Fancy a bobsleigh ride, some indoor rowing practise or a cosy bunk in the athletes’ village? Now’s your chance. 

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have come and gone, but British Columbians – and their guests -- are just beginning to enjoy the legacies of the Games, from a sleek new light rail line to world class sporting facilities and even whole new neighborhoods. 

Where to start? Chances are you already have. Many visitors ride one of the most popular legacies before they even unpack. 

The Canada Line, an extension of the SkyTrain rapid transit system (itself a legacy of Vancouver’s Expo 86 World’s Fair), whisks riders from Vancouver International Airport to downtown Vancouver in less than 30 minutes and to Richmond City Centre in under 15 minutes. Launched in August 2009, it’s much more than an airport line, providing easy access to many of the, so far, less visited areas of South Vancouver and Richmond. Top stops? Check out views of the city from flower-filled Queen Elizabeth Park (King Edward station) or the buzz and flavours of Richmond’s Asian dining and shopping scene (Aberdeen or Lansdowne stations). There’s so much to see just riding the rails that local writer Noam Dolgin has put out a guidebook, called Canada Line Adventures, leading visitors to the sites, shops and eateries at each stop on the line. 

A key stop at the downtown end of the Canada Line Waterfront Station is the Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron, just outside the Vancouver Convention Centre’s West Building. This striking seaside sculpture, home to the Olympic Flame during the Games, will stay in place as a permanent memento, as will the inukshuk statue, the official emblem of the Games, at English Bay in Vancouver’s West End. 

And the sports venues? All of the 2010 Winter Games’ purpose built venues were designed with an eye to their long term community use. That future starts now: the public can start swimming, spinning, skating and even living in BC’s Olympic legacies as early as this summer. 

The architecturally striking Richmond Olympic Oval, for example, is currently undergoing a transformation that will take it from a long track speed skating venue to one of the biggest – and most ecologically-friendly – public international centres of excellence for sports, health and wellness in Canada. In place of the speed-skating track will be an indoor running track, two international size ice hockey rinks, four hardwood courts for badminton, volleyball, basketball, soccer, yoga studios and a 2,137-square-metre (23,000-square-foot) mountain-view fitness centre to be open by mid-July. The Richmond Olympic Oval will also be home to an indoor rowing and paddling centre; a sports medicine and wellness centre will replace the Olympic anti-doping lab. Day passes are available for visitors and the venue will be available for sport and event hosting.