Aug 13, 2025

Cycling In Canada Contributed By Team Parcours Member Tosh Fujita

Looking for a destination cycling holiday? As cycling gains in popularity, and destination riding is on the rise, there are a whole host of options of incredible places to spin on the two wheels.

Canada is one of those places. Stunning scenery from The Rocky Mountains to the coastal pathways and city cycle ways.

Parcours Ambassador Tosh Fujita, lives in Canada, so who better than to give us the low down on some of his favourite riding over there, on Salt Spring Island, British Colombia!

Salt Spring Island

Salt Spring Island (SSI) is the largest of the Gulf Islands, which dot the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, and are also adjacent to the San Juan Islands of Washington State. The people of the Coast Salish First Nations have inhabited the island for thousands of years before settlers arrived. The island is accessible by water only via private boat or BC Ferries service. Ferry service is regular, frequent, and convenient.

SSI is well known for attracting bohemians and artistic communities, boasts a vibrant arts and crafts scene, beautiful and secluded beaches, and organic farms that offer farm tours and their produce. Some notable must-visit purveyors of locally produced goods: Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, Sacred Mountain Lavender, Salt Spring Brewing Co., Salt Spring Wild Cidery, and countless roadside farm stores.

The island is also popular for rugged outdoor adventure, including hiking, boating, and cycling. Many narrow, undulating, winding roads are perfect for road cycling. There is also a vast network of unpaved roads and trails for hiking, gravel biking, and cross-country mountain biking.

SSI by bike

Most of the roads are two-lane, with some sections that are narrow single lanes, which makes it interesting for oncoming cars to pass each other. There are no shoulders on the roads, but traffic is light (except roads connecting the harbours for ferries and the main town of Ganges). Use caution when you hear a car approaching, and go single file when being passed.

Riding highlights

1. Mount Bruce – This is a steep and sometimes gnarly fire road to the radio tower lookout. Worth it for a stunning view.

2. Channel Ridge Trail network – This is a tight and non-technical single-track for never-ending exploration. Make sure you check your speed, though around blind corners, in case of hikers and their dogs.

3. Mount Erskine – A tight hiking/biking fun of single-track trails. As always watch and be considerate to other trail users.

4. Mount Maxwell – This is a steep and rough track. Don’t be surprised if you run into a drum circle or groups of people gathered to chant in the woods (I did). Some friends and I are planning an SSI triple crown ride (three mountains in one day) of Mount Bruce, Maxwell, and Erskine.

5. All the empty country roads – These are great for paceline and a hammer with your friends or ride side by side for a more chill riding experience, and take in the views. Expect over 25% gradients in spots, and 10% climb is an “easy” gradient on SSI.

Beaches

And it you want to ride whilst your partner of family chill? Or perhaps you just want to relax post ride, there are plenty of beaches too. Or even ride to the beach, and have it all to yourself as off the beaten path.

1. Beddis – A white crushed-shell beach popular for ocean swimming and morning sun.

2. Fenwood Point – This is the perfect spot for tidal pool exploration to find sea stars, shellfish, sea anemones, crabs, and seaweed.

3. Jack Foster – This is accessed by a 45-minute hike (or quicker on a gravel bike/MTB with some hike-a-biking). It’s a good spot to see passing whales, seals, (and commercial ships.)

4. Musgrave Landing - Well, this one is not exactly a beach but a floating dock facility for transient boaters with a collection of houses nearby in the less busy part of the island. It is a b*tch to access on a gravel bike (or MTB) with crazy steep climbs and descents. Why go there? Because you will not meet a single soul along the route, and it is a CHALLENGE.