Day 1--ASSEMBLY PROBLEMS

OK to Vancouver, BC
September 5, 2000

This is the fourth time I have had to create this message. This little machine is having delete/memory problems and—inserts or erases things randomly—and very frustratingly!

The skinny: Bike arrived in Vancouver in great shape. I reassembled it with no problems until the handlebars wouldn't tighten. Found it was because the sleeve had come out with one bolt. When Jess arrived we took a taxi-van to Richmond south of the airport and the Steveston Bike Shop. They fixed my problem with a couple of bolts and nuts and reassembled Jess' bike for her.

We changed into cycling clothes in a pizza parlor across from the Richmond Bike Shop, so started our tour in Richmond. After changing, we biked back to the airport and then on farther north to our host lodgings on 29th street in the city. Some pretty hectic city riding, but the city is bicycle friendly with marked routes and bicycle lanes in many areas.

Our Warm Showers cycling hosts, Margaret Hunter, a retired teacher, and John Hickman, a retired diver, had cycled all over the world. Their interesting tales and their homemade wine kept us at the dinner table until bedtime.

Miles: 24.06

Weather: 58°F with light rain in early eve

Route: Vancouver airport to Richmond to Vancouver

General: Vancouver brimming with flowers. Very bicycle friendly. At one point we overshot a turn by a couple of miles and found ourselves in Asia—women in conical hats planting and harvesting, large oriental truck gardens, a huge red and gold Kaun Yin Buddhist temple.

The Kuan Yin Temple of the International Buddhist Society in Richmond, B.C. is the most magnificent and authentic temple of traditional Chinese architecture in North America. With its golden porcelain tiles glittering on the roof top, this Buddhist temple is similar to that of the palace in China.  The picture above from the Internet is just a peek at its entrance and gardens.