Toronto to Ottawa on bike

[blue_nose]

Hi there.

I am an ex pat and will be returning to Toronto for a few weeks at the end of August. I am attending a wedding in Ottawa and am thinking about cycling from TO. My family will be driving, so I do not need to carry anything that I will not need on the ride. I have checked out a few routes and looks like HWY 7 will work. The route works out to be just shy of 400 km. I am an endurance cyclists and have ridden quite a few 200 mile rides (320 km). I am not worried about the distance, but would like to hear from anyone that may have done this before.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

[~Stuart~]

try HWY2

the guys who do this (http://www.bikerally.org/) prefer highway 2 because it is less traveled (by car) and prettier :D


when you planning on riding out there?

[cyberpep]

Hi Blue Nose, Hwy 7 is a very busy road. Check out this site, he has great routes.
http://www.hedney.com/

[blue_nose]

Thanks very much - these are both great resources. I checked out Brian's cycling website (www.hedney.com), but worried about not having any maps of the route. The Waterfront Trail site has great maps of most of the route as well:

http://www.waterfronttrail.org/trail.html

I think this may be the best bet.

[ghettocruiser]

If this ride goes down in one day, I'd like to hear about it.

I've been pondering attempting this trip for a while. Would length of daylight be an issue in late August?

[blue_nose]

If this ride goes down in one day, I'd like to hear about it.

I've been pondering attempting this trip for a while. Would length of daylight be an issue in late August?

Daylight will be a factor. Checking out weather from previous years, I will have just under 15 hours of visible light. My plan is to start very early in the morning before civil twilight somewhere in the far east of the city - likely in Oshawa. I will have some lights, but would prefer to do as much riding as possible during the day.

My friend's family lives in Prescott, which is just east of Brockville. Based on the routes posted above, I have a little over 300 km to get to Prescott. This should not be a problem to get there by sunset. I think getting to Ottawa would be ambitious, so I may crash in Prescott until sunrise and then head out for the remaining 80k or so to get to my final destination in Ottawa.

I would gladly welcome a riding partner if you are interested :D

[couchman]

What they said! Just stay off #7, there are enough nut jobs racing that road as it is. There's not lot of room to pass in a lot of stretches, so people get very impatient. There are secondary roads that you can ride on, so you should have no problem planning the ride between now and then.

Also keep in mind that weather can be unpredictable at that time of year. It could still be very hot, but by the end of August it can also be darn cold in the early morning. It's not unusual to have single digit C weather. Bring arm warmers or a longer sleeve jersey.
http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/images/prod_thu_2752.jpg
:D

[blue_nose]

What they said! Just stay off #7, there are enough nut jobs racing that road as it is. There's not lot of room to pass in a lot of stretches, so people get very impatient. There are secondary roads that you can ride on, so you should have no problem planning the ride between now and then.

Also keep in mind that weather can be unpredictable at that time of year. It could still be very hot, but by the end of August it can also be darn cold in the early morning. It's not unusual to have single digit C weather. Bring arm warmers or a longer sleeve jersey.
http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/images/prod_thu_2752.jpg
:D

Love this jersey!

I lived in Toronto for many years, so I know all about the weather. I can deal with the heat or the cold and even the humidity (yuk). I am just hoping it is dry. The thought of cycling for 16 hours in the rain is not too appealing.

[couchman]

I figured you would when I saw your avatar.
I already have it on the "list", :)

[Flimflam]

Whoa, nice... When are you going exactly? I considered riding up there to visit a buddy in Ottawa, but took the VIA instead (my initial prediction on a very rough google map directions thing took me to thinking 2-3 day trip).

If my schedule can coincide, I'll ride with you and visit my buddy again.

[blue_nose]

Whoa, nice... When are you going exactly? I considered riding up there to visit a buddy in Ottawa, but took the VIA instead (my initial prediction on a very rough google map directions thing took me to thinking 2-3 day trip).

If my schedule can coincide, I'll ride with you and visit my buddy again.

Things are still being finalized, but I am probably going to start this ride on Wed. Aug. 22nd. I am going to leave a friends place just outside of Oshawa. My plan is to start really early (a bit before sunrise) and use the Waterfront Trail most of the way. Most of the route will be based on the one proved by ~Stuart~ above. My friends family live in Prescott, which is just east of Brockville. I have mapped out the route and it is about 300k to their house.

Ideally, I am trying to do Ottawa in one shot, but I am trying to minimize the amount of riding I am going to do a night. Most likely, I am going to crash in Prescott and then do the last 85 k to Ottawa the next morning.

I would gladly welcome a riding partner :D

I tend not to get too many partners when doing rides like this, as many people are not to fond of trying to ride 300-400 km in one shot ;)

[Flimflam]

I don't think that can work with my schedule - I do hope to head to Ottawa but probably not until the weekend after, labour day. I've also got a 200k ride on the 19th including the ride to/from St. Catherines, where it starts (I'll be riding there the day before, I'm not crazy :)).

Maybe I'll take a few vacation days and ride to Ottawa on the 29th or 30th or something.

If there's a chance I can come, I'll do it - and I'm totally happy with starting off at 4/5am to try and get there in the one shot (I'm up for that challenge).

Can you share your route through? I'm really keen on taking a look at that. And good luck with it.

[blue_nose]

I don't think that can work with my schedule - I do hope to head to Ottawa but probably not until the weekend after, labour day. I've also got a 200k ride on the 19th including the ride to/from St. Catherines, where it starts (I'll be riding there the day before, I'm not crazy :)).

Maybe I'll take a few vacation days and ride to Ottawa on the 29th or 30th or something.

If there's a chance I can come, I'll do it - and I'm totally happy with starting off at 4/5am to try and get there in the one shot (I'm up for that challenge).

Can you share your route through? I'm really keen on taking a look at that. And good luck with it.

No worries. Send me a PM if your plans change and you are able to join me.

I am taking the route posted by ~Stuart~ above:

http://www.bikerally.org/route.html

There is a great route sheet with maps in PDF form at the top of this page. This route is actually from Toronto to Montréal and based mostly on the Waterfront Trail. I am pretty much going to follow the route to Prescott (about 300km east of Toronto) and then head north using the county roads to Ottawa (about another 90km). I am still working out the details of the last section of the ride.

[Burningman]

Do not take Hwy 7...too busy,too much "got to get there now" traffic.

I very much agree with Hwy 2...much more scenic,good road...follows towns along Lake Ontario

The run up to Ottawa (where I live) can be made up Hwy 31 or the more rural 22

If you take the 22 it ends at the 19 (Rideau River Road) which many cycles take to get in and out of the city....as the name suggests it runs along the Rideau River passes the Airport and into Ottawa

Do Not Take Hwy 7...it's no place to be in the middle of a ride,never mind at the end of one

[blue_nose]

Quick update to let anyone know that is interested that I finished this ride.

I left Oshawa last Wednesday and made it to my destination in Ottawa early the next day (Thursday). I started a little bit later than I wanted to (around 5:30am), because it was al little bit drizzly. I decided to start an hour later, as the combination of the darkness and wet roads is not my personal favorite. I rode straight through to Picton and stopped and had lunch. I crossed on the Glenora Ferry, rode through Kingston and a great hamburger in Ganaogue. I arrived at my friend’s parents place in Prescott, which is a little east of Brockville around 7:30. I had a great soak in their hot-tub, a good breakfast the next morning and had a good 3 hour ride up to Ottawa to complete the ride.

The ride was a smidge over 400k and I competed the whole thing in just over 17hrs total time. Many thanks to everyone who posted above who provided guidance on the route. I used the route to get to Prescott that pretty much mirrors the Waterfront Trail. I liked cycling through a bunch of towns I have not been in an a number of years. I have driven to Ottawa from Toronto many times along the 401 and blasted through these places at 120km/hr. It’s a shame that many people will never see many of the pretty little main streets that these towns have. Prince Edward County is especially pretty.

Although the weather was not the greatest – a little windy and cloudy most of the time, I did stay dry for most of the ride. There was a bit of rain on the ride up to Ottawa on the second day. All in all, pretty good for August in Southern Ontario. The thought of doing this ride in sweltering humidity is not that appealing.

[ghettocruiser]

Propz man.

**ghettocruiser loads up google earth and starts panning east***