ubbaken

I am planning to do a fully loaded tour of most of Canada and some of the states.

It will be my first proper bike tour, and I plan on doing Alaska/Yukon/Northwest Territories to Patagonia next year some time.

Rough outline of the envisioned route:

Hamilton, ON to Winnipeg, MB.
Winnipeg, MB to Calgary, AB.
Calgary, AB to Inuvik, NT.
Inuvik, NT to Anchorage, AK.
Anchorage, AK to Prince Rupert, BC.
Prince Rupert, BC to Vancouver, BC.
Vancouver, BC to Hamilton, ON.

Approximately 17,000kms. I may be strapped for time, so I may take some more direct routes or shorten wide loopy parts of the trip. I am looking to get a decent/nice bike and a great guy who runs a LBS here in Hamilton has a Marinoni Turismo Extreme in my size which I think I am pretty set on, though I will have to find out a way to pay for it...as I am 6 weeks from graduating and will be tight on $$. Looking to get Old Man Mountain Racks and some Ortlieb panniers, while most if not all of the riding gear I think I have already from being a year-round commuter.

I am itching to leave...pretty much more than half of my day I wander into thoughts of what this trip could be. Mostly: an excellent reason to ride my bike all day every day for an extended period of time.

Looking to leave this June, and thinking it will take somewhere from 3-5 1/2 months depending on everything that could influence such a thing.

I'm planning on touring with a hennessey tent and a bivy when there are no trees.

Annnnd...I think that is it.

Anyone here have stories to share from that kind of terrain/climate/latitude?

Muttsta

3 months? Dream on my friend
I did 12,000 km in 4 months and that was a serious stretch

ubbaken

That 3 months was assuming I would shorten the ride a bit, I'm guessing I'll do about 100km/day and only stop a little bit.

jimblairo

I have a Marinoni touring bike and one of the problems with it is tire clearance. I can get a 700X35 on the rear if I deflate the tire first. I run on 32's and off pavement they are not very comfortable.

You will be riding on a lot of gravel roads and I would use 37's for comfort.

ubbaken

Thank you for your input.

Is that brake pad clearance? If so, the bike I'm getting has discs...I will be riding 28's for the first part (probably until Calgary or so), then go up to 37's I think, which do fit well in the frame with fenders and all.

Machka 

100 kms a day on gravel roads?

About the route from Winnipeg to Calgary ..... are you sure you want to start in the Princess St./Williams Ave. area? Is there something there that made you choose that particular area? If it's anything like it was when I lived in Winnipeg, I would definitely not recommend going out after dark in that area or leaving your bicycle unattended. There are lots of much nicer areas in Winnipeg.

Also, I suspect that the roads north of Dauphin are gravel. I think there's a total of 20 paved roads (outside of cities) in Manitoba ... so you could be on and off gravel quite a bit on the route you've chosen. Same with Saskatchewan. Does that concern you? Have you checked recent maps as to whether or not the roads are paved?

You'll be on paved roads between Calgary and Prince George. After that the road could turn to gravel again.

As for terrain, Manitoba is fairly flat but very windy, and the wind usually comes from the west. Saskatchewan starts to be a bit rolly, and again, very windy. Alberta is rolling, and windy. Into BC, it's mountainous terrain. Lots of long climbs.

As for weather ... expect anything and everything from blistering heat (especially in the Winnipeg area) to freezing cold. Expect thunderstorms, hail, lightening, tornados, and even snowstorms. It could be lovely and sunny and the whole time, but you just never know in Canada.

Gordon P

Your plans are ambitious and you will have a great adventure! I agree with Machka about Winnipeg and riding in the prairies, she is right the wind is bad and you can literally see storms coming at you. You may consider taking the train to Vancouver and riding to back to Hamilton via the route you mapped out and if you have time to continue your journey consider crossing into Quebec and follow the Route Verte to Ottawa or Montreal and than along Lake Ontario back to Hamilton. It seems that you want to cover a lot of distance just for the sake of it. Remember to slow down and smell the flowers and take in the local culture, sights and sounds. Whenever I travel it’s the people and places that I remember and not the hundreds of Kilometres that I’ve traveled through.
Have a wonderful adventure.
Gordon P

ubbaken

Yeah, I've heard stories of the wind, and experienced it myself a few times. I am glad that on an 'out and back'-ish tour I get to do the out into the wind and uphill (more or less), and come home going down and with it.

So that is how I averaged it all out.

I really just put in the cities and did a non-hwy route with google maps. It is not a definite or solid plan to use any of the roads (unless they are the only ones of course) on the map neccessarily, only just a general idea.

Thanks for the information about the gravel and the parts of the 'Peg. I will parse that all and keep it in mind for when I get around there, though I'm not sure where I am going in that city yet, as I have a couple friends I will be meeting up with when I pass through.

And yes, Gordon, I have been getting more of that mentality, or more accurately, that mentality has been taking more priority in the trip, making it longer in duration (and possibly shorter in distance).

ricohman

I like your route through SK (I live here) but I am going to let you in on a little secret.
The grasslands and buttes of the extreme south are awsome on a bike. I have ridden in that area many times.
Towering thunderheads, enormous sand dunes, lots to see.
And best of all, no people and little traffic.

valygrl

Rad.

If I were you and were looking to shorten the mileage, I would start in Calgary. That will put you way up north during the middle of summer instead of at the end of it, and you can dawdle as much as you want, because West is Best and you don't want to waste a bunch of time in the flat-windy-boring prairie and then run out of time for the Rockies & Yukon & Alaska & Coast.

If it took you 5 1/2 months you'll be riding through the northern midwest in November.

My $0.02, I know you didn't ask.

Machka 

If you're camping, consider Bird's Hill Park just north of Winnipeg. That's a really nice park with a lovely 11 km paved road going around the park, as well as a paved trail system. There's camping, a little pond to swim in, and lots of trees. You'll see wild turkeys, turtles, deer, and possibly the occasional bear (I saw one once when I was cycling there). I used to enjoy cycling from where I lived in Winnipeg to Bird's Hill Park on hot summer days ... I'd ride the 50 kms there, swim in the pond, and then ride the 50 kms back for a nice Saturday outing.

ubbaken

I have been thinking about this, also because going through the continental divide at any time can prove quite arduous due to crazy weather. But, the one thing that stops me is the idea of biking on the northern parts of lake superior, though I'm sure if I switched the route like that (starting out west more) I could just come back along the top of the lakes.

The last month or so of the trip has been a concern though...

Thanks!

thecrunge

Sounds like a great trip. The roads you've chosen around the GTA and to Barrie are pretty unpleasant and very busy. (Hwys 6, 7, 50, 27, Steeles). You probably know that you can't cycle on Hwy. 11 north of Orillia up to Huntsville. Have you considered riding to Tobermory and through Manitoulin? Careful in Manitoba. The TCH apparently is terrible to ride on; no shoulders, rough surface, very busy. I'd recommend researching peoples journals on crazyguyonabike who've been that way. Good luck!

Machka 

I agree ... I have ridden on the TCH in Manitoba, but wouldn't recommend it at all.

Here it is, just east of Brandon, on a stretch where there is a shoulder, but the shoulders all throughout Manitoba come and go at random. We're heading from Brandon to Winnipeg there, and shortly after I took that photo, the shoulder disappeared and we were right there among the wheels of the semis.

I think the OP is planning to go up the Yellowhead after Portage La Prairie. I'd recommend Hwy 26 to Portage La Prairie (rather than the TCH), and then he can take his chances on the Yellowhead.

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