Touring - Tour around Lake Ontario

Hello forum,

I am planning a bike tour around Lake Ontario for late May. I have never toured before, but am an experienced cyclist and have ridden distances of ~200km. My cycling partner also has never gone on any long tours. I was hoping some of you forum folks could offer some insights into planning for the trip. We are aiming to average ~100km/day and will stay at a combination of camp sites and friends' places, so we plan to bring a tent + sleeping bags.

I plan to ride my entry-level road bike, a Trek 1200. I plan to put on some thicker tires for touring (28?). I have a rear rack and panniers that I've attached before and used on some long rides. Since the ride will only be ~10 days, I'm hoping to avoid using front panniers and travel light. Do you guys see any issues with loading too much weight on the rear wheel? Would a handlebar bag compensate enough for this?

I have been trying to plan a route on Google Maps. Can anyone with experience riding around Lake ontario offer preferable highways/roads to take?

How do most people pack their tent + sleeping bag? Attached to the rack on a bungee?


Any suggestions or comments about my plans would be greatly apprecaited.

Thank you,
Josh

I toured around Lake Ontario last year, starting and ending at the Buffalo Airport long term parking lot. It's a very nice tour.

I crossed the Peace Bridge in Buffalo to the Canadian side of the Niagara River and followed that past Niagara Falls to Lake Ontario. From there, I circled the lake clockwise following the Waterfront Trail (http://www.waterfronttrail.org/). At Kingston, I took a couple of ferries back into the US and followed the lake shore to about Sodus Point, where I dropped down and rode the Erie Canal back to Buffalo.

I did it in about 10 days with plenty of time to enjoy the scenery as I went. I mostly camped in Provincial parks on the Canadian side and state parks in the US. I used a hotel in Toronto and Kingston, since the camping options were limited at those points.

I highly recommend the trip.

Here's the Waterfront trail near Burlington, Ont.
http://www.pbase.com/mwb/image/114400243/medium.jpg

There's a lot of road that looks like this on the north side of the lake (away from the cities).
http://www.pbase.com/mwb/image/114400269/medium.jpg

More pictures at my pbase photo directory (http://www.pbase.com/mwb/lake_ontario_ride).

I've met a number of people on that trip (live by the lake), and a surprising number of them are a little POd by the time they get where I am on the east side of TO. I wonder if anyone who has done the trip considers a shorter version preferable. One that dumps a lot of the polluted industrial sites that plague the place around toronto/buffalo? If it was up to me I would prefer to start in Toronto east, and go to Montreal than do the part between Niagara and Toronto. For a lot of the distance you are right next to a HWY.

I've met a number of people on that trip (live by the lake), and a surprising number of them are a little POd by the time they get where I am on the east side of TO. I wonder if anyone who has done the trip considers a shorter version preferable. One that dumps a lot of the polluted industrial sites that plague the place around toronto/buffalo? If it was up to me I would prefer to start in Toronto east, and go to Montreal than do the part between Niagara and Toronto. For a lot of the distance you are right next to a HWY.

I'm not sure if this is a reaction to my description of my trip around the lake. Just to be clear for myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the portion between Buffalo and Toronto. Riding up the Niagara River (on the Canadian side) was about as good as riding gets. The weather was beautiful for me. The scenery was great. There were roadside fruit markets for snacks and lunch. I'd never been to Niagara Falls before, so I was happy to see that as well.

Niagara on the Lake is a terrific little city to visit. I didn't spend much time there, but I'd like to return with my wife in a car for a short vacation. I stayed in a little campground in Grimsby where I met a local guy who is an avid bicyclist. He rode with me about halfway to Burlington. When we stopped so I could take a picture and he was turning back, we both met another biker from Burlington who escorted me the rest of the way to Burlington.

Riding through the traffic in parts of Toronto wasn't quite as much fun, but I'm very happy with the part of my trip between Buffalo and Toronto. I hit downtown Toronto at about evening rush hour traffic. I happened to ride up beside a commuter on his bike and we rode together for a couple of miles until he turned off. I had a great time, met some good people, ate some good food, and saw some beautiful scenery. I'm glad I didn't skip it.

"Polluted industrial sites" are, unfortunately, an aspect of touring in these parts. My "favourite" is a nuclear waste storage facility that is directly on the Waterfront Trail between Oshawa and Cobourg. A chain link fence protects the area, but vandals have cut holes in the fence! The fence has been repaired, but it's scary!

Unless you have reason to visit Toronto, my suggestion is to bypass the city. Toronto has shockingly bad biking infrastructure, although the Martin Goodman Trail is nice. Take the Go Train between Mississauga and Scarborough, and avoid the traffic!

My s/o and I road around Lake Ontario last summer. We took the Go Train to Oshawa from Danforth Station and then Caught the Go Train back in from Burlington to Union. We decided to do this because getting in and out of the sprawl is a huge pain. And I don't find the drivers in the GTA to be too considerate.

Familiarize yourself with the drumlins around Oswego (NY) because clockwise will be harder than counterclockwise with respect to these guys.

There are two different questions in your message. One of them is about how to prepare for a bike tour (what gear to use, how to carry and so on). That's too much to answer in a single post, you may want to consult some of the books on this topic (this (http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Touring-Sierra-Outdoor-Adventure/dp/1578051428/) happens to be my favourite, but there are other good ones as well). One thing you may want to try before a long tour is to go on a shorter trip (3-5 days), covering some of the area. Not only will you learn a lot during it, but you get to test your gear.

About touring your specific target (Lake Ontario) one thing to check beforehand is the availability of camp sites. Camp sites that are accessible by road fill up quickly. You can make reservations through http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/reservations.html.

Good luck,
-jl

We took the Go Train to Oshawa from Danforth Station and then Caught the Go Train back in from Burlington to Union.

This is what I had in mind. I have also taken the Go Train from Danforth Station to Oshawa, but on two occasions, when I had a little extra time, I went from Danforth Station to Rogue Hill. There is gorgeous riding between Rogue Hill and Oshawa!

I did this trip in seven days counter clockwise out of Toronto last year. Don't miss Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County on the Canadian side. The drumlins around Oswego were difficult but unavoidable. If you ride counterclockwise you can have the wind in your back through this section. I suggest you take Lake Shore Boulevard between Toronto and Burlington. The waterfront trail in this section is a broken mess of convoluted and disjointed routes. Lake Shore will let you blast through the sprawl in just a few hours. Between Stoney Creek and Niagara Falls, consider staying off the Waterfront Trail, which is just the Queen Elizabeth Way north service road. This road was terribly windy both time I've ridden it, and the adjacency to the highway made it noisy.

Agreed, get away from the Waterfront Trail between Stoney Creek and Niagara Falls. Travel on the the maze of quiet, beautiful roads crisscrossing the Escarpment. (But some of the hills are intense!)

I did this trip in seven days counter clockwise out of Toronto last year. Don't miss Loyalist Parkway in Prince Edward County on the Canadian side. The drumlins around Oswego were difficult but unavoidable. If you ride counterclockwise you can have the wind in your back through this section. I suggest you take Lake Shore Boulevard between Toronto and Burlington. The waterfront trail in this section is a broken mess of convoluted and disjointed routes. Lake Shore will let you blast through the sprawl in just a few hours. Between Stoney Creek and Niagara Falls, consider staying off the Waterfront Trail, which is just the Queen Elizabeth Way north service road. This road was terribly windy both time I've ridden it, and the adjacency to the highway made it noisy.

Thanks for the info. I'm actually planning to leave from Toronto and will be going counter-clockwise. I'm fairly familiar with the broken mess you describe of the waterfront trail near toronto. and was planning to stick to the lakeshore as you suggested. What is so tough about the drumlins?

This may be a silly question (keep in mind that I'm completely new to touring), do you guys tend to travel with provincial maps outlining the larger highways or do you carry more detailed local maps too?

Any comments on only carrying rear panniers?

Thanks for all the comments/help! I look forward to hearing more.

...do you guys tend to travel with provincial maps outlining the larger highways or do you carry more detailed local maps too?

Any comments on only carrying rear panniers?



Detailed maps: YES!

Rear panniers only: Not a problem, unless you are carrying a lot of weight. Under 15 kg should be OK for most riding conditions. I cram everything into two rear panniers, usually 10 - 13 kg total weight, and the only time things feel iffy is when I am climbing VERY steep hills, i.e., grades of 15% or more. The front wheel sometimes feels like it might part company with the road, although it has actually never happened.

What is so tough about the drumlins?

They may not be a problem for you. As for myself, I like to know about climbs/hills/etc. You can prepare for them (hydration/eating). But that's just me. My girlfriend had a harder time with them because she was on her bent. And bents don't climb as easy as diamond frames from my experience.

I hope you have great weather.

planning to stick to the lakeshore as you suggested. What is so tough about the drumlins?

This may be a silly question (keep in mind that I'm completely new to touring), do you guys tend to travel with provincial maps outlining the larger highways or do you carry more detailed local maps too?

Any comments on only carrying rear panniers?

Thanks for all the comments/help! I look forward to hearing more.

As for rear panniers only, are you planning to eat on the road, or are you going to cook at camp? If you are bringing cooking gear its nice to have extra capacity both for that gear and for groceries you'll pick up on the road.

Drumlins - they were like climbing the Niagara escarpment each time, and there are about 20 of them in a row, but the intervening downhill doesn't give much momentum. You'll be going up them in the opposite direction so they should be easier. As for 'bent climbing its only because I can't stand out of the saddle :) so its not as easy to do super-low speed climbs hauling a heavy load.

Don't recommend Harvey's book - we were following it somewhat as a guide, and the way that got us the most drumlins was his "scenic" detour. While he barely made mention of the drumlins, he was mentioning other hills you would need to use gears for (that were tiny bumps!), and had me freaked out about the climb to the border crossing calling it very steep which was a fairly easy grade (though long).

Part of the route we used as recommended by Harvey the Lake Ontario State Parkway. It seems wrong that they encourage bikes to ride on the shoulder of a limited-access divided highway, but it is fairly quiet and has no trucks. (or dogs ;) !) And as an aside then when we accidentally got on highway 405 after crossing into Canada it didn't seem too weird. :) However it is super flat, not particularly scenic and quite boring. After a while you'll be wishing for another road so you may want to turn further inland.

I hope you write it up somewhere. I'm riding around the lake in July (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=6627&v=n&term=john%20sullivan&context=all)

We are beginning in Buffalo and ending in Albany via Bike Rt. 9. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_9_in_New_York)

Have a great ride.

I took Lake Ontario State Parkway on my ride. It's completely flat and was pretty much abandoned in its western stretches. You'll see grass growing out of the expansion joints on the road surface. I rode 155km that day from Fort Niagara to east of Rochester. :D

I bought maps from gas stations as I went along.

Here's where I staying along the way:
1. Hobo camped in Bronte Beach Park, Oakville
2. Fourmile Creek SP, Youngston
3. Webster Park, Webster
4. Someone's lawn somewhere east of Oswego
5. Motel at Cape Vincent (note: no camp grounds near this location)
6. Motel at Brighton
7. Home

The Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge in Rochester will not be passable during the summer. You'll have to detour 12km down to the extremely hilly Empire Blvd. Heading north east along Empire Blvd, the road name changes to Gravel Rd. This road is actually gravel. :D

Don't try to take the "road" next to the Murray Canal near Trenton, between Loyalist Parkway and Presqu'Ile Provincial Park. It looks like this. I ended up in this mud hole and stayed at a motel in Brighton instead of Presqu'Ile.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ib2u8E6wacE/S28DEVxChOI/AAAAAAAAAn0/dpvT5Tnt8-0/s512/Lake%20Ontario%20Tour%202009%20194.JPG

As for rear panniers only, are you planning to eat on the road, or are you going to cook at camp? If you are bringing cooking gear its nice to have extra capacity both for that gear and for groceries you'll pick up on the road.


We're planning to eat on the road. We want to keep things light.


The Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge in Rochester will not be passable during the summer. You'll have to detour 12km down to the extremely hilly Empire Blvd.
Great! I actually read on a website that it cannot be crossed in the summer months, but I didn't know about how hilly Empire Blvd is...


Between Stoney Creek and Niagara Falls, consider staying off the Waterfront Trail, which is just the Queen Elizabeth Way north service road. This road was terribly windy both time I've ridden it, and the adjacency to the highway made it noisy.
We are actually planning to ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake since we have a friends place to stay there, not too mention it is a nice town for a stop-over. Unfortunately, it means we'll be sticking to North Service Rd for the most art. I too seem to remember it being windy during a ride from Toronto to Buffalo.

Can anyone comment on crossing the Queenston-lewiston Bridge by bike? I called them up and they said it is allowed, but you might have to remain in the traffic queue (there's no sidewalk to ride/walk across). Has anyone done this? Would you guys reccommend crossing at the Rainbow Bridge instead?

It's been quite a few years since I last went camping. I'm planning to head to a camping store in the next week or two and check out some tents and sleeping bags. Can most compact tents and bags these days fit right into panniers?

Thanks for all the feedback!

I've only crossed the Q-L bridge by car, but have crossed the Rainbow many times by bicycle; it's very easy to get on/off, just line up with the cars to the right and you'll be fine.

Can anyone comment on crossing the Queenston-lewiston Bridge by bike? I called them up and they said it is allowed, but you might have to remain in the traffic queue (there's no sidewalk to ride/walk across). Has anyone done this? Would you guys reccommend crossing at the Rainbow Bridge instead?

We were crossing from Lewiston to Queenston. In Lewiston there are quite a few crossings of the interstate onramps as you approach the bridge so you need to pay careful attention. Once on the bridge we just rode in the right lane which is reserved for trucks (but there were no trucks crossing at the time) Speed limit on the bridge is supposed to be 15 mph so I doubt you will find any problems.

The toll booth people happily collected 50 cents or so from each of us as cyclists but gave us no indication where to go so we proceeded straight. This was obviously the wrong move as we landed on highway 405. If you are going this way I would ask the toll booth operator how to exit on to the parkway instead. (there is supposedly a way)

If you are coming the other direction you will have to figure out how you can actually access the bridge without getting onto highway 405 first. We could see a fence to the parkway but the gate was locked. Other cyclists however told us there was another exit though.

It's been quite a few years since I last went camping. I'm planning to head to a camping store in the next week or two and check out some tents and sleeping bags. Can most compact tents and bags these days fit right into panniers?
Likely yes, but you can save you pannier space and bungee either one or both to the rack on top of your two panniers. Don't forget a sleeping pad! I have the super small Thermarest one that easily fits into a pannier but before my next trip plan to buy a much thicker one and bungee it to the rack instead. You can go light or you can go comfortable!

Great! I actually read on a website that it cannot be crossed in the summer months, but I didn't know about how hilly Empire Blvd is...

I only remember one hill on it which is a valley and then back up again. A bit of a plateau at the bottom to get decent momentum going up.

If all goes well I'll be doing a tour close to yours just a couple of days ahead of you. The plan currently is:

Leave Toronto July 9th and head towards the start of the Erie Canal just north of of Buffalo.
Take the Erie Canal to the town of Herkimer, then leave the Erie Canal to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY.
After a short visit there, I'll head north to Cape Vincent for the yearly family reunion (July 16-18).
Then I'll cross back over to Canada via Wolfe Island, then a 1.5 day trip back to Toronto, or if I convince my boss to give me a couple of more days, I might head up to Ottawa before coming back to Toronto.

To get on the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge from the Canadian side, there is an way into the customs/toll area from the Niagara Parkway just east of the roundabout. Last time I was in the area everything was under constuction (summer 2008), however Google Streetview shows what looks to be the way. Once across the bridge I have no information, however there is a highway exit just down the road. I could be wrong here. It's not a bad trip up to the Rainbow Bridge, lots of sights to make the trip worth it.

My trip journal on Crazyguy: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=5588&v=1c

I hope you write it up somewhere. I'm riding around the lake in July (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=6627&v=n&term=john%20sullivan&context=all)

We are beginning in Buffalo and ending in Albany via Bike Rt. 9. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_9_in_New_York)

Have a great ride.

Sorry to sort of hi-jack this thread-
however, CapeJohn are you sure you mean NY bike route 9 to go from Buffalo to Albany ?
NY bike route 5 runs east and west along the canal. NY bike route 9 runs north and south along the eastern part of NY, approximately parallel to the Hudson river and north near lake Champlain. Bike routes 5 and 9 intersect in the Albany area.
martianone

ps- what is the big deal about a couple of drumlins when there is a 1000+ km of almost flat cycling. along rt 104 in southwest oswego and martville are the biggest bumps, the road is narrow in this area and almost into Oswego with not the greatest shoulders in places and lots of weekend traffic. if going clockwise, on rt 104 in alton, take rt 14 south to lyons, when you hit the canal- turn right and get on the canal trail [it runs along the north side of the canal in this area] or if going counter clock wise, when you get to rt 14 go north [12-14 km] to rt 104.

Here's where I staying along the way:
3. Webster Park, Webster


I go trail running there almost every week!



The Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge in Rochester will not be passable during the summer. You'll have to detour 12km down to the extremely hilly Empire Blvd. Heading north east along Empire Blvd, the road name changes to Gravel Rd. This road is actually gravel. :D


Empire Blvd isn't really hilly in general, it's just that when it passes by the south end of Irondequoit Bay it's goes down, down, down to bay-level, then climbs back up, up, up again. Going down would take about a minute, then a minute or 2 on the flat, then back up would take maybe 5-15. (I've never rode it, but I drive it all the time.)

If you follow the Erie Canal you can avoid it entirely, and the kind of run-down urban suburbs on the west side of the Bay, and instead you can pass through some nice small towns like Pittsford and Fairport (each one has a cool bike shop) and you can checkout Genesee Valley Park where the canal and the Genesee River cross each other. If you wanted to see more of downtown Rochester, there's a bike/ped path that connects that park to the heart of downtown.

Greg

Hi mpm166, going around Lake Ontario is a great trip. I have gone both directions and there are no real advantages to going one direction or the other. You can't really get lost. If you have time before you go order the book from Harvey Boltzman - Around Lake Ontario Bicyclist Tour Guide. It is a great book that highlights locations and routes on your tour. You can find it on the internet and it is worth the money.
Where are you leaving from and when are you going? I live right on the Waterfront Trail and could look for you as I ride just about every day.
Happy Touring

We must of had an older edition of Harvey's book, because there were many inaccuracies. At one point, CBC wanted to use it to light the kinlin' (as one of the road-side signs advertised), but it was a borrowed book and I told her that she couldn't. If it was ours, I would have held the match.

Hi mpm166, going around Lake Ontario is a great trip. I have gone both directions and there are no real advantages to going one direction or the other. You can't really get lost. If you have time before you go order the book from Harvey Boltzman - Around Lake Ontario Bicyclist Tour Guide. It is a great book that highlights locations and routes on your tour. You can find it on the internet and it is worth the money.
Where are you leaving from and when are you going? I live right on the Waterfront Trail and could look for you as I ride just about every day.
Happy Touring

Hey cyberpep,

Thans for the support. We haven't solidified the exact start date yet, but it will be in late May (most likely the last week). We'll be leaving from Toronto and heading counter-clockwise around the lake.

I was thinking about buying the book, but didn't want to drop ~$45 US to get it shipped here without seeing it before and knowing it would be suitable for the tour. I still have plenty of time to order it if I want, but I'll probably just end up using a combination of fold-out maps and Google-map print offs (I better get printing!). The one sample page Harvey had (http://www.cyclotour.com/images/Kuckville.jpg) did little to convince me to purchase the book.

As for camping, I've been marking down all the campsites around the Lake on both the Ontario side and the NY side. Do these campsites fill up in late May/early June? Do you think I'd be able to wheel in and get a site without reservations? It's hard to know exactly what day I'll arrive to a certain campsite at this point in time.

Thanks again!

As for camping, I've been marking down all the campsites around the Lake on both the Ontario side and the NY side. Do these campsites fill up in late May/early June? Do you think I'd be able to wheel in and get a site without reservations? It's hard to know exactly what day I'll arrive to a certain campsite at this point in time.

Thanks again!
We did our trip around Lake Ontario in early June, and had absolutely no problems getting any campsites wheeling in. As long as you do the trip before school lets out you should be great. Obviously take note of when the May long weekends are in both canada and the u.s. if you are going before June, as the long weekends may be booked.

So I'm leaving in a week. I'm printing off some routes I'll likely be following.

Has anyone done any riding on HW 104? It looks like I'm going to be on it for a fair bit east of Rochester. How is it for cycling? Can anyone offer any alternatives (that avoid significant navigating)?

Also, are cyclists permitted on the Lake Ontario State Parkway?

Thanks!

So I'm leaving in a week. I'm printing off some routes I'll likely be following.

Has anyone done any riding on HW 104? It looks like I'm going to be on it for a fair bit east of Rochester. How is it for cycling? Can anyone offer any alternatives (that avoid significant navigating)?

Also, are cyclists permitted on the Lake Ontario State Parkway?

Thanks!

I live in Rochester, and have cycled both. The Lake Ontario State Parkway is a 55-MPH road, but it has very wide shoulders, and is fine for biking. Nice and scenic. Don't expect many services, though.

As for 104 - you don't want to ride it. Seriously, avoid it completely. The portion that goes through Greece is 4 lanes of shoulder-less Mall hell. Once you get through Rochester and head east past Webster, it's a limited-access highway, and you can't bike it, anyhow. Once you get to the town of Ontario, farther east, it's rideable, but still sucks because of traffic and road conditions. ( There are a LOT of fatal accidents there. ) If I recall correctly, it's OK around Williamson and father east, but really, I'd choose other routes.

Depending on your schedule, if you're heading West to East on the NY side, I'd recommend taking the Parkway to Route 19, and then head south about 10 miles to the village of Brockport. From there, you can either take the Erie Canal towpath East through Rochester, or head just a mile south of Brockport and take NY Bike Route 5, which is an outstanding route, mostly along State Route 31. Once you're East of Rochester, you can head north again towards the lake.