Saturday was a good day. What I mean by good day was that I was able to spend some much needed hours on the bike to get my head on straight.   Have you ever had that?   When your own head is so far out of whack that, in order to preserve your sanity, you have to extract yourself from day to day stuff.  
And the day started all screwy. I knew I was going for a ride with a friend, but for some reason I slept in until 15min before KSU (aka kick stands up). So I texted him, jumped in the shower, grabbed my gear and headed out to meet him at the gas station instead. Talk about “first of the season” mayhem.  I usually park with enough gas, but not this time.  Figures!

We headed out just a little after 10am, and headed East on The Slab – also known as the inland island highway on Vancouver Island. From there we turned north heading up the highway. The one good thing about the inland Island Highway is that the speed limit is 120 km an hour. I find that it’s one way of blowing the cob webs out rather quickly.

  
We made a short little stop at the Buckley Bay rest stop to make a decision on where to have lunch. We had initially thought of the Driftwood restaurant, which is a very well known Chinese food place up in the Campbell River area. Unfortunately being that it was Good Friday, my guess was that the Driftwood being open was a negative. 

Instead, we jump back on the bikes, back on the slab and headed north to Hamm Road.  Ham Road is one of the offshoots the takes you from the Slab to the old Island Highway.  

The Slab, and the old Island Hwy are two of the main thoroughfares on Vancouver Island that both have their own very different characteristics. The Slab is for travelling at high speeds to get from one place to the other as quickly as possible and runs up the middle of the trek of land between the Vancouver Island Mountain range and the East Coast of the Island. While the Old Island Hwy meanders down the east coastline, sliding through villages, with vistas of beaches, the Strait, and the coastal mountain ranges on the mainland.

We continued heading south to the Fanny Bay Inn for a late lunch – I have a weakness for their oyster burger.  

Once we were full, we headed back to the west side of the mountain range through venison alley and home.   A spattering of rain hit us around the sweeps and bends of Cameron Lake – nothing too concerning. Then home we went.  

Great ride. Great way to start off the season.