Frenzen

Hello, I want to dabble in touring as I am a beginner (no experience in touring) I would like to get some ideas. I am part of the Cyclotourisme Québec FB group. My only criteria is that I need routes or ideas starting from Montreal or nearby. I will be camping or stealth camping if necessary (never done it tho). Throw your ideas.

I know I should start few weekend tours with people that have experience, but I can figure that out once I know where I can go?

Steve B.

Start with a 24, an out and back for maybe 30 miles or so, to a local public campground. I would not start stealth camping till you know your gear choices and equipment carried all works as expected. Then maybe a 3-4 day trip. I would look at whatever campgrounds are in a circle of where you are, or an out and back. Pick a Sunday or Monday start date as the campgrounds are usually less crowded. I often just figure out "where is 40 miles" from wherever I stopped, then Google that area for "campgrounds". You can use the Google maps with the Bicycle option, it will give you a sense of what roads and about the distance. I then use RideWithGPS for the actual route planning as I can dump the route to my Garmin cycling computer. Dont forget to ask the group you are a part of for advice.

Also look at the P'tit train du nord" trail just north of Montreal, very popular bike trail, southern terminal is in Saint Jerome, just north of Montreal. There are something like 6 campgrounds on the route.

https://ptittraindunord.com/en/

Pratt

Although I have never bike toured in Quebec, I plan to change that this summer. It is about 50 miles, or about 90 kilometers, to the Vermont border. The terrain is relatively flat and there are several campgrounds. I know because I have been looking at riding from Vermont to Montreal.. I think there is also a park on the island just southeast of Montreal.

djb

Guten tag Herr Frenzen,
Do you have or can you borrow camping stuff?
Do you already have panniers or whatever to hold your stuff?
The idea to do a one nighter is a good one, one possibility is to ride to oka park and camp overnight, return next day.
They have lower rates for cyclists and a specific cyclist camping area, might not even need a reservation, but check.
Distance there depends on where you are in MTL.

Ps, it is nice at a campground because you can take a shower and have easy access to water.

Frenzen

Have neither but can borrow stuff like a tent and sleeping bags, I still haven't decided if I should get a hammock or a tent (if/when I buy one). I have panniers and can hold the stuff. Good tip, I will look into oka park because it is only 2h06 min away or 35km. Shouldn't be too hard, I could even come back home lol

Frenzen

I have always wanted to go to Mont-Tremblant by bike through P'tit Train du Nord but I certainly can look at the camgrounds and do not have to bike all the way to MT as it is 82 miles one way from me.

Frenzen

Have you biked much in Maine or what are the tours you have done in Vermont or around

Pratt

Have not biked much in Maine, but that is tour#2 this year, a little ride up and back on the coast, after Labor Day. The hope is that the crowds will have thinned out, but the services and attractions will still be open.
In Vermont and New Hampshire, there are a couple of nice rail trails which I have ridden. The Cross Vermont Trail begins in Burlington and heads east across (mostly) flattish terrain to Wells River. Wells River, conveniently, is across the Connecticut from Woodsville, NH, where the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail begins. It heads east, with beautiful scenery, to Bethel, Maine. Both trails have websites with maps and cue sheets so you can do day trips, or, if you are feeling ambitious, string the two together.

djb

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I borrowed a tent for my first bike trip, to try it out. It was a teeny tiny bivy type tunnel tent, no room to sit up at all, felt like a coffin. So it was good to hear I learned to that I would prefer a proper tent.
I've never used hammocks, so no opinion.
Re Oka and only 35k, it would be easy to look at a map and plan a longer way to get there. You could go south to near Verdun lachine and take bike path along the river, then going along Lakeshore Blvd through dorval etc, cross over to Ile whatever it is, follow shore until Hudson and take the ferry over towards Hudson.
Return you could come the route you were planning to take, but add on some maybe.

Looking at a map and just improvising is fun and doable, plus gives you some experience not just following Google maps, which your 2hour and 6 min comment probably shows you used Google maps.
Sure, use your phone for stuff, but -- brace yourself, consider getting a paper map to bring with you.
I know, weird huh?
Using your phone full time will drain battery quickly, so having an idea of where you are going on paper is a good backup.
Battery banks work, but you still have to manage phone use and access to plugs for recharging.

Have fun trying touring out.

IPassGas

You are on/at one of the best cycling networks in the world, Route Verte! We are starting near Montreal in a couple of weeks and biking around the Gaspe. I thank Canadian tax dollars for setting up such a wonderful network. Try explorations on it at first, for example Montreal to Quebec City or as mentioned above P'tit train du nord.

autonomy

Yes, this. I've only driven through but it looked magnificient.
https://www.routeverte.com/en/discov.../rv/?locale=en

Steve B.

East of Ellsworth on Rt 1 has better cycling then the much busier section south. No state camping facilities till you get up near Lubec at Cobscook State Park. A good ride is the Down East Sunrise Trail, runs east from Ellsworth about 85 miles to near Eastport. Its a rough gravel rail trail, wide tires useful, also best done other then a weekend which sees a lot of ATV's and dust as result. There are some private campgrounds along the way. Im planning a 4 day trip that will use the DEST for out, then Rt 1 back, self supported though I might stay at the Machias River Inn and eat some Lobster Stew and blueberry pie at Helens next door,

dvdwmth

The Empire State trail starts at the border south of Montreal. It goes all the way to New York but you could just a do a section.

i don't know what the route from Montreal to the border would be like though.

it's new and seems to have had some resources thrown at.

indyfabz

For the sake of clarity, that arm of the “trail” consists of mostly road riding with heavy traffic in places and climbing.

dvdwmth

Wasn't sure about that. Too bad.

Frenzen, have you seen the open cycling map? https://www.opencyclemap.org. Might be useful.

ClydeClydeson

Chemin du Roy between Mtl and QC is the best bicycling route I have been on. Some of it is on highways but most is quiet back roads through the quaint small towns of Quebec.

axolotl

I biked on Route 4 near Bromont, Quebec (part of La Route Verte) and this bike "path" is nothing more than a shoulder, and usually not a very wide shoulder. I've been on lots of roads elsewhere which have wider shoulders which are not designated as a bike path, but which are better for biking. But the region is pretty and some towns like Bromont and Knowlton (aka Lac-Brome) are nice. I had previously biked on some trails near North Hatley, Quebec, and they were pleasant enough unpaved trails, possibly former railroad rights-of-way. I don't know the Gaspé section of la Route Verte, but I hope it is more of an actual trail than I saw in the Eastern Townships.

I drove on the section from Ticonderoga north to Westport. As indyfabz wrote, much of this "trail" in northern NY is nothing but a shoulder on a road with light but high-speed traffic and there are some significant climbs.

I biked on the Dutchess rail trail near Poughkeepsie (part of the Empire State Trail, but each county seems to give its own section its own name), including the converted long, high railroad bridge across the Hudson into Ulster county, and it is superb. Except for the popular wide walkway over the Hudson, there are few people using the trail, which has smooth asphalt, and runs mostly through forest. It crosses the Appalachian Trail at one point, near a very pretty lake.