Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Winter Cycling in Sidney BC

Forget windchill. Leave your fears of black ice behind. Travel to beautiful Sidney-by-the-Sea this winter, and ride your bike every day along nearly 400 kilometers of cycle lanes and bike paths. The Victoria region features two cycle routes intended especially for bike commuters. One of which, Lochside Trail, follows an old tramline right-of-way from downtown Victoria to Sidney, and eventually the Swartz Bay ferry terminal and the marine highway linking the Island to the mainland and Vancouver.


For cyclists, Sidney may be the ultimate place in Canada to spend the winter. Besides easy access to Lochside Trail, there are cafes, art galleries, at least half a dozen bookstores, and Russ Hay's one of Victoria's oldest independent bicycle shops. "Resort" hotels like the Cedarwood also offer winter packages for cyclists and others looking to escape the freezing temperatures and enjoy average winter temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius. Easy access to more than 30 regional parks, 26 18-hole golf courses, and even skiing on slopes enjoying some of the highest annual snowfall in the world. Perhaps the perfect bicycling and skiing vacation!

Sidney BC, often overshadowed by Victoria to the south, is ideal as a beautiful, low-traffic seaside resort that acts as a gateway to Victoria's hundreds of kilometers of bikable surface, as well as Vancouver, the Gulf Islands, and Washington State.

For more information, contact the Cedarwood. Plan a long term stay in Sidney this winter.