Seeking info on trail and road conditions in Eastern Canada for loaded touring
 

Hi,

I am heading toward Nova Scotia, PEI and possibly sections of the Route Verte in Canada.

I've noticed Warnings posted on the official Route Verte mapping tool that recommend use of hybrid bikes. I will be riding a touring bike (steel road bike with 32-622 700c tires) and I'm wondering if the routes and roads are so rough that I will regret this choice? I will have a loaded bike part of the time, and unloaded when my gear is set up in camp.

I'm hailing from the very flat regions of Florida. Most of my touring has been on road / paved surfaces, but I have faced a few loose trails from time to time. The hardest challenge I found was trying to negotiate up a hill on loose dirt/gravel -- I couldn't get enough traction and with the weight on my bike, my rear tires simply spun out beneath me.

Any suggestions are appreciated regarding the available routes in these areas.

Thanks,

Damselfli

There's the odd soft surface here and there but for the most part, 32mm tires are fine. A short section of Route Verte #1 around St-Simon-sur-Mer is on tougher gravel roads with a few steep hills, leading to some insanely steep but short hills on a paved bike path. This is not your average boring rail-trail. The scenery and tranquility is well worth a tiny bit of suffering.

Which trails do you plan on biking?

Erick,
Thank you for the response ~ I'm likely only aware of the obvious trails:
Confederation Trail on PEI
Cabot Trail on Nova Scotia
Route Verte (if I get that far)

Am I allowed to cycle the entire Trans-Canada Trail on Nova Scotia, or are parts limited to hiking?
There seem to be other trails on NS but I'm not sure how to acquire the maps online.

I found this link for "Shared use trails" on NS, but it's laborious to open each county, then a section, and then the index to read whether cycling is allowed on that particular segment. Maybe there is another way to access the trails that allow cycling?
http://www.trails.gov.ns.ca/SharedUs...red_index.html


If there are others trails or favorites, please do pass on your recommendations. Everything I've been reading (and looking at) looks beautiful ~ I'm very excited about the trip.

I learned last week that September is PEI's month-long culinary festival, so it may not be quite as peaceful as I envisioned, but on the other hand, it seems I'll be surrounded by good food!

I biked small parts of the confederation trail and the surface was quite coarse (photo). I was using 50mm tires. It was ok but like many trails, it often feels like a tunnel made of trees.

The Cabot trail is a road, a beautiful one at that. If you want to hike the skyline trail, you can bike about halfway in.

Most or the Route Verte is composed of quiet roads, roads with shoulders and actual bike trails.

I don't know how is the Trans-Canada trail in NS, but here in Quebec, it's mostly hiking, rarely biking, and even the odd paved road. It's not something I would rely on.

The culinary festival does not draw a lot of people. P.E.I. is pretty quiet in September.

I was in PEI last July mostly out of Summerside and the roads were very quiet.Major highway from Tignish to Charlottetown has wide paved shoulders.If you're taking the bridge route you will have to take a shuttle ride as bike and pedestrians ar not allowed.