Re: biking across Canada.. solo?



D

Dave Mayer

Guest
"Mike Beauchamp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey all,
> I'm in a crappy situation here. I had been planning on riding across
> Canada
>> Anyways, I'm obviously hugely disappointed right now.. just asking for
>> some

> advice.
>
> Mike
>

Mike: I've done Calgary to Vancouver and Calgary to Regina. It was supposed
to be Calgary to Montreal, but I bailed in Regina after spending a few days
on the TransCanada in Saskatchewan. Canada is huge, huge country. The
prairies will be the test. The final straw for me was the 44 miles into
Regina. Dead flat. No trees, water or structures. There was a single
railway overpass to break up hours of hot, monotonous riding. By the time I
got into the great metopolis of Regina I figured there was a better way to
spend my vacation time and savings. And this was riding with two pals.

I have neither driven through Northern Ontario or ridden. This will be a
major challenge as well. Hundreds of miles of just rocks and trees.

Save your sanity and a lot of suffering. Fly to Europe and ride across
Spain, as one of my work collegues just did. He had a great time.
 
Disregard Dave's "sanity" suggestion and do the trip *you* want to
take. Then go to Spain for your next adventure!

Oh, and post your daily diary from on-line cafes as you journey across
the country. Or, when you complete the trip, give us a report.
 
"Dave Mayer" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:rxlKd.193974$8l.119738@pd7tw1no:

> Mike: I've done Calgary to Vancouver and Calgary to Regina. It
> was supposed to be Calgary to Montreal, but I bailed in Regina
> after spending a few days on the TransCanada in Saskatchewan.
> Canada is huge, huge country. The prairies will be the test. The
> final straw for me was the 44 miles into Regina. Dead flat. No
> trees, water or structures. There was a single railway overpass
> to break up hours of hot, monotonous riding. By the time I got
> into the great metopolis of Regina I figured there was a better
> way to spend my vacation time and savings. And this was riding
> with two pals.


I rode Vancouver to Louisburg NS in 2001. We had a Westfalia and my
wife is a photographer so every morning we would go our separate ways
and meet in the evening...hey I like my creature comforts but this is
about the ride. It was awesome. The mountains are fun. The prairies are
fascinating if you use your eyes and stay off the TransCanada, lots of
much better routes north and south of it.

I did more climbing I am sure in Northern Ontario than in the Rockies
as it has lots and lots of ups and downs, wildlife galore particularly
in the early morning and Superior impressed the hell out of even a
coast guy. Ontario and Que are interesting and see if you can spend a
few days in Quebec City if you have never been there for both the
history and the food.

Maritime provences offer interesting little towns and good riding plus
lots of camp sites. We went to all of them except Nfld as time was an
issue but ended up in Louisburg as it is the furthest east you can go
on the mainland. Toughest climb of the trip was on the second to last
day in the Cape Breton Highlands, North Mountain took my 39/26
(remember I am carring nothing but water) and had me standing for 5k.

If you can start mid June as the prevailing wind switches to a westerly
then and it does matter as I had one day with a 50k headwind with gusts
to 65. Used my lowest gears and rode for 10 hours and made 80k which is
of course 8 kph...coulda walked faster. Next day it was a tailwind and
I did 160k in the afternoon.
 
"Roy Zipris" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Disregard Dave's "sanity" suggestion and do the trip *you* want to
> take. Then go to Spain for your next adventure!
>
> Oh, and post your daily diary from on-line cafes as you journey
> across the country. Or, when you complete the trip, give us a
> report.
>


You won't find any/many internet cafes but every public library has
internet access that you can use if you ask them nicely and stop in mid
day when there is not many users.
 
In Nova Scotia, and perhaps other Canadian provinces, there are
government-supported internet sites in many small towns - places too
small to have a cafe or a stand-alone library, sometimes. NS's are
marked by a big "@" sign on the side of the road and/or on the building
they're in. Typically, these are in schools, community centres, and
similar places. If I recall correctly, purple @'s were free, while blue
@'s were a loonie a visit, with a quick email check being uncharged.

Not the world's fastest connections, but quick enough for mail and/or a
quick update of CrazyGuyOnABike.com.
 
Mike Latondresse wrote:
> "Roy Zipris" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > Disregard Dave's "sanity" suggestion and do the trip *you* want to
> > take. Then go to Spain for your next adventure!
> >
> > Oh, and post your daily diary from on-line cafes as you journey
> > across the country. Or, when you complete the trip, give us a
> > report.
> >

>
> You won't find any/many internet cafes but every public library has
> internet access that you can use if you ask them nicely and stop in

mid
> day when there is not many users.


Keep in mind that public libraries in small towns have very limited
hours. I was hoping to send email updates while on a trip, and got to
Xtown and say its Monday, and library is open Tues, Wed and Saturday.
On Tuesday in Ytown library is open Monday, Wed Friday. I think it was
5 days before I passed a library OPEN when I passed it. (and yes they
let us use the internet when we asked nicely, and it was terribly slow
access)
 
"Roy Zipris" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Disregard Dave's "sanity" suggestion and do the trip *you* want to
> take. Then go to Spain for your next adventure!
>

Roy: helpful advice. I know: "Just Do It"....

Perhaps you should offer advice on the following small details before
someone sets out on a 45-day trip:

- The route to take to get to Hope BC - because you cannot ride on the
TransCanada until at least Chilliwack?
- How are you going to carry 5 litres of water to get you through Sunday
Pass?.
- What is the best time of day to climb Greenwood Pass when its 38 C degrees
by noon?
- If you go north, how do you get through the snowsheds in Rogers Pass
without getting killed by a logging truck?
- How do you deal with the new "rumble strips" that makes the shoulders on
Highway 3 virtually unridable to cyclists? Have these been cut into the
Yellowhead route as well?
 
Dave Mayer <[email protected]> wrote:

> Mike: I've done Calgary to Vancouver and Calgary to Regina. It was supposed
> to be Calgary to Montreal, but I bailed in Regina after spending a few days
> on the TransCanada in Saskatchewan.


That was your mistake. The Trans-Canada is a very, very poor choice of
route to take when cycling across the prairies. Not only is it very
boring but you have to put up with all of the other traffic that uses it.

Next time, try the Red Coat Trail (Hwy 13 in SK). MUCH more scenic, and
far less busy. It's one of my favourite cycling routes in the country.

K.
 
Hey Dave,
Instead of just posting these important questions, how about maybe a few
answers to them as well? Help out with people searching the usenet archives
and such...

> - The route to take to get to Hope BC - because you cannot ride on the
> TransCanada until at least Chilliwack?
> - How are you going to carry 5 litres of water to get you through Sunday
> Pass?.
> - What is the best time of day to climb Greenwood Pass when its 38 C
> degrees by noon?
> - If you go north, how do you get through the snowsheds in Rogers Pass
> without getting killed by a logging truck?
> - How do you deal with the new "rumble strips" that makes the shoulders on
> Highway 3 virtually unridable to cyclists? Have these been cut into the
> Yellowhead route as well?



Mike
http://mikebeauchamp.com
 
"Mike Beauchamp" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Hey Dave,
> Instead of just posting these important questions, how about maybe
> a few answers to them as well? Help out with people searching the
> usenet archives and such...
>
>> - The route to take to get to Hope BC - because you cannot ride
>> on the TransCanada until at least Chilliwack?
>> - How are you going to carry 5 litres of water to get you through
>> Sunday Pass?.
>> - What is the best time of day to climb Greenwood Pass when its
>> 38 C degrees by noon?
>> - If you go north, how do you get through the snowsheds in Rogers
>> Pass without getting killed by a logging truck?
>> - How do you deal with the new "rumble strips" that makes the
>> shoulders on Highway 3 virtually unridable to cyclists? Have
>> these been cut into the Yellowhead route as well?

>

Don't worry about them, non issues.