My son and I have decided to bike from Toronto to Montreal to find him housing for university next semester. He’s taking care of the routing and logistics and I’m preparing the bikes. Five days ,stops at hotels every night and restaurants for lunch so packing the bikes very light.

Was looking at bike packing sites to get some ideas for packing. How exactly is chugging along with all this baggage fun ? Looks like torture.

If you don’t understand, don’t. Drive your car, it will be ever so much more entertaining

I assume you'll be carrying clothes, break down kit snacks,rain gear, etc. You shouldn't really notice you're carrying it.

I'm making my first visit to Montreal in 3 days.

Safe travels.

Well, it's a type 2 fun. There are places in North America where you just can't pop in to a hotel every 40-70 miles so you just gotta man up and camp out.

You're doing what's called credit card touring. So you won't need all that.

I'm gonna try to do this route credit card style next time, but I gotta get in shape as I think the shortest long day I can set up for is about 100 miles, whereas I like to keep my days around 50 so I can chill, hike, take pics, have a ridiculous 2 hour lunch break, whathaveyou.

Sounds like you’d be better off driving. I take my Motorcycle on trips and I’m definitely packed heavier than what’s on that bike.

The guy who loaded the bike in that pic needs a car. lol. Motorcycles have engines. No? We're packing half that or less per bike.

The loaded-to-the-gills trip doesn't appeal to me. Looks uncomfortable and potentially dangerous on roads and hills. To each their own.

Looks like about 382 miles, that's a pretty good run. How many kms per day are you planning on riding.

Even though this is in the populated part of Canada there still may be stretches of road with no services, or where getting somewhere with food might be a 5-mile detour. While planning take a very close look at how long it'll be between services like gas station hot dogs, drinking water of some sort, etc.

This is from my most recent trip. Even though I dropped a 4-litre cache of water on the way to my starting point I still needed 12 litres on the bike for days 2-4. That thing was HEAVY.

My son works for Alphabet doing data entry for Google Maps. I told him to keep us near AC and hot food at all times. Mostly carrying clothes, water, some basic tools and flat kit. Keeping it light so we can actually enjoy the pedaling.

Is this thread brought to us by Mike Deason?

It isn't funm, Mike. it sucks. Everybody hates it and the people who do it hate it the most.

it is all a trick to get other people to suffer by not admitting how bad it sucks.

If you do it you will hate you entire life much more than you do now.

I'm really looking forward to this trip, because I think it means 5 days with no new threads from the OP.

If you aren’t excited for a trip like this, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

Make smart choices.

Then it wil be just like your threads. Torture.

Holy cow, 5 days is a 76.4 miles per day average. Even on road I'm too old for that ****. I'd want a rest day at the very least. For a straight thru attempt I'd need a support vehicle, and nothing on the bike at all.

Maybe it's east Toronto to west Montreal...

In my mind, just getting out of Toronto is going to be the worst part, but the part you know best. It is mostly flat and generally downhill with(usually) tailwinds. You might encounter a few rolling hills at some points. You might want to Google the 401 bike challenge. My son has done it twice and the route it takes is the most bike friendly
Riding into downtown Montreal can be done on the Lachine canal bike path. That was my commute route for 25 years. I never tired of it
5 days? you don't even need 5 days of clothing if you stay in hotels. You can wash your kit (and underwear) every night









0every night if you stay in mote

Don't bet on it.

Here is a tentative list of the threads he may post whilst riding:

What should I eat for breakfast?

What should I eat for lunch?

What should I eat for dinner?

How many time on average should my right foot circle the bottom bracket in an hour?

Why am I doing this?

Do you button up your jacket when you are cold?

Exactly where should my hands be on the top of the handlebar?

How many times should I refill my water bottle?

Is it normal for my chain to get dirty?

Should I wax my chain?

Can I use the wax I melted for my chain to wax my legs?

Should I shave my legs?

How do you open the door to your hotel room after a long day of riding your bike? Right hand or left hand?

Should I be breathing through my nose while riding?

What do you do about bugs on your fork?

Etc...

Okay, that takes care of the first day. But what about the next four days?

You know what I love? Waking up in my own bed, in my own house, with my coffee hot and ready to drink. Taking my bike out to ride roads I've been riding for a quarter of a century, where I know every twist and turn and in some cases every pothole. Getting back to my house, or my car, putting away the bike, getting a nice shower and a cold drink.

You know what else I love? I love that there are people who love to do something different, and they can, and they enjoy their stuff as much as I enjoy mine.

OK, so I get it that the OP overthinks things. However I chose to provide some practical advice that might be useful

"What should I eat for breakfast TODAY?" etc.

Depends on whether you're RIDING, or EATING.

How? He didn't ask for any advice. He simply made statements. He did ask how this could be fun, but that is not a question that could garner any useful information.

IIRC there is decent mobile data coverage between Toronto and Montreal.

MikeDeason: Probably a good idea to make note of a few bike shops en route.

Advice from someone who has never seem the St Lawrence valley