Touring - Montreal to Bar Harbor, ME?

Dear Y'all

I am gonna be arriving in Canada (Montreal) on the 20th March after 10 days bobbing around on a ship in the Atlantic and need to get to Bar Harbor, ME. Can anyone suggest a good route to take?

Also whilst in Montreal I would quite like to see a bit of the place etc. Any suggestions of things to do? Any good clubs to go to? Pubs? bars? Places of historical intrest? Ice hockey? Maple syrup? I would like to begin my tour of North America in style so any advice would be much appreciated.

Also how cold is it in that area in late march? I need to decide on what kind of clothing to bring. I don't really wanna turn up and freeze.

Much appreciated

Patrice

The snow should be off the roads by then but there will be plenty of crud at the edge of the roads left from the piles of snow, and potholes. The temp could be anything between freezing and 15F.

There is the Trans Canada Trail going east from Montreal. It is a multi use trail, unpaved hard packed grit most of the way. It is likely to be in fairly bad shape at that time of the season. The traffic on the roads isnt too bad but most of them dont have paved shoulders.

The first hundred miles are fairly flat, and you will have some proper hills when you get into the top of New Hampshire, with gentler hills in Maine. I have taken that route by car 10 years ago, so my memory of the hills may not be that good.

AndrewP has a fairly good summary. You will be riding on highways. You'll have the choice between more important highways #100 series that often come with a paved shoulder (though it probably won't be in condition), and minor roads that have narrower lanes but little traffic.

Unless there has been a snow storm in the last 1-3 days, major roads should be on pavement, but expect some patches of ice. Not that much of a problem on relatively flat roads, but that means you should keep your speed in control when going around turns and down hills.

I would not recommend studded tires for such a long trip, unless you want to take back roads, but knobbies such as Cyclocross tires (700x35-37) would be a good compromise because you'll get good traction in the snow.


One caveat: in Winter, there is no legal means to cross the St. Lawrence river by bike. You may either hire a taxi (but discuss the bike "problem" beforehand so you get a van) or take the metro (aka Underground) off peak hours. The metro could be a good option, but it would be better to carry the bags first, lock them up in lockers at the Longueuil station, then to carry the bike on a second trip: going up and down stairs with a fully loaded bike is not my cup of tea. Another option would be to enlist a friend or... to take the ferry at Sorel-Tracy (riding along the Richelieu river is nice).

Weather is indeed problematic. We could have anything from -20 C (last year, the record low for Winter was in mid March), to -5 C and 30 cm of snow and drifting snow, to a warm 20-25 C (record high is around 30 C for March 26). But you could count on temperatures around -10 to +5 C in the daytime, with nighttime temperatures 10 C cooler. The sun is usually warm when we have it.
So for clothing you definitely need layers that include a windproof and water-resistant shell, warm shoes and socks and warm, water-resistent full-fingered gloves.

For the bike, apart from knobbies, I do recommend fenders with a long mudflap. Even if nothing has fallen lately, you'll likely get water runoff, snow melts, and water/salt grime all around you, because roads are generally wet in Winter unless it's colder than -15 C. You might like to bring a light lubricant if it's warm and a thick one for winter conditions. On my commuter, I actually use bearing grease on the chain: it is one of the few things that doesn't disappear within 5 minutes of exposure to salt spray.

Quite frankly, I don't know the rest of your plan, but you might also think of a "plan B" where you could box your bike and take the Amtrak train to New York or Washington. Or you could be prepared to wait out a few days if the weather is inclement.

Regards,

thank you both for the information. I have got a far better idea of what to expect now and can go and purchase my warm weather clothing etc.

Like you said if the weather does prove to be very bad then I'll just sit tight in Montreal and enjoy what the city has to offer. Once again thanks for your advice.