Originally Posted by
cyclezealot
Lucky Machka..I think most of the time she has called home Canada and Australia... My impression you have lower traffic volume and wide shoulders on roads such as the Trans Canada Highway.. Plus, Canadians are respectful people, so I've sensed.. Try high traffic volume roads with congestion and narrow lanes... In cities such as Cleveland, Detroit, or Cincinnati, there people are in a hurry and hostile towards slow moving vehicles such as bikes... Crazy biker.. Your plan sounds like a good one.. Sort of what I do.. Don't forget to check with highway authorities in your county.. Often they have maps offering suggested bike routes...
Although I've called Canada and Australia home, I've also travelled and cycled extensively in the US, France, and UK.
You've got a completely wrong impression of the TransCanada Highway. It has the some of the highest traffic volume in Canada. The 401 in the Toronto area and Hwy 2 in Alberta are the top two, I believe, with the TransCanada in the Fraser Valley of BC well up there as well. The TransCanada is the main transportation route across Canada for the trucker, vacationers, etc. etc., so even out of BC's Fraser Valley it is still a very busy highway.
And as for the shoulder situation ...
In BC's Fraser Valley I believe it does have shoulders, but bicycles are not allowed on it there. Then it goes into the mountains and varies from narrow shoulders to no shoulders at all ... completely with heavy truck and vacationer traffic. In Alberta there are indeed wide shoulders. There are also wide shoulders on Hwy 2 between Calgary and Edmonton and on most other main roads in Alberta. Once you hit Saskatchewan, there are usually shoulders but they aren't necessarily wide or nice. Into Manitoba, you'll have paved shoulders for small segments of the TransCanada, but mostly the shoulders are gravel. The TransCanada in Manitoba is very scary to ride on and I would not recommend it to anyone. Ontario from the Manitoba border to about Thunder Bay, I believe there are narrow shoulders, and around the Great Lakes, from what I've heard, there are none and again that section is not recommended for bicycle travel.
So no, you don't have lower traffic volume and wide shoulders on the TransCanada.
And if you want hurry ... go to Alberta. Everyone there is in a mad rush all the time. Hwy 2's speed limit is 110 km/h. Most people drive 120 km/h ... and many do much more than that ... and if you do the speed limit, they want you to be in the slow lane so they can pass you. I had a discussion once with some of my coworkers who were of the opinion that if you drove the speed limit, you had no right to be in the "fast" lane. I tried to explain that the slow lane was for drivers going less than the speed limit (if there are any!!), and that the fast lane is for drivers doing the speed limit who want to pass those who have opted to travel slower than the speed limit. They thought that was hilarious.
But that said ... I'd rather cycle on Hwy 2, with its wide shoulders and heavy, fast-moving traffic ... than on Hwy 1A for example, with its moderate traffic, no shoulders, and bad pavement.
And ... when I cycletour, I try to avoid cities as much as possible. If I fly into one, such as London, I prefer to try to take the train to a town out of the city and start my tour from there. I can't say as I'd want to include Cleveland, Detroit, or Cincinnati in a cycling tour if I could possibly avoid it. In general I prefer travelling to smaller towns.