kdos

I always hear that Canada, along with other places, is a very friendly and safe place to ride in comparision to the US.

Are there any places, though, similiar to Los Angeles and the likes, in Canada? Places that just don't seem to be all that friendly or safe, so you'd rather not risk going through?

Machka 

In western Canada there is NOTHING like Los Angeles!! Not even close!

We've got some big-ish cities here, but I would feel just fine riding right through the middle of Calgary, Edmonton, or Winnipeg. Vancouver might be a little bit of a challenge just because I don't know it very well, and it seems congested to me. But I know many cyclists who do ride in Vancouver, and if you get into the Stanley Park, you can cover quite a bit of distance just fine.

As far as I've experienced here, the least cyclist-friendly city I've been in is Winnipeg, and I lived and cycled there for 13 years. Winnipeg is easy to get around, and its "bad" areas encompass maybe a few blocks which are easy to avoid, but the drivers don't take too kindly to cyclists ... so you've just got to be alert when you ride. As soon as you get out into the country around Winnipeg, the drivers and people you'll encounter there are quite friendly ... it's just in the city where you've got to be a bit more careful.


Oh wait ... Hobema!! You'll want to avoid Hobema!!!

skookum

Umm. I've heard avoid the pier areas at night around where the Alaska ferry docks.
(Popular with cycle tourists going North to Alaska) in Prince Rupert.

There are some unsavoury areas in T.O and Van, but if you are there in daylight and mind your own business, you'll be alright.

Machka tell them why to avoid Hobbema.

Machka 

This article was written back in mid-July: https://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...ng-050715.html

This article was written August 16th: https://reddeeradvocate.com/portals-c...d=475871&more=

This one was written August 22nd: https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/porta...d=478910&more=

And this one: https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/porta...d=478909&more=

And the ones that will appear in tomorrow's paper will tell of the other stabbing, and the two other shootings.

There's probably a similar article for just about every weekend for several weeks now.

For a very small town, it's a wonder anyone is left alive!

acantor

Places to avoid cycling in Canada? Although I have never travelled in the far north, I would not recommend heading overland in permafrost areas that are normally served only by ice breakers and small planes, especially on 23 mm tires. Also keep in mind that polar bears have very healthy appetites. Many bears consider a dish of cyclist wrapped in sweaty lycra served with a side of litchen and berries a delicacy!

Some of our big cities suffer from major road congestion problems and a shocking lack of bike lanes. Last week I travelled by bike from Toronto to Brampton during rush hour. After an hour or so of breathing exhaust fumes from thousands of speeding cars and trucks, I gave up, and grabbed a train in Bramalea for an eight minute ride to my destination. I have no appetite for dangerous roads, and there are more than enough of them in places like Toronto. The situation is much better in Ottawa, Calgary, and (I have been told) Montreal.

Mentor58

I've heard that you should stay away from Winnipeg since there is a crazy woman there that rides HUGE distances and then puts on a sarong. (or is it rides huge distances in a sarong?).

Steve W.
Who is feeling Very silly tonight

NoReg

Basicaly no. Toronto is in the middle of a massive, and unpresedented war between gangs, and we are at a high for gunshot violence. 10 million people in southern ontario, 3 million or so in Toronto, 28 gunshot deaths, and a total murder level of 40. In other words, if you aren't a member of one of these gangs, and you aren't subject to acts of domestic violence while visiting, then your personal rate falls to zero.

I had an unlocked bike stolen in Toronto once, in a tourist area... Other than that, I have never been a victim of crime in 46 years.

Mentor58

One thing that I've done at times have been to approach a cop, tell him my situation, and ask him to point out any areas that I probably don't need to be in. I always ask him for his advice on the best ways to various points, suggested routes around town. I've done this when biking and just regular traveling when in a city I'm not familiar with.

Use your Common Sense Tester. If the neighbor hood seems 'tichy', ie lots of pawn shops, check cashing joints, lots of people who seem to be standing around with no apparent purpose, then it may not be the best possible part of town. This isn't to say that poor areas are by defination dangerous, My description sounds like where I've lived as a student, but it should be a guidepost for you.

Like I said, best bet is to ask a local cop, or a taxi driver. They tend to really know the city well. (at least in some cases, I've had a few over the years where I think the driver and I were both experencing the city for the first time)

One last thought, there are some areas that may be ok during the day, but take on a whole different feel after dark. Again, a cop / cabbie can usually steer you right about those.

Steve
Who realized that he should provide something useful to the thread, but posted this hoping for the best.

Wind 'N Snow

You won't find anything like LA or NY or DC. You will find big city congestion and drivers who have brain farts when they see a bike in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal to a lesser extent. And you might get taken down by a mosquito in Winnepeg, they grow them big there.

In some cities, especially in Western Canada, you will find lots of "opportunity" crime. Those brats didn't want to steal your bike or your paniers, but you left it there to go whiz in the 7/11. I'm sure you get that everywhere.

In many of the smaller centres, Eastern and Western and Northern Canada (as opposed to Central, which is really Toronto and the "golden horseshoe" (say utopia) you may not find the kind of support, shops, LBS's, bathrooms, etc. on the road. So you gotta be self-sufficient to some extent.

And someone mentioned bears. Yeah, I doubt, you will face them that often, but you do get them in some of the better ride areas in Western Canada, as in Banff and Jasper. There was a somewhat famous female cyclist that was taken out of a tree and killed (she was jogging) by a cougar and there have been some other cougar attacks.

It is worth the experience, despite the blemishes, from the red soiled and rocky east to the supernatural coffee laden west coast to the isolated and pristine (for the next couple of years) north coast (yeah, we got three of them!) the riding is great.

zoogirl

You might want to avoid Hastings and Main in Vancouver and the Whalley area of Surrey. Matter of fact, Whalley has, or had, the reputation of having the highest car theft rate in the whole Western Hemisphere! It's even worse than Mexico City. Bike theft isn't far behind. You can thank the rampant chrystal meth epidemic for that. The Aids rate is sky-high too. I work right at "Ground Zero" and yes, it's a bad as it's rep.

That said, you rarely get approached by anyone in Surrey. It's more a matter of never taking your eyes off your bike for a second. Vancouver, on the other hand, is full of sometimes aggressive panhandlers and outright crazies. Mostly, you can just ignore them, but there have been a few that got violent lately. Meth again, I suppose.

Once you're out of the worst few blocks of Downtown, you're fine. Lots to see and do, and you've got to ride around Stanley Park at least once. The rest of the 'Burbs are pretty tame too. Drivers are fairly polite too, at least to an old bag on a one-speed!

Good luck!

Machka 

That female cyclist was killed by a grizzly bear, not a cougar, in Canmore in early June. The bear had been in the area the weekend before he attacked her, then they removed him, and then he came back. The weekend before the attack, I was cycling through Canmore, completely unaware that there were any grizzlies in the area ... but I did see a cougar on that ride ... he crossed the road in front of me, ran up the embankment on the other side, then crouched and watched me cycle past. He was the biggest "kitty" I've ever laid eyes on in the wild!

Wind 'N Snow

You are absolutely correct, Machka. Sorry for my error. I swear I had heard Cougar, but you can't trust the CBC!

I had a similar experience with a doe right on the highway in Saskatchewan. She just stood there and looked at me. I stopped and let her go about his business after she got bored of me. There were no cars as it was 5:30 in the morning!

Gotta love nature.

NoReg

Did he cross just in front of you? If I had some way of being somewhere else, I would have! Or thrown a rock. Driving past crouched kitty is too much like trolling...

Machka 

He crossed about 30 or 40 feet in front of me. It was just twilight and at first I wasn't sure what that creature was. I guessed "dog", but it was pretty big, and didn't run like a dog. Then I though "small bear", but it was too slender for that, and too light a color, and it didn't run like a bear.

Then it ran up the embankment and crouched, and I instantly recognized it as "cat", but BIG!!

By that time, I was right beside it. The road was a narrow 2 lane highway, and it was on the other side of the road, but still not very far away.

I had my helmet light on, and I turned my head to look at it, and my light made its eyes glow, like cat's do. It was definitely watching me. But I don't think it knew what to make of me, because it just crouched and watched. I suspect that I looked fairly large because I was up on my bicycle, and that helmet light might have kind of thrown it off.

However, I did pick up some speed!

Machka 

Rumor has it that crazy woman moved west to Alberta recently!

Michel Gagnon

Where is that? I suppose it's a small village?

I agree with Machka that there aren't really places to avoid out of safety concerns. The main problem I find it to organise my schedule so I won't be stuck in a city or its suburbia at night, because accomodations aren't as easy to find (except hotels, that is).

But there are stretches of road that I would avoid as my main destination. Northern Ontario is nice, but there is only one through highway (#17), which is very busy and shoulderless in most places. Likewise in Québec, many places North of the St. Lawrence River, in the Laurentians, have nice scenery but lack low-traffic scenic roads. Things are improving in Québec, with more and more paved shoulders.

cc_rider

With all of the Toronto and Ontario cyclists reporting problems with motorists and unfriendly cycling conditions, I wonder how it compares to some US cities.

Machka - didn't realized that you'd lived in Winnipeg. I grew up there in the 60's, riding my 3 speed all around town. Seemed bike friendly enough to a 12 year old, but things change.

af895

Even our "unfriendly" car drivers seem MORE friendly than the average US driver.
I take up left lanes to position for a left turn and usually get folks stopping to say "nice bike" not "get off the road." (I'm in Ottawa, FWIW - POP~1million)

I heard someone from Philly describe Ottawa as "like the deep south where people are layed back - but they get out and do stuff like theatre, opera, sports etc". We are pretty layed back here. Nowhere near the prevalence of Cadillac SUVs and Hummers.

I'm pretty well travelled in the most populace part of Canada - the Quebec-Windsor corridor - and it's all pretty easy going and bike friendly. I imagine the same applies even moreso to the rest of the country.

cooker

There are no areas of Toronto you need to avoid in daylight.
Robert

Crazy Cyclist

avoid Winnipeg at all costs. I am just kidding. Winnipeg isn't a bad place to cycle. The streets aren't in very good shape but the weather is nice in the summer. Avoid the area around Higgins avenue. A lot of seedy hotels and pawn shops and drunks. Downtown can be bad as well, it has aggessive panhandlers and they hang out across the street from the new MTS Centre.

Crazy Cyclist

Mentor, I thought you said " huge distances in a thong, I was going to go out and find her

Cyclist0094

I have ridden quite a bit in Canada. Lot of traffic around Toronto and some impatient drivers but no worse than any big city in the US. Only places I avoid are places where there are a lot of American tourists. I'm often embarrassed by how some of my fellow Americans act when in Canada.

Gordon P

Hey man your biggest fear when travelling in Canada should be the food not the people!

Wind 'N Snow

Yeah, I heard they have angry cows up here, like they do down there....I hear the chickens are restless too!