Bents & the Trans Canada Trail

Hi Andrew
When are you planning your ride on the TCT?
If you use Google, just type in Trans-Canada Trail and pages of info sites
appear.
I thought about the rail trails, but from what I have seen a tadpole would
never survive and the minds who develped these trails put steel posts up too
narrow for a trike (supposed to block cars and ATVs). Someone did ride the
6005 Km route on a bent in 13 days, but I cannot find much info on that
ride/

Joshua
******

"Around Australia Recumbent Style" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi fellow bentee's.

I am wondering if anyone out there has ridden a recumbent down the Trans
Canada Trail?
If so, is there anywhere I can read about your experiences?

I am thinking of a cross Canada and USA trip on a SWB and thought the TCT
would be a bit of fun. From what I can find, the trail appears to have

some

Quoted message said:

mountain bike bits but also a fair bit of bike path, country road and
highway stuff in it, so it could be fun to have a go at.

All replies welcome.

regards

Andrew

http://www.geocities.com/andrewhooker59/CycleTouring.html

My son and I regularly ride or tadpoles on the Georgian Trail (or Oro
Medonte trail) which are both sub trails off of the TCT, according to the
maps I've read. Right now we mainly do excursions from Barrie north to
Orillia and are slowly building up the mileage and distance. Time is not
our friend at night 🙂

As for the trail, it is covered in crushed limestone and is more than wide
enough to ride side by side on the trikes. It's definitely wide enough for
a vehicle to drive down but has posts at most of the major road-crossings to
prevent this. In the vast majority of areas the trail is packed very well
and easy to ride on with road tires (not to be confused with road bikes 🙂).
It is not rough at all and there is only the very occasional spot where the
gravel is a little loose and difficult to ride through but they are all
mainly limited to very short sections (like 10 or 20 feet). In my rather
low state of fitness, it is very easy to maintain a 20kph cruise rate
indefinitely and on many parts we average 25 to 30kph and definitely higher
when we are pushing it. The blocking posts are more than wide enough to
allow a trike to go through or around them and while we ride, we remove
pieces of [censored], rocks or other debris that find their way onto the trails.
We've honed our skill to the point we can reach down and grab them as we
drive by at about a 20 to 25kph cruise speed. The path is relatively
straight and has very gradual uphill and downhill sections due to the
train's grade requirements.

There is another section of rail bed that was converted to bike path on the
west side of the 400/hwy 11 that runs north south as well. From where, to
where, not sure, but I am told it is in similar condition to the stretch
between Barrie and Orillia. I'm not sure how many sections of TCT are like
the rail trails in our area, but they are more than capable of being ridden
with trikes and bents. Even road bikes could easily ride on most parts if
they don't have the ultra narrow tires.

"Around Australia Recumbent Style" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi fellow bentee's.

I am wondering if anyone out there has ridden a recumbent down the Trans
Canada Trail?
If so, is there anywhere I can read about your experiences?

I am thinking of a cross Canada and USA trip on a SWB and thought the TCT
would be a bit of fun. From what I can find, the trail appears to have

some

Quoted message said:

mountain bike bits but also a fair bit of bike path, country road and
highway stuff in it, so it could be fun to have a go at.

All replies welcome.

regards

Andrew

http://www.geocities.com/andrewhooker59/CycleTouring.html

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Around Australia Recumbent Style" <[email hidden]> wrote:
Hi fellow bentee's.
I am wondering if anyone out there has ridden a recumbent down the Trans
Canada Trail?
If so, is there anywhere I can read about your experiences?
I am thinking of a cross Canada and USA trip on a SWB and thought the TCT
would be a bit of fun. From what I can find, the trail appears to have

some

Quoted message said:

mountain bike bits but also a fair bit of bike path, country road and
highway stuff in it, so it could be fun to have a go at.
All replies welcome.
regards
Andrew
http://www.geocities.com/andrewhooker59/CycleTouring.html

I have ridden sections of the TCT in Ontario by trike.

It is important to point out that many sections are for HIKING and not
rideable by bike at all. Often there is *no notation* of this at all. At one
point I had ridden about 15km out of my way at sunset and then I was dumped
off in the woods in a section with boardwalks and about 130 steep stairs
with a " No Bicycles" sign.
After cycling about 100km loaded that day. I chose to carry by fully-loaded
trike up those stairs while being chewed alive by mosquitos.
There was no safe reasonable alternative.

Also there are sections on Lake Ontario that are beautiful, but take you
many many miles in patterns that take you functionally no where. They are
often scenic, but it can get aggravating.

That said- it is easy to pick a nearby road and just skip sections of the
TCT.

Hi Jay

Are you aware of a bike trail from the East end of Toronto to Port Hope. I
had heard a few years ago a Lakeshore route was planned, but I don't know if
it was ever done.

There is a 30 mile SE rail trail from Lindsay to Peterborough and Port Hope
is just 30 miles SW of Peterborough and I believe there is a trail part of
that route along the Gananaska River. Just seems retarded going 60 miles NE
to Lidsay to then go 30 miles SE to Peterborough and then 30 mile SW to Port
Hope, when IF there was a lakeshore route I can ride 90 miles due East.

Joshua
******

"Jay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

/CycleTouring.html

I have ridden sections of the TCT in Ontario by trike.

It is important to point out that many sections are for HIKING and not
rideable by bike at all. Often there is *no notation* of this at all. At

one

Quoted message said:

point I had ridden about 15km out of my way at sunset and then I was

dumped

Quoted message said:

off in the woods in a section with boardwalks and about 130 steep stairs
with a " No Bicycles" sign.
After cycling about 100km loaded that day. I chose to carry by

fully-loaded

Quoted message said:

trike up those stairs while being chewed alive by mosquitos.
There was no safe reasonable alternative.

Also there are sections on Lake Ontario that are beautiful, but take you
many many miles in patterns that take you functionally no where. They are
often scenic, but it can get aggravating.

That said- it is easy to pick a nearby road and just skip sections of the
TCT.

Thanks everyone, as usual, all info worth the read.
regards,

Andrew
http://www.geocities.com/andrewhooker59/CycleTouring.html

"Around Australia Recumbent Style" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi fellow bentee's.

I am wondering if anyone out there has ridden a recumbent down the Trans
Canada Trail?
If so, is there anywhere I can read about your experiences?

I am thinking of a cross Canada and USA trip on a SWB and thought the TCT
would be a bit of fun. From what I can find, the trail appears to have

some

Quoted message said:

mountain bike bits but also a fair bit of bike path, country road and
highway stuff in it, so it could be fun to have a go at.

All replies welcome.

regards

Andrew

http://www.geocities.com/andrewhooker59/CycleTouring.html