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Wisconsin to Quebec City...help

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Wisconsin to Quebec City...help

Old 05-25-09, 03:25 PM
  #1  
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Wisconsin to Quebec City...help

I have been considering a quick tour from Green Bay, Wisconsin to Quebec City. I have found myself with some convenient time off (unemployment) and think this is the best time to take a bike trip. I have taken a trip across Wisconsin with minimal gear and really enjoyed it. I would like to take this approach to a longer trip. This might be called a credit card tour?

I have a Felt Z80 road bike with narrow tires and a rear rack. I’m not sure about a few things and I would appreciate any direction, help or advice related to Canadian tours or credit card tours in general. I have listed some specific questions below, please help.
1: What should I expect for the road conditions (traffic, shoulder width and surface type).
2: Are there any sources of information that are especially helpful? Guidebooks? Bicycle atlases? Experience websites?
3: What should I expect to spend on the tour? (I estimate 1 month? of staying at sleazy motels, eating powerbars/granola, and enjoying the inexpensive sights.)
4: Is there anything along the way that I should make a point of seeing?
5: Are there any cities and roads that I should avoid due to traffic or another reason?
6: I am considering flying back from wherever I end up, should I disassemble the bike and buy a piece of luggage or do something else?

I’m sure I have more questions, but not yet. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
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Old 05-26-09, 10:56 AM
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Hello ... I live 30 miles from Green Bay and have been thinking of doing a bike tour myself, although I haven't figured out any of the details yet.

I can't answer all of your questions, but might be able to help with a couple of them.

Question #2: Maybe doing a Google on bike routes/guides would point you in the right direction. I'm sure there must be some guides available somewhere ... it's just finding out where they are.

Question #5: Again I don't have a clear answer, but way back in 1980, I took a trip across the country from Milwaukee, WI to California. We tried to avoid traveling on any major highways or roads and took back roads wherever we could to avoid all the noise and heavy traffic areas. It isn't a lot of fun to be riding along with cars buzzing past your ear all day.

Question #6: Again referring to the bike trip we took in 1980, back then we took a bus back to Wisconsin once we were through in California. I think the bus company provided boxes for us to pack our bikes up in. We did have to disassemble the bike a little bit to fit into the box. Then the box was stowed away in the bus' cargo area until we reached our destination. I don't know for sure, but maybe the airlines offer a box like that too.

I know I didn't give very concrete answers, but I hope it helps.

Bob

Originally Posted by discgolf286

2: Are there any sources of information that are especially helpful? Guidebooks? Bicycle atlases? Experience websites?
5: Are there any cities and roads that I should avoid due to traffic or another reason?
6: I am considering flying back from wherever I end up, should I disassemble the bike and buy a piece of luggage or do something else?
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Old 05-26-09, 03:22 PM
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It looks like it could be a very nice route, especially if you take the ferry boat across Lake Michigan. I don't know anything about riding across Michigan, but once you cross into Ontario (maybe via Marine City, but possibly Windsor or Sarnia), you should be fine.

You will want to get onto the Waterfront Trail quickly, although some of the rural roads between towns and cities could be quite interesting. I can tell you that the Waterfront Trail that runs east along Lake Ontario from just East of Toronto all the way to the Québec border is excellent. There are marked bicycle trails most of the way, and you will be able to avoid heavily trafficked roads 80% or 90% of the time.

Once you enter the province of Québec, you will be following the La Route Verte much of the way to Québec city, although I think you may need to get to Montréal to pick up the trail. There are others on this forum who are much more familiar with this leg of the journey, and hopefully they will chime in.

There should be no problem flying home from Québec city. It is a decent sized airport, and I had no significant problems flying in and out, other than the normal hassle of flying with a bicycle. Taking the train is also a good possibility, although I doubt you could get all the way home easily. No problem going from Québec city to Windsor, which shares a border with Detroit.

If you do this trip, remember that you will need a passport to return home. Americans can enter Canada without a passport, but the USA has become fanatically strict about keeping out the bad guys. No matter. If you don't already have a passport, having one is a, well, passport to adventure!
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Old 05-26-09, 04:06 PM
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If you visit the Wisconsin DOT website, you can find bicycle maps for every county listing which roads are best for bicycling and which are not. Additionally, I believe since 2006 it has been required to have a passport for Americans to get into Canada, so yes, you will need one. Good luck!
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Old 05-27-09, 03:13 PM
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Here are some websites that'll help:
https://waterfronttrail.org
www.hedney.com/waterfront.htm
www.routeverte.com/rv/index_e.php
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Old 05-27-09, 08:56 PM
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If you're going to pass through a reasonable amount of Wisconsin these maps will be invaluable. I've used them for the last 15 years. The set of four is well worth the price (~$16-20).
https://www.abtrails.com/item487.htm

BTW, I'm in Manitowoc where the ferry crosses to Ludington, MI. It's about a 4-hour boat ride.
https://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx

There's another that's faster (~2.5 hours) that's out of Milwaukee if that helps:
https://www.lake-express.com/
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