Toronto to Ottawa
 

Hi Guys,

Awesome Site. I'm a newbie to world of cycling, and already I'm planning to cycle from Toronto to Ottawa. Does anyone have any tips / advice on this trip, and how to get there? (maps, etc)

Also, it would be great if someone could analyze my two possible purchases for me in terms of bike technical information (reliability, durability, speed, etc). I'm stuck on either buying a Trek 7300 Fx / Specialized Sirrius Sport (hopefully without the strap on pedals). I don't want to spend that much money actually on my first bike :P

Thanks for reading this!

Visit http://hedney.com.

I can tell you that his Toronto to Montréal and his new Montréal to Ottawa pages are very well done and full of worthwile suggestions, and I would assume the same quality for the Toronto to Ottawa pages.

Hey, I'm doing the Ottawa TO Toronto on Monday (leaving in 3 days) and I figure I'll work out the route as I go. I myself am a half-hoping-to-get-lost kind of guy. I can post back here on the way I went and what I thought of it. I'm doing it on a Hard Tail mountain bike with a rigid fork that has been through more evolutions than the platypus. Having said that, go ahead and spend money on your first bike because once you're hooked, you'll just end up spending more money to get the setup you really wanted in the first place. That was my problem from the start and now look at me with a quasi-touring mountain bike that is stuck between a few worlds and having a serious identity crisis. My two cents, and welcome!

Any bike shop recommendations in the Ottawa area?

hehe thanks for the advice...

if you can..post up the directions and stuff...how long are you planning to go for? (est. time of total trip, etc).

Also, where did you get the directions from??

Thanks

Sorry fretman, I can't really recommend any shops. I've had some mixed experiences with almost every shop... it really depends on who you talk to. And no, sadly, I don't know anyone good enough to recommend by name either. Sorry.

Toronto, I don't really have any directions. Uh, so far it's looking like Ottawa-Carleton Trail to Carleton Place (or where it happens to end) and then SW in the general direction of Toronto. I will leave in like 36 hours but at the end of the week I can tell you which way I went but I don't know right now what that'll be. I have a GPS and a bunch of detailed maps... but this is a sad attempt at some adventure so I like the idea of not sticking to a plan too well, I just got this stuff in case something goes awry. I took the summer off and am living it up, I went through the last 4 semesters with a fixed schedule, time to throw that away and just go.

I can recommend to stay away from Highway 10 as when I used it a couple of years ago to go from Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal I found the shoulder narrow and the dump trucks big. If you can try the backroads and limit activity on those minor highways, particularly if you're doing workday travelling.