Champlaincycler

My wife and I have booked a campsite in Val-Comeau, New Brunswick for next week, it is just below Tracadie Sheila. We've done the Maritimes before (other than NF) and have felt that we were bypassing a special place in New Brunswick, so we acted on a hunch and decided to do a week in the campground and then a 4-5 day trip through the Gaspe and back to the Adirondack region of New York, where we live. We're really just exploring with the thoughts that we will eventually make it to the north side of the St. Lawrence, Labrador and Newfoundland. Retirement is just a year or 2 away, so adventure awaits.

My questions have to do with bicycling in that region. Its been hard to find info on line. Should I take my road bike or my steel ride with 32 mm. tires? I'm leaning towards the bike with fatter tires. Are there any special routes you'd recommend? I'm up for 20- 50 mile rides each morning. I'd be ok with driving a little and then riding if it meant doing some of Quebec, or even going south through the NB coast. Just looking for any suggestions before we pack up. I like to ride hard for exercise, but when on vacation, I'm real tempted to stop for a pastry or beautiful photo, or short hike. I'd just like to get out for 2-3 hours each morning be it for fun or exercise.

Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Jay H

Hi, I have no direct experience with New Brunswick, NE or otherwise, but in my experience, if I have a question as to which bike to bring (the skinny tire bike or the fatter touring/cyclocross bike) I usually just take the fatter tire bike. Case in point, the cabot trail on Cape Breton island. I know it's paved, I know the cabot trail itself is generally a nice road since it's federally funded but a lot of the secondary roads off of it are in fairly bad shape and there are some gravel/dirt roads that were interesting. I took my Salsa Vaya with 1.5" Schwalbe Marathon tires on 26" rims and felt it was a great decision. 2 others in the same group got broken spokes on some of the spotty roads that we had to fix or suffered pinch flats by running a low(er) PSI...


What I did realize by driving from Yarmouth to Cape Breton Island is that there isn't a lot of shoulder in NS, in general, the pavement ends and dirt/gravel begins...

Since this is a tour, I'd just bring the 32mm tire steel bike and enjoy the ride...

Jay

chinook07

Âllo!!

I'm going to attempt to re-open the New Brunswick thread! I noticed on Google Earth a trail called the Restigouche which cross NB from just outside St-Léonard (near Grand Falls) all the way to Tide Head (near Campbellton). I only found info about the trail east of St-Quentin. What about the rest? Does anyone know if it's doable with a hybrid? Does anyone know if it even exists in the first place? It would be nice next year to do a loop through the Bas-St-Laurent, Matapédia valley, and northern NB starting in Rivière-du-Loup.

CastleDerosa

For any of you looking to ride the North-Eastern part of New Brunswick i will gladly help with any questions you may have ...i lived in the region for a long time and rode different part of NB also but will tell you right now if you plan on heading this way for the scenic view you'll have plenty to see especially if you take along the shore route ..just remember that a nice set of 36h rims (loaded) and 32 tires(minimum) are strongly recommended since you will have your share of rough asphalt , gravel roads , potholes and what not !!

andreg

Too bad I only found your thread today. I grew up in Caraquet, not far from Tracadie. While there are not offcial routes, there is a generally decent shoulder on Route 11, which makes for nice road rides. A lot of the little back roads have very little traffic and make for nice rides.

If road bike is your thing, there's a map called Circuit cyclable de la Péninsule acadienne. The page is in French only, but there are also a few maps. I have done some of those rides and they're all very nice.

If you want to bring your trail bike, you may want to check Acadian Peninsula Trails.

If you want to stop for coffee and pastry, you may want to check Tazza Caffe in Shippagan and in Tracadie. In Caraquet, I recommend Grains de Folie and La vieille brûlerie.