Originally Posted by
Machka
I can't see your route either.
However, what I will say is this ... based on my years of cycling long distances in Canada ...
-- it's a long way, so you'll want to do some training before you get going.
-- get used to riding in wind
-- get used to riding in all sorts of weather
-- give yourself lots of time
Most people prefer to ride west to east and one of the reasons for that is that the prevailing wind tends to be from the west. No guarantees, however.
If you start in BC and work your way east, aim to start the weekend before the May long weekend. That's when campgrounds open so you'll have places to stay.
Where possible, stay off the TransCanada highway. The TransCanada highway tends to be the least scenic part of Canada and also tends to have a lot of traffic. You can get away with riding the TransCanada in Alberta, and probably will want to do the Rocky Mountains to Calgary leg that way, because it has a wide shoulder ... but outside of Alberta, ride somewhere else. Especially through Manitoba. Do not ride the TransCanada in Manitoba.
I'm not familiar with the eastern part of Canada after Dryden, ON so I can't comment on how you're going to handle the Great Lakes.
We had also heard the same thing when we were planning our ride to Winnipeg this summer. We even heard it again from folks living in Saskatchewan. Actually, the Trans Canadian Highway in Manitoba was better or as good as the road is in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Manitoba did a lot of road work in the past 10 years, and they are still working on it. We had planned on taking an alternate route, and were pleasantly surprised when we entered Manitoba. However, we did not ride east of Winnipeg, and I don't know the road condition there.
As far as scenery goes, the plains are the plains. It is really a beautiful place to ride, but the road will not make much difference.
Trans Canada Highway between Bandon and Sidney, Manitoba. Most of the eastbound lane in Manitoba looked like this. They were still doing a lot of work on the west bound lanes. 99+% of the trucks pulled into the far left lane when they passed us if they could. When we asked a truck driver about it, they told us they didn't want their turbulence to be dangerous for cyclists. This was much the case in all provinces. We also got a lot of encouraging toots from the truckers.
