This was another lazy morning, with the alarm going off at 6, followed by profanity and snoring.  When I finally drug my lazy butt out of bed, I threw on some shorts and went to the gym, working out for about an hour (a very nice gym, by the way).  When I got back I was hungry, but the girls were still in various stages of getting ready.  The breakfast buffet downstairs was set to close at 10, which was just a few minutes away.  I had breakfast alone.  Being a buffet, it was fast, and very good.

 

Back at the room, I kissed Lana goodbye as she and the girls headed out to the bus stop and Butchart Gardens.  I changed into my riding gear and checked the map, deciding to stay on the Peninsula instead of heading out along the same route I took yesterday.  One of the desk attendants was a rider, and when he saw me in my riding gear, he struck up a conversation and told me about some of his favorite roads.  I would have loved to have ridden to Port Renfew (yesterdays plan), but the Peninsula roads were closer and there would be less backtracking to get to them.

 

 

The VFR spent the night in underground parking.

 

Heading out of town, I saw the girls sitting at the bus stop, and stopped for a chat.

 

Hot Bikes attract Hot Chicks.

 

My route took me to Millstream Road, which, after a short run through urban sprawl, became a nice, twisty, somewhat gravel strewn byway.  Soon, however, I found myself on a single lane unlined road, then in a cul-de-sac.  Must have taken a wrong turn!  I backtracked and saw the sign for Findlayson Arm Road, which Rich at the bike rental place said “creates a lot of casualties”.  Of course, I had to ride it.  Sure enough, it was tight and technical.  I rounded one righthander and the road disappeared.   I bled off some speed and approached the crest of the hill, topped it, and exclaimed “Holy S***!” in my helmet.  This hill was probably the steepest bit of asphalt I had ever seen!  I felt like I was riding down the face of a cliff! 

 

It was wonderful.  I had so much fun that I turned around at the end and ran it again.

 

 

As the day wore on, I was able to form some opinions about the VFR.  This was a pearl white 2006 model with V-Tec and ABS.  I had been wanting to ride one for a long time.  I love the styling, especially the dual undertail exhausts.  It has kind of a Buck Rogers, high-tech go-fast look that really appeals to me.  Once aboard I thought the leg position was going to be too cramped for me, but my legs never gave me trouble.  The motor was great, wicked fast, and the handling was razor sharp.  I did have a couple of complaints, however.  The bike did not like choppy pavement, and I was riding a lot of choppy pavement.  It would kick and buck and pogo around as soon as the road surface deteriorated.  I couldn’t help but think of how the long suspension of the V-Strom would eat up the bumps that were giving the VFR fits.  A couple of times I thought I would need an athletic cup, the bike was pitching my crotch into the tank so badly.

 

My other complaint was the fuel injection.  The on-off throttle transition was very sudden, making it hard to ride the bike smoothly.  I found myself slipping the clutch or feathering the brake when adding throttle from full-off to help easy the jerkiness.  Too much work. 

 

Both of these problems are probably fixable.  A little suspension tuning and fuel injection re-mapping would make this a world-class bike; but I no longer have the hots for one.

 

 

 

After finishing Finlayson Arm road, I turned back on to Millstream and found the unmarked turn that I need to complete my route.  Then on to Lake Prospect Road, where two guys in a Miata tailed me most of the way.  Being on an unfamiliar road and an unfamiliar bike, I was not riding hard today, but I was still impressed at how close the little red convertible stayed too me. 

 

 

 

 

 I headed north to another road that Rick has suggested, Willis Point Road.  It started off with a couple of long straightaways, where I let the VFR stretch out a bit.  150KPH came awful fast, with the smooth hum of the motor turning to a nasty snarl as the V-Tec kicked in at 6500RPM.  This bike was really fast.

 

I saw two types of deer, which reminded me to watch my speed.

 

Type I: The Quick

Type II: The Dead

 

Willis Point Road dead-ended into a small one lane road running along a steep slope overlooking the water.  There were gorgeous houses along this little lane, and I thought that I might be able to find a vacant lot or a park to take a break in.  No luck on the right had leg, but on the left, the pavement ended here>>>

 

 

 

 

I walked the trail and the beach for about an hour.

 

Somewhere along the trail I followed a little footpath down to a rocky promontory over the water.  As I looked over the bay, I heard “blurp, blurp, blurp” and saw a slick on top of the water about 100 yards offshore.  A huge mass of bubbles was streaming up from the depths.  My heart raced.  Could it be?  I knew that the water in this area could be very deep close to shore.  I could only think of one thing that could produce that volume of bubbles!  I pulled out my camera, set it to video, and waited, on pins and needles, for the whale to breach right in front of me.  This was going to be some killer video!  What would it be?  Grays?  Orcas?  Humpbacks?  Lana was going to be soooooo jealous!  She is putzing around looking at flowers, and I am standing on a rock watching whales feeding in the wild, right in front of me!

 

Then I heard something strange, to my right.  It sounded like…a radio.  I turned, and saw this.

 

 

No whales today, folks.

 

At least I saw an otter.

 

Back on the bike, I got lost, then found, and ended up in the parking lot of Butchart Gardens.  I called Lana, who was inside, having a ball.  From there I backtracked, rode Lake Prospect Road from the other direction, then headed back to town, returning the VFR at about 3:30.

I sure did make a lot of pictures of this bike...

 

I had intended to take the tour of the Parliament building and/or the local museum today, but they both closed at 5, and I was a bit tired, so I went back to the room and took a nap.

 

The girls got back around 6, having had a wonderful day at the gardens.  We strolled out for dinner at the place we had missed the first night, Blackfish.  For all the people that had recommended it, we were unimpressed.  The service was pitifully slow, and the food was just OK.  At least the location was good, it was on a floating dock, right on the water.  A harbor seal popped up and gave us a look as we ate.

 

Since dinner had been unimpressive, the girls voted to go back to Canoe for another pitcher of Belinis and dessert.  But we were to be disappointed once again!  They were busy, one of the blenders was down, and the bartenders were in a nasty mood…so they wouldn’t make the drinks we wanted.  Dessert was excellent, however.

 

Back at the hotel, we popped a bottle of local wine, chatted a bit, and hit the sack.

 

Did I mention that the girls looked at flowers all day? 

 

Lana writes about their day:

 

 Z, G and I got dressed and walked briskly for 10 or so minutes to the bus stop where we would catch our ride to Butchart Gardens.  We did not take the time to eat breakfast so we bought some snacks once we were at the stop, knowing it would be a while before we would arrive at the gardens.  We were the first ones in line for the bus and apparently much earlier than we needed to be, but at least we had a seat while we waited.  In about 30 minutes time there were 15 people gathered around us waiting to catch the bus.  We made our way on near the front and were all able to have a seat, did I mention that having a seat is very important when you're going to be on the bus for 45 minutes to an hour?  We only went a few blocks before the bus stopped to pick up our next garden goers. The majority were young folks, 20 something’s and one gray haired lady with her walker and a very sweet smile who's name we quickly learned was Ranada.  Z was sitting in the seat next to the handicapped seat, so she ended up next to Ranada for the entire  bus ride. G was next to Z and then myself which made it a little more difficult for me to hear her speak.  Z does not meet a stranger, it is a family trait that she inherited from her dad (my grandfather).  We love to meet people and talk.  Z asked her how long she had lived in Victoria and that was the beginning of the life of Ranada.
If I remember correctly she was now in her 80’s and had a full life that began in Europe.  Her husband was from Germany.  A high ranking military official had arranged for them to move to Canada early in their marriage.  Later they started taking vacations to Florida, but it became very expensive so they started vacationing in Victoria and fell in love with the area.  She has now lived there for over 20 years and is an annual member at Butchart Gardens.  Her husband had passed away a year ago and she told us the complex where she lives did not send her flowers at his death which she knew they normally would do.  A week later they knocked on her door and asked her to look out her window where they had planted a beautiful tree in his honor so she could look at it every morning when she woke up.  Z, G and I were wiping tears upon hearing this story.  This day that we met her was the first trip by herself using her walker, normally she has a friend with her so she was a bit nervous, but she was excited and anxious to show us the gardens once we arrived.  She lead us in and waited for us to purchase our tickets and started pointing out all the areas that we had to visit.  As you can see from the photos we all took the gardens are stunning, and meeting Ranada that day made it very special to us all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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