The first post is coming from my hotel that is a block from the beach, in the heart of downtown Vancouver. I'm also just south of Stanley Park, where I will begin tomorrow. The weather was beautiful today in Vancouver. My window is wide open right now with a breeze blowing in and a view of the mountains I will soon have to endure in the background.

Today went smoothly. My bike arrived safely and I asembled it without any problems. Well almost. I bent the valve stem on my front tube as a result of some over zealous pumping and had to replace the tube. With that fixed and my bike ready to go I grabbed a bite at the airport Swiss Chalet and made my way to the hotel some 25 km away. It was an easy ride and I got to see many parts of Vancouver and the surrouning areas.

My friend and I, who I met at the airport, met up again at the hotel and then went for a walk along the water followed by dinner also by the water.

I'm just about all set for some good rest tonight. I'd like to try and replace one of my spare tubes that I was used today, but will have to see if any bike shops along the way out of Vancouver will be open early enough.

Tomorrow it begins.

Chris

Hello everybody, this is the first post on the BikeforMike blog. The first trip related post will come the night before I begin biking, on Sunday May 31st.

Until then,
Chris