Touring One of the Richest Regions in the World... the Hard Way

When a friend from work invited me on a short bike tour the other day, it sounded like a good idea...

The plan was to attend an investment conference in Vancouver. But instead of flying direct to Vancouver, we’d fly to Seattle and bike the rest of the way. “It’s about 200 miles and takes four days,” he told me.

I love the Pacific Northwest. It’s a corner of the world I expect will prosper for many years to come. So I accepted the invitation and met Mike at the Seattle airport last week. We purchased cheap road bikes from Wal-Mart and started peddling north.

There are two bike routes from Seattle to Vancouver. One is flat and direct. The other is longer and hillier. We wanted more scenery and less traffic, so we chose the up-and-down route. Besides, I thought I’d see more of the landscape this way.

Last year, I concluded that Asian growth is propelling a boom in the Pacific Northwest. I found more evidence on my bicycle...

We were changing a flat tire in front of a luxury car dealership in the outskirts of Vancouver when the owner came by. His glassed were encrusted with rhinestones and he wore a large diamond ring on his left hand. I asked him if business was good. “Oh, we do very well,” he told me.

We were surrounded by dozens of sleek-looking Porches, BMWs and Range Rovers. “You’d be amazed. I’ll sell most of these to exchange students from Asia. Their daddies send them here to study. They want expensive cars to drive to class in...”

Immense natural wealth is another reason to like this region. We ogled forests that stretched into the distance for thousands of square kilometers. We peddled by mines and quarries. Huge trucks carrying lumber and mulch roared past on the highways. We even passed the fields that supply much of the world’s daily grain requirements.

Transport infrastructure is something I always watch when I travel. Natural resources are worthless if you can’t bring them to market. We watched huge container ships sail down the Strait of Juan De Fuca and into the ocean. We saw them loading a huge ship with coal in Vancouver’s high-tech Deltaport. And occasionally, we’d hear the call of a freight train snaking through the valleys at night.

All considered, I’d say the freight transport network in the Pacific Northwest may be the best in the world.

Add it all together – Asian growth, vast supplies of natural resources and the means to shift them across the Pacific, and I see the makings of a long-term boom in the Pacific Northwest. My favorite plays are still the large railroads in the region – Canadian National, BNSF and Canadian Pacific. I see decades of great business conditions for these companies ahead.

I learned something else too. Riding a bike for eight hours, day after day, hill after hill, is no sunset cruise along the boardwalk. I felt pain everywhere.

I had cramps in my legs and blisters on my feet. The sun burned my face and arms and the sweat stung my eyes. My lower back ached. I felt mental anguish too. But the worst pain...

I felt the worst pain between my legs where my skin rubbed against the saddle. I’ll save you the details. Let’s just say I couldn’t sit down for a few days after the trip...

Good investing,