Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Touring
Reload this Page >

Touring in Eastern Canada During Covid19

Notices
Touring Have a dream to ride a bike across your state, across the country, or around the world? Self-contained or fully supported? Trade ideas, adventures, and more in our bicycle touring forum.

Touring in Eastern Canada During Covid19

Old 06-15-20, 11:31 AM
  #1  
BikeWonder
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Calgary
Posts: 327
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 160 Post(s)
Liked 75 Times in 52 Posts
Touring in Eastern Canada During Covid19

Any Canadians on here that are planning to tour during the pandemic? If so, what tours do you have planned?

Last summer I toured across the Rockies and got a taste of the West. I've been itching to tour Eastern Canada. I know that there are restrictions being lifted and cities are in need of paying customers, especially the Maritimes. I would like to begin my tour from Toronto where I have family and make my way towards Nova Scotia/ PEI/ New Brunswick. We all know that feeling of the road calling you. This trip is calling to me and fortunately I have the time and means to do such a trip.

For those who have done toured the Maritimes, is there anything you would recommend? I know rain is a big factor there so I plan on bringing gear and clothing for it. I have no set itinerary, but I would like to include the Cabot Trail in my trip, among many others.

-R
BikeWonder is offline  
Old 06-15-20, 01:43 PM
  #2  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
You asked for comments by Canadians, I am from USA. But I assume you still want any info that anyone might have.

Last summer I toured for five weeks, starting in Halifax and finishing back at Halifax where I flew in and out of. A general comment, it was wet when I was there. I usually try to beat the traffic so i try to start and finish my tours before the middle of the tourist season. I was there in June and early July, perhaps it is drier later. A quick note on Halifax, I stayed at the HI Hostel there which was quite convenient. And Cyclesmith bike shop was VERY helpful. That said, I suspect hostels are not the best place to stay during a pandemic.

I did not make any reservations for campgrounds and did not have any problems. But several people told me that if I did not have reservations for Canada Day weekend, I would not have a place to stay. Looking at the forecast, I saw a lot rain around that time and the Hostel in Charlottetown PEI had availability so I stayed there for three nights over Canada Day weekend to sit out the middle of six consecutive days of rain. When I was at Five Islands Provincial Park on Bay of Fundy, almost every site was taken, that was in July. My point is that if you are there during busy season, you might need to make reservations if you are staying at campgrounds. In June, many campgrounds had a lot of room.

Some but not all Provincial Parks in NS have walk in sites. These sites are farther from the RVs and a bit more secluded, I stayed in those sites whenever I could.

I got lucky and had a walk in site at Five Islands campground for two nights. Great view of Bay of Fundy.



It can be quite buggy. Bring repellent.

When i was on Cabot Trail for scenic parts, it was foggy and rainy, thus did not see much. You might be more lucky.



There was one hill on Cabot Trail on the north end in the National Park, I do not recall which but it was a tall one at 13 percent grade. I pushed my bike up it.



Crossing the bridge to Cape Breton Island looks scary, but it is not that bad. Only the bridge portion has no shoulder to ride on, the causeway had a shoulder. So you are in the traffic lane for only a short portion, I waited until I saw no traffic coming before I crossed the bridge. Sorry, not a good photo.



I had 57mm wide tires, so I often rode on the gravel bike trails instead of roads when I had a choice. Since the bike trails often were flatter having been rail road grades, it was less hilly than the roads. PEI had very good gravel trails. This was the only spot where I had any problem on the trail, the downfall was quite recent.




There is a ferry and a bridge to PEI. I rode the ferry to PEI, then back to mainland on the bridge. You can't ride across the bridge, you have to take a shuttle.

This is the route that I took, it is my GPS track overlain on satellite map on Google Earth. The numbered spots on it are the dates when I stayed there in YYMMDD format, if I stayed multiple nights only the first night is listed.



I am retired and had plenty of time, so I took it slow an easy. Thus you will see I only had a few really long distance days, but I was there to enjoy it without any distance goals.

My go-to meal when I paid someone else to do my cooking was fish and chips.



The Propeller Double IPA was very good.



And occasionally had to stop for one of these.


Last edited by Tourist in MSN; 06-15-20 at 01:58 PM.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 06-15-20, 01:50 PM
  #3  
gauvins
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: QC Canada
Posts: 1,949

Bikes: Custom built LHT & Troll

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 832 Post(s)
Liked 141 Times in 100 Posts
Two summers ago, left from Quebec city, down to Ogunquit, then north east along the coast of Maine/NB up to PEI. With our 2 daughters. Rules are (always) that we sleep under a roof when there is rain. I'd say 10/50 days.

We *may* ride towards Gaspé/Forillon this summer, although our eldest has reached the friends-first/parents-and-sister-last phase, so not clear. I also heard unpleasant stories wrt locals not wanting visitors (IIRC, access to the Magdalen Islands requires paperwork if you go through PEI/NS -- not clear what they'll to to cyclists

I "think" that Quebec is open to Canadian cyclists (road blocks between Gatineau and Ottawa have been removed), but you'll probably want to double check. Same wrt accommodations. I "believe" that provincial parks have re-opened, not sure at all wrt campgrounds.

I'll follow this thread with considerable interest.
gauvins is offline  
Old 06-15-20, 03:59 PM
  #4  
BikeWonder
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Calgary
Posts: 327
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 160 Post(s)
Liked 75 Times in 52 Posts
Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
You asked for comments by Canadians, I am from USA. But I assume you still want any info that anyone might have.

Last summer I toured for five weeks, starting in Halifax and finishing back at Halifax where I flew in and out of. A general comment, it was wet when I was there. I usually try to beat the traffic so i try to start and finish my tours before the middle of the tourist season. I was there in June and early July, perhaps it is drier later. A quick note on Halifax, I stayed at the HI Hostel there which was quite convenient. And Cyclesmith bike shop was VERY helpful. That said, I suspect hostels are not the best place to stay during a pandemic.

I did not make any reservations for campgrounds and did not have any problems. But several people told me that if I did not have reservations for Canada Day weekend, I would not have a place to stay. Looking at the forecast, I saw a lot rain around that time and the Hostel in Charlottetown PEI had availability so I stayed there for three nights over Canada Day weekend to sit out the middle of six consecutive days of rain. When I was at Five Islands Provincial Park on Bay of Fundy, almost every site was taken, that was in July. My point is that if you are there during busy season, you might need to make reservations if you are staying at campgrounds. In June, many campgrounds had a lot of room.

Some but not all Provincial Parks in NS have walk in sites. These sites are farther from the RVs and a bit more secluded, I stayed in those sites whenever I could.

I got lucky and had a walk in site at Five Islands campground for two nights. Great view of Bay of Fundy.



It can be quite buggy. Bring repellent.

When i was on Cabot Trail for scenic parts, it was foggy and rainy, thus did not see much. You might be more lucky.



There was one hill on Cabot Trail on the north end in the National Park, I do not recall which but it was a tall one at 13 percent grade. I pushed my bike up it.



Crossing the bridge to Cape Breton Island looks scary, but it is not that bad. Only the bridge portion has no shoulder to ride on, the causeway had a shoulder. So you are in the traffic lane for only a short portion, I waited until I saw no traffic coming before I crossed the bridge. Sorry, not a good photo.



I had 57mm wide tires, so I often rode on the gravel bike trails instead of roads when I had a choice. Since the bike trails often were flatter having been rail road grades, it was less hilly than the roads. PEI had very good gravel trails. This was the only spot where I had any problem on the trail, the downfall was quite recent.




There is a ferry and a bridge to PEI. I rode the ferry to PEI, then back to mainland on the bridge. You can't ride across the bridge, you have to take a shuttle.

This is the route that I took, it is my GPS track overlain on satellite map on Google Earth. The numbered spots on it are the dates when I stayed there in YYMMDD format, if I stayed multiple nights only the first night is listed.



I am retired and had plenty of time, so I took it slow an easy. Thus you will see I only had a few really long distance days, but I was there to enjoy it without any distance goals.

My go-to meal when I paid someone else to do my cooking was fish and chips.



The Propeller Double IPA was very good.



And occasionally had to stop for one of these.


I welcome US responses to have done the trip, sorry for the exclusion and thank you for your response
BikeWonder is offline  
Old 06-15-20, 05:01 PM
  #5  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
Originally Posted by BikeWonder
I welcome US responses to have done the trip, sorry for the exclusion and thank you for your response
I assumed that, so I responded as such.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 06-15-20, 06:37 PM
  #6  
skookum
cyclotourist
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: calgary, canada
Posts: 1,470
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 443 Post(s)
Liked 205 Times in 130 Posts
I certainly hope you can make it this summer, but at this point the only Atlantic province that is partially open is Nova Scotia and you are required to quarantine for 14 days.The others are closed.
I've heard friends talk about amazing cycling in Quebec, that could be a possible option, if the other provinces don't open up.
skookum is offline  
Old 06-16-20, 04:14 AM
  #7  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
Forgot to mention in my previous long post, but the north end of the Cabot Trail is somewhat of a food desert. This was the first grocery store I saw in days, this was a short distance off the route but my GPS said there was a store here.



But otherwise I found that grocery stores were easy to find.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 06-16-20, 07:30 AM
  #8  
hfbill
Full Member
 
hfbill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: High Falls NY
Posts: 202

Bikes: Trek 520, Haro Flightline 29er MTB

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 69 Post(s)
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you might find several episodes of "Still Standing" somewhat interesting, and amusing. Toronto based stand up comic & actor Jonny Harris tours Canada stopping for a week in small towns that are struggling. He gets to know the more interesting characters in the town and then does a half hour roast of them interspersed with video clips of his exploits over the previous week. Many episodes from eastern Canada. One of my favorites was season 2, episode 12, from Cape Breton: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/deta...autoplay=1&t=0

Last edited by hfbill; 06-16-20 at 07:36 AM.
hfbill is offline  
Old 06-16-20, 08:38 AM
  #9  
IPassGas
Full Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 397

Bikes: Schwinn, Nishiki, Santana, Trek, Rodriguez

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 187 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 106 Times in 69 Posts
We toured the circumference of NS last year and 3 years ago from Montreal to NB through Gaspe. We very much enjoyed all of Quebec, on wonderful roads with water on one side and mountains on other side, usually with wide shoulders on the Verte system. The food and camping were great, Bienvenue Cyclistes! We are from states, and if it were not for the virus, we would have returned this year extending with a side trip to Saguenay. NS is ok, but touring in Quebec is on another level. Just one pic. If you are confined to Ontario, we have also enjoyed the Waterfront trail system Niagara-on-the-lake -->Toronto --> Kingston-->Montreal.

IPassGas is offline  
Old 06-17-20, 08:00 AM
  #10  
djb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Montreal Canada
Posts: 13,191
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2731 Post(s)
Liked 952 Times in 783 Posts
Bwonder, as mentioned about the eastern provinces, you're going to have to keep updated on the news re visitors.
I suspect this will be a rather fluid situation.
djb is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.