Farm cycle tour in Agassiz.

Several agricultural districts of the Lower Mainland endorse farming businesses with a self-guided Circle Farm Tour, formerly recognized as Slow Food Tours, promoting where our food comes from and locavore alternatives to fast food.
I've been meaning to cycle the Circle Farm Tour of Agassiz for a few years now, but other conflicting events have always blocked that date on my schedule.  Now this weekend as a focus of my July I made it a point to attend! I was fortunate to have a partner with a car to get us out there - or else it's $50+ for a Greyhound bus (one way) for myself which would still drop me a fair distance away, yikes - and two small folding bikes.  We cross-referenced their provided map of participating farms and our planned map of geocaches in the area,  It would make for a long full day of varied activity, topped with an indulgent treat of soaking in therapeutic mineral water, dinner of nice German cuisine and a concert of one of my favorite bands that I just lucked into being on the same day in the neighbouring town of Harrison Hot Springs.  Onward!
Morning started with quickie-breakfast en route from Timmy Ho's, as per our usual convenience and incentive to get up early and not dawdle.  Then was a drive out to Agassiz, noting the layers of grey cloud.  Up the Fraser Valley the humped hills lost their tops in the cloud.  We saddled up our bikes and left the registration point ($10 per person) at roughly 10am, found a geocache close by, then cycled away from the highway following the steady stream of other cyclists - while these tours are for cars or bikes throughout the season, this was an especially designated day for cyclists, with directional signs taped to posts and flaggers helping us cross the highways.  As if cycling wasn't enough exercise we stopped for a geocache that had us huffing up a steep path of an old cemetery.
Then onto a dairy with a half-million dollar milking machine, with farmers on hand to answer all sorts of questions about their practices and the industry and the cows two at a time eager waiting to be milked so they can get their grain treat.  Both cows and farmers seemed healthy and happy.
Then onto a family's mostly-berry farm, with the local kids brightly calling out their wares at the mini-market, vegetables and even young chickens.  Though primarily retail they offered barbecued burgers and some light fare just for the day, we had a nice lemon+blueberry coffee cake and real raspberry juice that was quite kicky.  They had free u-pick raspberries and blueberries I would've taken advantage of had we had more time in the afternoon and not have had to balance everything on bikes.  After that was a small nursery selling plants we couldn't carry with us either, but we did pick up the largest zucchini I'd ever seen for just a dollar.
Then was a cheese making farm.  Plenty of goats to pet, and one had apparently just had a kid not six hours earlier.  A few young calves with long dry tongues that eagerly licked petting hands, perhaps searching for their mother's teat instead.  We got a small plate to eat atop a haybale with natural sourdough multigrain bread, farm-made chutney and three nice cheeses and their drinkable yogurt.  The sun emerged and we were getting hot from such a rich creamy diet.
Then we cycled onto a fish farm, growing Coho salmon in tanks.  The fish were raised in fresh water like populations in interior landlocked lakes, and they had large pumps and filters to filter and re-oxygenate the water to limit waste.  There was a friendly and generous fella there grilling barbecued salmon, and would keep handing us limitless samples for as long as we stood there.  I'm a great salmon-eater and that was delicious.
The last stop on tour as the day's events closed between 4-5pm was the UBC agricultural research center there.  We just managed to squeak in the last 15 minutes, greeted with a bowl of blueberries and "Moose Tracks" ice cream.  Too late for any lectures but admittedly I would've just spend all day there and not seen any other spots.  We saw a man carrying a  dwarf bunny in a basket, says it accompanies him everywhere or else people wouldn't recognize him without it.  Rupert the bunny was very well behaved in his basket and fine with strangers petting him.  We browsed through several research displays and ate more blueberries that someone had bred, and they closed up shop around us as we left.
We found a few more geocaches around town and left satisfied, heading north to Harrison Hot Springs.  Budgeting out time we only had about a half hour to soak in the public pool of piped-in hot spring water, but it was a relaxing reward to our cycling and geocaching among blackberry thorns.
We had dinner at the Black Forest Steak and Schnitzel House, an attractive building that does a fine job; the food was plenty and delicious, service was prompt and helpful.  I think they were especially polished given that the town was wrapping up their folk festival which drew a crowd to the otherwise dead-end road and small town.  We were there to catch one of the last headlining acts at the community hall, The Paperboys.  That was a fantastic time with the front ten feet of the floor filled with 40-somethings all dancing from start to finish.  The band gave a great performance, smooth and precise delivery but personable and casual atmosphere.  Great end to the day.