Has anyone ridden the "old island highway" (19a) from north of Nanaimo to Courtenay / Comox?

I am planning a trip from Victoria up island in mid September, and the 19a appears to be the best route from Nanaimo northward, but i have never been along the route and do not know if it is a suitable choice for cycling on.

If anyone has cycled or driven along this route i would be curious to hear your comments.

I have ridden this route a few times, I live in Royston, just before Courtenay. The route is relatively flat as you follow the coast.
There is a more direct route if you stay on Highway 19, which is the 4 lane highway. That has wide shoulders, a few more hills, but there are no stores or gas stations.
So in brief 19a has more intersections and chances of getting creamed, but the shoulders are normally pretty good.
19 is the big highway with traffic going fast next to you but with very wide shoulders and limited intersections.
Hope this helps.

Paul.

I have a 1984 guide called Bicycling Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Simon Priest. Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre Vancouver and Toronto. ISBN 0-88894-420-9. Maybe there is an update or this one at the library.
My on ground experience and knowledge is too dated to be of use except that log trucks were everywhere back then.

Vancouver Island is also covered as part of "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" by Spring & Kirkendall, which is in it's 4th or later edition, and available at Amazon or a lot of major book stores, and sports retailers with book sections. If you're headed north sometime around the 20th, maybe we'll cross paths as I'll be heading south, with a side trip out to Pacific Rim Park.

I was sideswiped by a car turning left onto 19a, but other than that it was a pretty nice route.

My wife and I have toured this route the last couple of years and particularly like the cycling between Qualicum Beach and Courtenay. I highly recommend riding north through Nanaimo where you eventually have to get onto 19 but only for a short distance around Nanoose Bay if you take Lantzville Road to 19 and then pickup NW Bay Road at the Petro Canada Station on Nanoose Bay. NW Bay Rd takes you right into Parksville where you get back onto 19a and then onto to Qualicum Beach and eventually Courtenay (the best section I think). Aside from some of the more urban areas, where there is some heavy traffic, the riding is pretty good. If you want a more direct route and don't mind highway riding then 19 is the fastest.

Here's a map I created of the route (temp link)

Cheers and good luck!

I rode Comox past Nanaimo a month ago and 19a is a good road. You come across some nice coastal scenery and the roads are fairly quiet. There's about 20km stretch on the 19 (after the 19 and 19a merge), that is not ideal in the least. Lots of downhill on a loaded bike with big truck after big truck hitting you will a wall of air going 100km/hr = not fun. twodeadpoets posted an alternative to this section so give that a try.

Thank you everyone for your help. This is exactly the sort of input i was hoping for.

Arctos,
its funny you should mention that book... up until very recently my girlfriend worked for D&M. When she first started, (and i realized that i could be getting free books) i of course asked if they had any cycling related publications, but alas the title in question has not been reprinted in quite a while.

Justme,
thanks for the suggestion, my local library has a copy, so i will be able to have a read in the next few days. I intend to leave Victoria on the 19th or 20th, with an overnight stop in Nanaimo, so it is very likely that we will cross paths!

twodeadpoets,
Many thanks for your input and the outsanding effort in creating a map! I expect that my route will very closely follow what you have laid out. I've only just glanced at your website, but it looks to be very inspiring. I look forward to having a chance to read about your adventures in the pacific northwest.