Touring - Toronto-Montreal

Hi everyone,
I'm planning to ride my bike from Toronto to Montreal sometime in may and I'm looking for any sort of advice from people who've done it before. I've got a few questions in particular:
- Am I going to see any snow if I go in the first 2 weeks of may?
- Is one week enough (I don't mind detours, I just want to avoid busy roads)? I usually go 100 km a day
- Is it easy to camp on the way (of course, it would be a loaded tour)?
- And, of course, any suggestions for a nice route?

Thanks for your help!

Claire

Claire,

A must-read is Brian Hedney's website at http://www.hedney.com . Not only he details a good route, but he also highlights the major attractions along the route.

I have travelled roughly along his route, except for the Waterfront trail which wasn't built then, and his recommendations are definitely good ones.

While I like the idea of the Waterfront trail, I don't think I would like to deal with obstacles such as narrow gates and staircases and would likely prefer to ride from Toronto to Oshawa on highway 2, even though it's boring. I should say, however, that I did it once on Sunday morning (5 a.m.) and once on a weekday morning when I had lots of traffic going West, but none going East.

The ride is about 600 km long and cycling is fast and easy as you are most likely to have a tailwind. Still, I would add the equivalent of 1-2 extra days to smell the roses, stop at Upper Canada Village, etc.

Other interesting detours:
- If you like locks and waterways, the Trent-Severn Waterway flows from near Owen Sound to Trenton. You might ride it in whole or in parts, and there are interesting locks around Peterborough. One one of my tours, I rode from Port Hope to Peterborough on a local road near highways 35/115, then followed the waterway to Trenton. This works best on hot July days or on weekends in late June to mid August, when boaters are out in full force.

- Another variant is to ride from Kingston to Ottawa more or less along the Rideau river, then to Montréal. It would add about 150 km to the trip and be very interesting too. A minus is that you avoid the Thousand Islands section (or do it and turn North to Smith Falls).

Regards,

No snow in May
Camping is good
One week not enough
Mgagnonlv has made some excellent suggestions so I will just add a few other places worth considering.
I know this region well and have canoed, kayaked, hiked and drove the Toronto – Brockville route. The lake shore is not very interesting until you get to about Colborne and Presquile Point is a nice place for a night and part of a day and the Isle of Quinte is prime cycling territory. The road from Glenora/Lake on the Mountain to Kingston is good and part of it is on a railtrail. From here, it is ok, but the Rideau region to Ottawa or Merrickville is outstanding. From Ottawa I would look at cycling down the Quebec side of the Ottawa River to Montreal.

Wow, that sounds like a great ride! I'll have to try it this summer. Can anyone recommend any other nice tours from the Toronto area? First on my list is a trip down to Niagra Falls along the Waterfront trail. I hope to do it with only my CC and a kit for basic repairs and other essentials. Never toured before, but it looks like so much fun.

We once took the train from Windsor, Ontario to Quebec City, Que. Easter weekend..Late April it was...Snowed like crazy up there... The bunny rabbit did not come out. That is pretty close to May as I recall. Couple weeks later, it might not snow. Maybe sleet is possible?
Doing a mid-June ride..The Quebec countryside is awesome..Plus you get to see the the St. Lawrence Islands.. Need an extra companion? ....Actually, I think it would be pretty awesome to ride from like Kingston, Ontario to Gaspe, Quebec..That would be over a 1.000 miles? From the tip of Lake Ontario to the Atlantic...

Gordon,

If you are cycling from Ottawa to Montréal, both sides are nice and very different, however, I would select the Ontario side from Ottawa to Hawkesbury and either side afterwards. Why ?

- Between Gatineau (Masson sector) and Grenville (Québec), highway 148 is the sole highway. There are paved shoulders most of the way, but lots of traffic. Alternates are mostly spurs into villages.

- Between Rockland and Hawkesbury (Ontario), there is a series of local roads (actually the first incarnation of highway 17) that offer a superb ride, mostly void of traffic. So the only "trafficky" section is between the East end of the Nation's Capital Parkway (the actual name escapes me) and Rockland.

- Between Grenville and Montréal (Québec side), the nice route is via highway 344 to Oka, then the bike trail or highway 344 to Saint-Eustache, then the bike trail (near the CN track) to the West tip of Laval, then ride alongside the South shore of Laval until you reach a bridge you like. Highway 344 is a mix of very boring modernised sections and very nice very old sections; traffic is mostly nil, but there are a few sections with medium-heavy traffic.

- Between Hawkesbury and Montréal (Ontario side), the regional road 17 is great, except for the last 5 km of Ontario (freeway only); however, there is a service road on the South side of the 417, which I think is paved.
In Québec, use either highway 342 (OK but nothing more), or highway 342 with the following spurs:
- chemin de la frontière to Pointe-Fortune, then continue until you reach back highway 342;
- 3 or 4 km East of Rigaud, highway 342 bears right. Continue straight ahead across the railroad track on Chemin de l'anse towards Hudson. It will add a few km but will flatten a few hills. And scenery and houses are simply worth it. No shoulders, but speed limit is 30-40 km/h and fairly well enforced ($$).
- Once you reach Vaudreuil-Dorion, follow the directions on Brian Hedney's website (see above). Great riding on boulevard Sainte-Anne--Beaconsfield--Lakeshore--Saint-Joseph...

As for weather and snow, April and May are iffy, but since Claire lives in Toronto and Toronto follows pretty much the same weather patterns as Québecm, she'll be able to judge. We have had real snow storms in mid-May and also had 30 C weather in late March and early April, but generally weather in May goes between 5 C and 25 C (though with cool nights), and it's either a very wet month or a very dry month -- rarely in-between.

There typically are 2-3 weeks in the Spring and in the Fall when it rains most of the time. It's just that I can't tell you whether the Spring rains will occur in April, May or early June.

Regards,
Regards,