Touring - Nova Scotia and Maine tour or "How the heck to I get to the Cabot Trail?!?"

Hello all- I'm trying to plan a tour of Nova Scotia including the cabot trail, departing from somewhere in new england. Unfortunately the ferry from Portland ME to NS no longer runs, and this has put a kink in my plans.
Right now I'm thinking of driving to Bangor and leaving the car there, riding to St. John, and taking the ferry to Digby NS from there.
Has anyone done this? How was the riding in Maine? Any alternative route suggestions?
I want to make this tour about 2 1/2 weeks (60 miles a day?), keeping driving time to minimum. I live in Rhode Island, and am able to drive and leave my car anywhere. I wouldn't mind using public transit instead, but not if it's going to be a big ordeal.
Thanks!

Hmm, on second though it probably makes more sense to just drive straight to St John and leave the car there. Has anyone done this?

sorry I have not, but do want to mention that the Cabot Trail, while beautiful, has some pretty steep sections, so just be careful with daily distance planning as 100k per day most likely will be a bit much in those sections. I havent ridden it, but a friend has. I am sure you can find trip journals online from it, which is always a great way to get a proper idea of what to expect.
Crazyguyonabike may have some journals.

all the best with planning and hope you can get some experienced pointers for your questions.

Thanks for the advice! I'm actually debating between Nova Scotia and La Route Verte. Have you ridden La Route Verte?

have you checked Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia ferry "BlueNose"? I just did and found that these services have been closed 2009 :-( . I used this in 1985 and toured all of NSCA, some by default!

If you go from mainland you can tap Cabot Trail from New Glasgow. Like djb above mentioned, climbs are tough. Be carefull on decend, there were no road shoulders when I was there. I wiped out- crashed on road downhill from Cabot Trail and spent "Canada Day" in Sydney rebuilding trashed rear wheel at bike shop.

Don't miss the "Bay of Funday" tidal surges! Halifax and Atlantic Coast are noteworthy as well!

Enjoy your tour!
tomg

Thanks for the advice! I'm actually debating between Nova Scotia and La Route Verte. Have you ridden La Route Verte?

La Route Verte is a network of paths and routes rather than a single route. There are many nice rides but if you had your eyes on the Cabot Trail, I'd cycle that. It's quite a treat.

http://www.borealphoto.com/keyword/cape breton

La Route Verte is a network of paths and routes rather than a single route. There are many nice rides but if you had your eyes on the Cabot Trail, I'd cycle that. It's quite a treat.

http://www.borealphoto.com/keyword/cape breton

The portion I was thinking of doing was from Montreal to Gaspesie, and then a loop around Gaspesie. I think you're right though, Cape Breton sounds fantastic.

I've done parts of the Route Verte- the infrastructure is amazing. And Quebec is a fascinating place for an anglophone canadian like myself.

I haven't cycled in Cape Breton but I'm from Nova Scotia. CB is an amazing place and the geography is mind-blowing. Yeah, you'll need some good brakes.

I don't know how much you know of Quebec or Cape Breton. Both places are unique culturally. They would offer quite different experiences. Personally I'd always prefer being near the ocean...

I wonder if you could also fly more easily from New York to Halifax or Sydney NS? That might simplify things and leave more time for biking.

In any case it sounds like you're in for a great trip.

have you checked Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia ferry "BlueNose"? I just did and found that these services have been closed 2009 :-( . I used this in 1985 and toured all of NSCA, some by default!

If you go from mainland you can tap Cabot Trail from New Glasgow. Like djb above mentioned, climbs are tough. Be carefull on decend, there were no road shoulders when I was there. I wiped out- crashed on road downhill from Cabot Trail and spent "Canada Day" in Sydney rebuilding trashed rear wheel at bike shop.

Don't miss the "Bay of Funday" tidal surges! Halifax and Atlantic Coast are noteworthy as well!

Enjoy your tour!
tomg

Yes, I think all of the Maine-NS Ferries are closed now- not enough customers :(
I think the ferry from New Brunswick to Digby is the closest one to me now. It looks like it will still shave off some time vs driving all the way to NS.

I've done parts of the Route Verte- the infrastructure is amazing. And Quebec is a fascinating place for an anglophone canadian like myself.

I haven't cycled in Cape Breton but I'm from Nova Scotia. CB is an amazing place and the geography is mind-blowing. Yeah, you'll need some good brakes.

I don't know how much you know of Quebec or Cape Breton. Both places are unique culturally. They would offer quite different experiences. Personally I'd always prefer being near the ocean...

I wonder if you could also fly more easily from New York to Halifax or Sydney NS? That might simplify things and leave more time for biking.

In any case it sounds like you're in for a great trip.

I'm near Boston, so it should be an 8 hour drive to the New Brunswick ferry for me (and a 7 hour drive to Montreal), short enough that I'd rather not deal with putting my bike on a plane. I've spent time in Montreal, but not really the rest of Quebec, and I've never been to Nova Scotia. Eventually I'll do both, and maybe Newfoundland and Labrador too!
Is there any portion of La Route Verte that you'd particularly recommend?

I entered Quebec from Edmunston, NB. To Riviere de Loup there is an amazing bike trail converted from an old railway. It cuts right through the forest, has rustic camping sites, and at one point hugs a huge, beautiful lake.
Then I followed the Saint Lawrence river all the way to Ontario. It's beautiful- the sun setting behind the laurentians, the vibrant little towns...I loved stopping in Quebec city and Montreal each for a few days...but it depends on whether you're touring to get out of the city or not. No matter what, I'd say it's worth it to visit Quebec city. It's unlike any other city on this continent, I think.
There were also a lot of cyclists (in October) whereas in rural New Brunswick there were NONE!

But it would be hard for me to recommend Quebec over Cape Breton or vis-versa. Both should be amazing places to tour.

Is there any portion of La Route Verte that you'd particularly recommend?

Montréal and around the Gaspé peninsula is excellent. The common route is MTL > QC on the north shore of the St-Lawrence and on the south shore from QC. IMO, the best parts are from Montmagny and east. The cycling culture is certainly more vibrant than in NS.

The portion I was thinking of doing was from Montreal to Gaspesie, and then a loop around Gaspesie. I think you're right though, Cape Breton sounds fantastic.

just as a heads up for Mtl -Gaspesie, car driving time from Montreal to , lets say Rimouski (a sort of "beginning" part of the Gaspe "loop" that I chose off the top of my head) is about 7 hours.
Remember the old calculation of 1 hour car time = 1 day bike time, so about a week just to get to the start of the peninsula (at 100k per day more or less)

When I rode the Gaspe peninsula, I drove a car out to about 2 hours past Rimouski and left my car at a friends Aunts place, just to save time getting out there, as opposed to riding my bike the whole way out there, then whole way back to Mtl.

Rimouski to Gaspe (the town) will take a good 8 days Id say.(very hilly sections along this way) and then probably Gaspe back to Rimouski going along the other side of the peninsula must be at least that, maybe 10 or more days, so a "leave car in Rimouski" route would probably be 17-20 days. (Im being conservative in estimates, not knowing your riding, and allowing for shorter days etc**your bike really should have low low gearing, especially if you are taking a tent and all the kitchen sink stuff with you.

basically I just did some quick Mapquest stuff to get an idea of travel times, you can do the same for other trip ideas.

even this approach would mean a heck of a lot of car driving for you, Boston to Mtl, Mtl to where ever, plus you would have to work out where to leave your car (doable, especially in a small town)

other ideas could be Mtl to Quebec City and back (3 days biking more or less each way) or past Quebec a bit....?

but then again, Cape Breton looks appealing too....

decisions decisions.

garagegirl, I should have referred you to this thread of this lady and her husband asking about an upcoming Gaspe trip they plan to do in July. Some good points brought up that you may find helpful.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/713087-Gaspe-circle-of-outer-end-July-2011

Thanks so much everyone, you've all been a big help!