TOURS DE DELTA
Pedals of a B.C. Staycation
By Rick Millikan
(for Travel Writers' Tales)

My hometown staycation proves terrific! For below my home stretches Canada's longest urban greenway and Delta's Nature Reserve. Bicycle buddies and I love to pedal its easy-peasy trails through dappled forests.

Delta-Surrey Greenway

The lower trail leads to Burns Bog's two entrances. The one-way boardwalks allow walkers to loop safely through the bog to investigate its beauty and unique peat ecology. Travelling west, we pass through Watershed Park. Here mountain bikers and hikers enjoy a labyrinth of multi-use pathways. Our greenway ride ultimately borders the base of Panorama Ridge and then descends onto rural roadways linking Mud Bay Park.

From here we meander atop a dyke along Boundary Bay. Colourful wildflowers border its level packed gravel trail. The bay's panoramic shoreline conjures breezy meditations and awesome entertainment. In autumn, fifty plus species of migrating birds make stopovers here. Bald eagles, hawks and occasional snowy owls are seen poised to greet…and eat them! And November provides spectacular aerial shows. Thousands of shorebirds merge into huge flocks and fly skyward creating wondrous flowing patterns called murmurations.

Eagle Eying Boundary Bay Trail

Only six kilometers from Mud Bay Park, Delta's Heritage Airport offers a pleasant break. Its small café features patio tables facing a grassy field dotted with vintage aircraft. Cycling twelve scenic kilometers further, we arrive at 72 nd Street junction. Art installations aptly depict a silouetted flight of birds…and bicycle. From here, some pedalers head to O.W.L. (Orphan Wild Life), where huge flight cages enclose recovering owls, falcons and other elusive raptors.

Boundary Bay Plaque

Our group generally continues atop the dyke to Beach Grove. Exiting this shoreline neighbourhood, we spin along well-shouldered Boundary Bay Road to Centennial Beach. From benches, we watch seagulls swoop down, scrapping for food. Strolling the sandy foreshore, placards explain the unique plant adaptations.

Centennial Beach Snack

Centennial Beach Trail in Nov

Shuttling bicycles, a short family ride begins at Deas Island Park. Millennium Trail leads us along the river, under Highway 99, then alongside picturesque Captain's Cove and Fraser's South Arm Marshes. Across a small bridge, we picnic in peaceful Harbour Park.

Deas Island-Milenium Trail

Another option is to explore historic Ladner, first lunching at a terrific seafood restaurant that sprawls next to an old landing. Paddle wheelers frequented the original wharf. For more history, we head for Ladner's 1912 municipal hall, now a museum. Artifacts reflect town beginnings, development and lifestyles of early citizens.

Two other adventures begin at Ladner's Port Guichon Elementary. Winding through a quiet neighbourhood, we arrive at River Road, where a heritage sign announces ‘ Port Guichon.' This early Quebecois settlement once boasted steamship and railroad terminals. The levee remains topped with dwellings shrouded in greenery, a fish processing plant and pleasant park ramped to launch boats.

Crossing a wooden century-old bridge, we see trumpeter swans paddling through reedy habitats. To our left floats a large community of modern houseboats. Beyond, Westham Island fields display a green quilt of seasonal crops. Fronting turn-of-the-century farmhouses, roadside stands offer fresh produce and cut flowers. One farm shop invites passersby to sample berry wines.

Signs of Westham Island Farms

In October, red, orange and yellow leafed trees adorn island farmlands. Canada geese glean leftover crops. A November treat is hearing Siberian snow geese honking raucously overhead and watching them feed in marshes on bulrush roots. In April, ring-necked pheasants crow forage newly plowed ground, crowing loudly.

Field of Snow Geese

This pastoral ride ends near Fraser River's southern estuary, which attracts over 1.5 million birds every fall. Picnicking on Reifel Bird Sanctuary's outer lawns, we take a booked visit to see an array its 230 wintering species. We purchase seeds and enter its gate to hand-feed year-round residents: red-winged blackbirds, chickadees and myriads of ducks. Multicoloured wood ducks waddle cautiously toward the feast. Rare, red-topped sand hill cranes cackle and strut around us.

Reifle Bird Sanctuary with Cranes

A second ride bypasses Westham Island's bridge and continues on River Road along Canoe Pass. Where pavement ends, an elevated dyke trail begins. In summer, yellow tansy and purple, pink and white wild peas line our way along the marshy Fraser.

Several trailside benches encourage us to contemplate nature. From one, we spot cormorants and herons perched on pilings, remnants of one of Ladner's eleven turn-of-the-century salmon canneries. Purple-blossomed potatoes and orange-flowered squash extend inland. Roberts Bank coal terminal shimmers in the distance. Descending the dyke, a footpath leads us between driftwood and pink wild roses to a clearing. At a weathered table, we enjoy another picnic.

Tour de Delta's annual competitions inspire greater challenges. Retracing race routes, I spin past bucolic pastures, extensive greenhouses, farmlands…and grind up hills.

Historic Tour de Delta Race

Cycling medicates body and soul. And I enjoy year-round doses of Delta's healthful rides.

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IF YOU GO:

Check out my hometown's attractions at www.tourismdelta.com

PHOTOS taken by Rick Millikan: