Thank you djb for the detailed advice!
Ive done a bunch of what you want to do, but before I write too much in detail, what tires are you thinking of using?
The Prescott Russell trail surface is mostly good, but when I did it about 5 years ago, some parts were looser, but I was on 2 in slicks and have ridden and toured on all kinds of surfaces, so was completely fine with it. I was coming from Ottawa back to Montreal, and was told by an oncoming cyclist that the start of it was much looser gravel (closer to the Montreal end), and I was leaving it anyway before that point to spend the night somewhere well off the trail, so I can't speak for that part (plus it was five years ago, might be better)
Look up stuff on this, and overall, I would suggest wider tires, at least 38--but then again, it really depends on ones riding experience.
The Cataraqui trail past Kingston used to have some soft and loose bits, but I havent done it and what I just wrote was comments from a friend who did it a long time ago, at least ten years back, so again--look up info.
700x48c slicks (Soma Everwear), not road tires. Should be good for loose gravel, mud may be unpleasant. Will double check and also check for recent heavy rain.
Also, you've mentioned not being comfortable on quiet paved two laner roads with speeds of 80-90kph (50mph ish) , so is that true and absolutely something you don't like to do?
Now I would be more comfortable. I've read a story about a truck with a second trailer running a rider off the road near Johnstown:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...id=168986&v=2e
Am I overthinking it? Are you saying that the Waterfront Trail all the way or Route Verte 1 to Ottawa are a better options?
As for safety in campgrounds, do you mean from a theft standpoint, or bears and such?
As Canadians, we don't generally worry about "safety" as such, but I might be reading your question wrong, but there are not homeless people and that sort of worries in campgrounds , but you do of course have to use common sense about not leaving valuables out unsupervised, but more importantly use common sense about not leaving food out as raccoons, small critters and birds and can make a mess of things if allowed.
Again, not really sure the angle of your question and your traveling experiences, but overall, no you do not have to worry about safety.
Good to hear
Example of my experience: last summer I arrived to a hiker/biker campground on the C&O canal towpath right after dusk and there was another cyclist staying there. I set the tent, approached him and said hi (I know it was stupid), next morning he told me he had thought I intended to steal something. A couple days before that he had left his bike at a campground for a while and someone stole his spare tire. Also at night there were some people outside discussing how to steal his bike. He packed everything and rode away at night. I think he said it had happened at the Dravo Campground on the GAP trail, and many locals on the trail told me it was a rough area.
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
I felt that the Ontario Provincial parks were very safe. I really liked Darlington, but Bronte Creek, not so much. But on Bronte Ck, I got one of the last sites available so it was of course one of the worst sites they had. They had some nicer sites that were already taken.
There are not many places to camp, so if you are camping at campgrounds, you may want to make sure that they still exist in your initial planning. Some that I planned to stay at that were on my map no longer existed.
Thank you! So far I planned campgrounds in Labelle and Saint-Jerome, then maybe Champlain Campground in the Voyageur Provincial Park. Will call the campgrounds to make sure they exist. Probably this is a somewhat curated map:
https://bikeacrosscanada.github.io/