Ask a Canadian about Nanaimo and the first thing you will hear about is the Nanaimo bar, a no-bake square of crumb base, custard buttercream and chocolate that turns up in cafes across the country and is unapologetically sweet. The city itself, with about eighty-five thousand people, is the second largest on Vancouver Island and the main ferry hub to the mainland, with boats to Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen near Vancouver. For many riders it is where the island begins or ends.
Nanaimo began as a coal town. In the 1850s, the Hudson's Bay Company opened mines here, and for a century coal was the city's livelihood, with shafts reaching under the harbour. The Bastion, a white wooden blockhouse built by the company in 1853 to protect its workers, still stands near the waterfront and is one of the oldest buildings in British Columbia. The harbour today is lively, with seaplanes, ferries and pleasure boats, and a long promenade for walking. In summer, the city hosts a bathtub race across the Strait of Georgia, a gloriously silly event that has been going since the 1960s.
The main road north, Highway 19, is a fast, divided highway that runs up the island to Campbell River, efficient but dull. For a better ride, take the Old Island Highway, Highway 19A, which follows the coast through towns like Parksville and Qualicum Beach, with views over the strait to the mountains of the mainland. It is slower, with more traffic and lower speed limits, but far more interesting. West of Nanaimo, roads lead into the hills and to lakes in the forest, and Highway 4 heads across the island from Parksville to Port Alberni and the wild west coast at Tofino.
Nanaimo has every service: fuel, motorcycle shops, restaurants and hotels. The Old City Quarter and the waterfront have good cafes, and Newcastle Island, a short foot ferry ride from the harbour, is a provincial park with trails and beaches. The climate is mild, with dry summers and wet winters, and the ferries can be busy on summer weekends, so book ahead if you are heading to the mainland.