clasher

I'm looking for a nice ride into the big city... I can make it to Kelso/Glen Eden without much traffic but I know it's going to get harder to find quiet roads beyond Milton... is it feasible to ride down to the lakeshore and follow that trail instead of riding through Mississauga? I've done little driving or visiting there so I have no clue if they have any trails or anything... google maps wasn't really all that helpful, basically just suggesting Derry Road to eglinton or some combination thereof.

I don't mind riding the hills or taking a longer way around, I'd just rather quiet roads and nice scenery most of the way. Any ideas?

urbanlegend

if you can get to finch and 427 you can get on the humber trail and take that all the way down to the lakeshore and take the martin goodman trail all the way downtown. check out the peel map https://www.walkandrollpeel.ca/map/themap.asp to get close and the toronto map https://www.toronto.ca/cycling/map/index.htm to get into the city.

take a peek at the maps and ask any questions from there. there are some points when you'll need to navigate on roads to get between sections of path but it's not too bad if you have an idea of where you're going when you head out.

have fun

j

conspiratemus1

If you keep your wits about you, with "a constant and vigilant lookout", as the railway operating rules say, Mississauga Rd. right down to Lakeshore Rd. isn't that bad and you don't get lost. It's about as "green" as Mississauga gets, and close enough to Hurontario (old Hwy 10) that it's mostly residential car traffic, not as many heavy trucks. Up your way, we used to prefer Creditview but when they put the 407 through they dead-ended Creditview so you have to detour over to Mississauga Rd. anyway to cross the ETR.

The hardest part about riding in the GTA is not the traffic per se, it's the repetitive acceleration from all those stoplights (and other traffic slowdowns you get caught in) that really tires you out. If you had to turn around and ride back to Kitchener from downtown I think you'd find it really dispiriting.

Don't forget you can take your bike on the GO Trains outside rush hours and they run hourly on weekends along the Lakeshore corridor (not to Milton or Georgetown unfortunately. That would be sweet!) You could use Mississauga Rd. to get to Port Credit or Clarkson Stations.

Edit:....or take the train all the way to Aldershot and use the multitude of quiet roads paralleling Hwys 6 and 8 to get yourself across Flamborough and back to Kitchener.

clasher

I've done a bit of riding in Toronto and the traffic is killer... I don't plan on doing an out-and-back of the ride, likely stay over a night at least and maybe do the ride home at night.

I was looking at the map and like the Mississauga Rd. idea, I'm not averse to the traffic but I might just head to the port credit GO station if the time works out. I was thinking of coming across south of Milton and picking up Burnhamthorpe Road and take that to Mississauge, I also noticed the Collegeway seemed to be a nice parallel road... I'm sure I can follow parallel to Lakeshore on side streets until the paved trail starts near mimico, I know my way from there into the city, I've just never cycled in Mississauga before.

Thanks for the links and pointers.

aglauser

You probably already know this, and prefer to ride, but the GO bus from KW to Toronto has a bike rack. Might be a good choice for some or all of the ride back.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the route you end up taking, as I'll probably be doing something similar this summer.

roosmachine

Where exactly are you biking to and from? I work in Milton and commuted for 6 months to south east Mississauga. Depending on where in Milton you are starting from can make a bit of a difference. I used to ride out of the town on Main St, south on 5th Line which turns and becomes Lower Base Line. You can take that east across to 6th Line. 6th Line goes straight down to the QEW, there is an path under the QEW and then you can take Cross St/Service Rd to Chartwell, Chartwell down to the Lakeshore and then your golden into Toronto.

This route depends on when the bridge work on 5th line/Lower Base Line is done, currently there is no access in that area. YOu can jet across on Britannia Road to 6th Line and down, or Derry Rd over to 6th Line. Derry is two lanes each way now, but busy. Britannia can be busy with only one lane each way as well. Its a short 1.5km section.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/450930