy
Tofino
250-725-2722

Ukee Bikes
1559 Imperial Lane,
Ucluelet
250-726-2453