Rides and Races - Toronto Fixed

I got lucky with my airfare, b/c I flew when Air Tango still existed. Total cost for two tickets (TO > Van and then St. John's NL > TO) was $440.

Food was by far my most expensive 'item'. I can't find my trip budget right now, but maybe around $1500 for a 57 day trip.

I got lucky with my airfare, b/c I flew when Air Tango still existed. Total cost for two tickets (TO > Van and then St. John's NL > TO) was $440.

Food was by far my most expensive 'item'. I can't find my trip budget right now, but maybe around $1500 for a 57 day trip.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I just booked a ticket from LA > TO for $262 USD on United, all taxes in.

You could consider hennessy hammocks instead of tents. That's what I've started using...

I've been meaning to check those out. 32Flavours has one of those too and swears by it. You can set them up with no trees with trekking poles as well I believe, not that you'll (shiznaz) be travelling with trekking poles (I assume), but you could possibly rig something up with the bikes. :P

To everyone who has done cross-continental tours here: How much did you spend on airfare?

My buddy and I are planning on starting in LA, and then biking north to BC and east to Toronto. If we are lucky we can get flights for as little as $200 one way, which would mean our primary expense for the trip will be food and drink. We are planning on camping the whole way and cooking what we can, taking 2-3 months to do it.


If it were me flying to LA, I'd look at Southwest flying out of Buffalo. It's a pain to get there, but my roommate flies within the US all the time and says that SW is usually WAY cheaper. They have $99 one way flights sometimes.

As for food: I think the $1500 idea is good. It will depend on the length of your trip though. I have no idea how long it takes to go from LA to Van, so I don't know. But, my experience and Tovi's (apparently) is to budget $30 a day. You can go cheaper, but budget that, you'll be sick of PB&J sandwiches quick!!

+1 on the Buffalo idea. I flew to NYC on JetBlue out of Buffalo a couple of years ago and it was fully half the price of the cheapest flight I found out of Toronto.

Cool story. And good ride! I actually did the cross-Canada thing as well (check out www.whereisjer.com) in 2003. It's funny that I'm talking to you, simply b/c I have this friend who wants to do a cross-Canada trip this summer, and directed me to your site, saying he wanted to follow your same route! Don't know if he'll follow through, but he plans to do the ride on a tandem with a blind person. Fund raising is also in the plans.


Tovi,

I know exactly who you are talking about, I went to law school with him. Last time I heard he had changed the plans to possibly either go from Toronto to Halifax, or Van to Thunder Bay. He has three weeks (apparently) and I told him that Toronto to Halifax is only two, and Van to Thunder Bay is four (or thereabouts) so who knows.

I rode with him in the fall and we made it about 25km, after three rest stops and he thought we should turn around. So let's hope he starts training. ;)

On the idea of food I've gotten into the habit of traveling with 3-5 MREs when I'm going to be away from civilization for any length of time. There great for when its raining and cooking is the last thing you want to do or if you do get stuck somewhere you at least have some food energy. I bought a box of US Military ones and that I'm still working through but I know that MEC sells similiar and much tastier versions. Just make sure you get some hot sauce in whatever you eat, there not exactly the easiest things to digest in the world.

Tovi, I know exactly who you are talking about, I went to law school with him. Last time I heard he had changed the plans to possibly either go from Toronto to Halifax, or Van to Thunder Bay. He has three weeks (apparently) and I told him that Toronto to Halifax is only two, and Van to Thunder Bay is four (or thereabouts) so who knows.

I rode with him in the fall and we made it about 25km, after three rest stops and he thought we should turn around. So let's hope he starts training. ;)

Hah! Yigal Rifkind! Hilarious! Yah, he keeps insisting that Van > TBay can be done in 3 weeks, but I keep telling him no. Last time we spoke (maybe two weeks ago), I talked him into doing TO > Hali, which would make an excellent three week ride.

mmm Salisbury Steak in a bag.

You can buy boxes of american MRE's off ebay. Only one of them was good though. I think it was the rice with m&ms.

Has anyone ever felt the need to carry an EPIRB with them while touring?

As an aside, does anyone know a source for aftermarket wipers for old shocks (RockShox Mag21's). There's a set on cl and I found a source for seals, but not wipers. Threaded :D

Sorry, can't help with the question... but I'd love to hear where you found replacement seals. I'm not sure which part is exactly which, but I think the seal is the part I need for my old Judy XC. I gave up on it after calling RockShox and a few local stores but I still have the fork and would like to get it back together again if possible.

American? Good God man if your ordering military ration boilers get Canadian, the US soldiers would practically trade a Jeep for one of my meals.

Hah! Yigal Rifkind! Hilarious! Yah, he keeps insisting that Van > TBay can be done in 3 weeks, but I keep telling him no. Last time we spoke (maybe two weeks ago), I talked him into doing TO > Hali, which would make an excellent three week ride.

I think Van to TBay can be done in three weeks, but it would be a hard three weeks, and it wouldn't be much fun. Toronto to Halifax in three weeks is simple. We should suggest Toronto to St. John's. It would add a few more days onto the trip, but at least it's more of a three week trip.

Hopefully he does ride somewhere.

Anyone ever tried one of these?

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/images/topeak_bikamper.jpg

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod964.htm

Looks pretty cool, though I originally thought it was a tent to keep my bikes dry in the elements. Looks like a great idea for a tour, but would want it to cover the bike more me thinks.

I got a great deal on the US ones and I got to choose the types that went into the box which made it worthwhile. The honest truth is that if I'm eating an MRE I don't care what it tastes like I want the calories and thats about it. Ours are pretty good though, I never understood why some of the varieties are so horrible, if an army marches on its stomach then Iraq makes sense if there eating most of that stuff. They do, however, give you a ton of calories. I trekked through the jungle in Costa for 10 days once and survived on them because making fires was impossible or inadvisable most of the trip. I was happy to get back to real food but I was able to survive without any problems on two meals a day.

A question for you all since you seem to be experienced in the touring:

How far per day is reasonable? Would two weeks be a reasonable amount of time to do Sydney NS to St Johns with a side trip to Gros Morne national park?

For intake you can't go wrong. NOTE: Dehydrated potato flakes make neat trip flares,

A question for you all since you seem to be experienced in the touring:

How far per day is reasonable? Would two weeks be a reasonable amount of time to do Sydney NS to St Johns with a side trip to Gros Morne national park?

I think I averaged 135km a day, and that was through mountains. But, that's a pretty reasonable ride on most days, in my opinion. So, since I"m not sure how far those locations are apart, I can't say.

Sorry, can't help with the question... but I'd love to hear where you found replacement seals. I'm not sure which part is exactly which, but I think the seal is the part I need for my old Judy XC. I gave up on it after calling RockShox and a few local stores but I still have the fork and would like to get it back together again if possible.

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id46.html

The also have pdf's for a stinkload of OEM manuals as well as pictorials for a number of forks. You can also go to angryasian.com if you have questions about your fork. Excellent resource for fork maintenance.

Enduro responded to my email query about stock instantly.

A question for you all since you seem to be experienced in the touring:

How far per day is reasonable? Would two weeks be a reasonable amount of time to do Sydney NS to St Johns with a side trip to Gros Morne national park?

One way? That's probably about 1100km's of riding (not including little day/side trips obviously). My only distance cycling experience is riding to Montreal last Summer which was about 650km in 6 days (charity ride) which was a fairly relaxed pace, but that was easy peasy.

I think Van to TBay can be done in three weeks, but it would be a hard three weeks, and it wouldn't be much fun. Toronto to Halifax in three weeks is simple. We should suggest Toronto to St. John's. It would add a few more days onto the trip, but at least it's more of a three week trip.

Similar to any tour done by a roadie, there's the dilema of covering as much km's as possible, versus enjoying where you are and absorbing local offerings/culture/etc. The journey versus the destination, if you will. That being said, unless you're trying to set a record, Van > TBay cannot be done in 3 weeks. You did it in four weeks fully supported, I did it in five weeks, self-supported. I know that I *wouldn't* do it any faster, nor do I think I could (at least by shaving off 2 or 3 days, max). And I had a good aerobic foundation and endurance. As for Yigal, I'm all for supporting / encouraging him, but I don't think he can do Van > TO in 3wks. No way. Even if he tried, he'd be racing against himself all day, every day. Zero fun in that.

Doing Newfoundland sucks, btw. I only did it b/c I insisted on doing end-to-end.

Doing Newfoundland sucks, btw. I only did it b/c I insisted on doing end-to-end.

Dreams...shattered!

What sucks about it? Roads? Scenery? (lack of) civilization?

What is a good maritime tour?

Doing Newfoundland sucks, btw. I only did it b/c I insisted on doing end-to-end.

The mid to north end rocked. Deer Lake to St. Anthony although the stint from Flowers Cove north to St. Anthony was pretty grim.
$400 return into St. Anthony.
http://cavit8.zidev.com/newfoundland

A question for you all since you seem to be experienced in the touring:
How far per day is reasonable? Would two weeks be a reasonable amount of time to do Sydney NS to St Johns with a side trip to Gros Morne national park?

In my humble opinion, crossing NL by bike isn't a good idea. When you take the ferry to Port-au-Basque (west coast of the rock), you're only road choice is the TCH. Yah, its paved well, but there's nothing on it. Towns are spaced apart way too far for a cyclist. And there's nothing in the way of random gas stations/resto's/campgrounds to depend on. It's quite sparse. The weather changes quite quickly, it's never warm, and the wind blows like crazy. If you think that's just my experience, just notice the forests jutting up against the road. They're all permanently tilted over from the wind! 6 or 7 days is enough to cross it directly, though.

As for Gros Morne, it's wicked wicked wicked. If you asked me, I think going from Port-au-Basque to St. Anthony would make a cool trip. And of course get yourself distracted with day-hikes in the park. They're unreal.

my recollection from Gros Morne was that the road surfaces sucked and it was quite hilly. But I was getting around by car. Cavit8 is probably a better source than I.

Keith, is there a possibility I could come down to cavern and throw a leg over one of the IROs you have there? I have to figure out what size I'm going to get in this group buy. I feel like a dick asking to just use your steeds for sizing, but I figure your gonna put it together and lace the wheels. Anyways I have wednesday off so I was wondering if I could come down and we could have a safety meeting along with a test. I'd need to try a 50 and 52 if you have 'em.

Road conditions through Gros Morne, which was 80% of the trip ( probably not what a lot of people would call a bike tour) were pretty good for the most part. Outside the park, road conditions were pretty good until you got further north, say around Port aux Choix. Still navigable but lots of frost damage in some areas. It's been about two years since I was there so things may well have changed a bit.

Dreams...shattered!

What sucks about it? Roads? Scenery? (lack of) civilization?

What is a good maritime tour?

Lobster at the end of your ride.

:lol: Only if it's in season

i had a friend who rode from vancouver to toronto in about 3 weeks, but he had been a courier forever so his endurance was much higher than mine is... when i asked him what he did for food he was like, "cans of beans... with lime juice" :eek: :eek: :eek:

what's the Lime juice for? I can see the beans as being a great source of proteins and sits in the belly for awhile.

"flavour"

I think I suggested that Yigal ride from Vancouver to Kenora (or Winnipeg). I just think the Rockies are amazing to ride through. Perhaps because I was on the last leg (no pun intended) of my trip, but from Toronto to Halifax was nice, but not nearly the same as the Rockies. Plus, I like the challenge of riding up a mountain.

In my humble opinion, crossing NL by bike isn't a good idea. When you take the ferry to Port-au-Basque (west coast of the rock), you're only road choice is the TCH. Yah, its paved well, but there's nothing on it. Towns are spaced apart way too far for a cyclist. And there's nothing in the way of random gas stations/resto's/campgrounds to depend on. It's quite sparse. The weather changes quite quickly, it's never warm, and the wind blows like crazy. If you think that's just my experience, just notice the forests jutting up against the road. They're all permanently tilted over from the wind! 6 or 7 days is enough to cross it directly, though.

As for Gros Morne, it's wicked wicked wicked. If you asked me, I think going from Port-au-Basque to St. Anthony would make a cool trip. And of course get yourself distracted with day-hikes in the park. They're unreal.

I grew up there, so I can vouch for much of that. The central part of the province would be pretty awful to drive through. The area around Corner Brook/Gros Morne is quite beautiful, as are some areas along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula (ie. around St. John's). The wind/rain/fog would likely make your life miserable. Keep in mind all of the canadian climate "best of" lists the province is in.. windiest.. least number of sunny days.. most foggy days.. :P Especially St. John's (where I grew up).. check this out: http://atlantic-web1.ns.ec.gc.ca/climatecentre/default.asp?lang=En&n=83846147-1#champion

I think I suggested that Yigal ride from Vancouver to Kenora (or Winnipeg). I just think the Rockies are amazing to ride through. Perhaps because I was on the last leg (no pun intended) of my trip, but from Toronto to Halifax was nice, but not nearly the same as the Rockies. Plus, I like the challenge of riding up a mountain.

What did you do to train for the mountains? Not exactly much climbing around here. :P What sort of gearing did you use?

I grew up there, so I can vouch for much of that. The central part of the province would be pretty awful to drive through. The area around Corner Brook/Gros Morne is quite beautiful, as are some areas along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula (ie. around St. John's). The wind/rain/fog would likely make your life miserable. Keep in mind all of the canadian climate "best of" lists the province is in.. windiest.. least number of sunny days.. most foggy days.. :P Especially St. John's (where I grew up).. check this out: http://atlantic-web1.ns.ec.gc.ca/climatecentre/default.asp?lang=En&n=83846147-1#champion


I always knew there was something odd about you. Now it all makes sense your from the Rock...

What did you do to train for the mountains? Not exactly much climbing around here. :P What sort of gearing did you use?

I rode up Yonge street by St. Claire! :)

No, you're right, I couldn't really train much. If I were to do it again (and I think I'm going to go to France to do some of the Tour climbs) I'll do more riding up the Hamilton 'mountain'.

Because I only have one leg, I needed the easiest gearing possible for the mountains. So I had a triple in the front (I'm not sure the teeth) and a 25 in teh back. I was often in that gearing going up the mountain.

It's weird because the mountains were the hardest part of the trip for me (the rest was a mental struggle, mountains were both mental and physical) but it was the best part because I did them. There's a sense of accomplishment riding up a mountain that you don't get riding in Sask.

Because I only have one leg, I needed the easiest gearing possible for the mountains. So I had a triple in the front (I'm not sure the teeth) and a 25 in teh back. I was often in that gearing going up the mountain.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I did some one-footed pedaling drills on my trainer last week. I was doing about 30s left, 30s both (rest), 30s right, 30s both (repeat). Let me just say I have no idea how you do it. hehehe. My legs were super stiff the next day, and that was just from about 10 minutes of doing that drill.

I wish I still had the climbing abilities I had when I was mountain biking a lot in Newfoundland. I don't think I could ride fixed in St. John's.. not without a totally ridiculous gear ratio and/or thunder thighs. :P


I always knew there was something odd about you. Now it all makes sense your from the Rock...

That's only one small part of it.. I'm an enigma wrapped in a puzzle I tells you. :)

One leg? Son of a........
I swear I will never ever complain about how hard a ride was EVER again.

Yeah man, I'm huffing and puffing at the top of bathurst and st. clair and you're climbing the rockies with one leg. If you didn't feel a sense of accomplishment from that I'd have to jump off a bridge!

As far as tents for the trip go, I'm not too hot on the idea of a hammock or bivy sack as I'd like some space to be able to spread out my stuff or sit out the rain for a day comfortably. Being able to sit up straight is a must-have for shelter in my books. Still we have some time to think it over. We are thinking of getting the Big Agnes Seedhouse 3-SL which is the lightest 3 person tent MEC makes. My only concern is sharing a tent with a guy for 2-3 months... ugh. I have read some reviews of that Bikamper tent and the concensus is its a really bad design. Not any lighter than a regular tent, harder to set up, hard to get in and out of, makes you need to take your front wheel off every time you pitch the tent, makes the tent get covered in bike grease, more susceptible to tearing, more expensive. Its pretty much a bad tent all round. It doesn't even cover the bike properly

I don't think we will be getting much in the way of MREs. I am hoping we will be able to stop at a bunch of cheap truck stops for all day breakfasts and calorie laden greasefests whenever we pass them during the day, and then have dinner of random canned stuff and pasta and fresh veggies or whatever else we can pick up at grocery stores or on the side of the road. Lunch will be the regular fodder and breakfast porridge, fruit and coffee. I think rather than MREs I'd just carry a few spare clif bars or something. 2 of those can pretty much replace a meal in a pinch, plus I can eat them on the road.

Not that I don't appreciate all the respect. But, I do have an artificial leg, and while it only does probably 25% of the actual work pedalling, it's not like I literally only use one leg.

Here's a creative question though:

I'm building my ss/fixie and I only have one leg. I need a name for the bike that I'll get cut out in vinyl and attach. I figure there has to be a good way to incorporate one leg/one gear. But creatively.

haha don't be so modest! "Yeah whatever, climbing Everest wasn't that hard, my shoes did most of the work anyways."

In re: to naming your bike: I found this totally random and hilarious site: http://www.999eyes.com/eye-live-oddities/pegleg/pegleg-the-clown.htm

Please don't hate me.

For a while my nickname became Peggy. I asked why, and was told that it originally was Peg, and then it just morphed into Peggy.

Thankfully that's over!

So, the woman plans on taking me to Paris Roubaix this year.

O.
M.
F.
G.

*teen girl glee*

So, the woman plans on taking me to Paris Roubaix this year.

O.
M.
F.
G.

*teen girl glee*

that be the girl you should marry!

I'm more than a half-decade in already, so my chances of escape are basically nil at this point.

I'm more than a half-decade in already, so my chances of escape are basically nil at this point.

Careful what you say, I was that far/a bit further when my dream hit reality...hard.

So, the woman plans on taking me to Paris Roubaix this year.

O.
M.
F.
G.

*teen girl glee*

such bike nerdiness :)

Agreed. My only reason for threaded would be aesthetic.

how about being able to adjust your bar height and positioning without fussing with the headset?

how about being able to adjust your bar height and positioning without fussing with the headset?

How often do you adjust that though, after getting it where you like it? :D