Cycling Canada
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Capital: Ottawa Currency: Canadian Dollar Population: 33.4 million Food: Poutine, garlic fingers Drink: Moosehead, Keiths |
Canada is our home country and we’ve toured here twice: once from Montreal, Quebec, to Sackville, New Brunswick with a loop around Prince Edward Island and a second time during a trip across North America, which took us from Alberta all the way east to the Atlantic Ocean.
Our favourite part of the country for cycling is Quebec and the Maritime provinces – a highly underrated destination. Everyone goes to British Columbia for the Rocky Mountains and they are gorgeous too but in the east of Canada you’ll find nice scenery with the added bonus of far less traffic. Maritimers are also known for their friendliness.
HIGHLIGHTS
The west coast of Canada and the Icefields Parkway through the Rocky Mountains are, without a doubt, Canada’s most popular cycling destination. This is just about the only place where you will see bike tourists en masse as they come to ride the fantastic alpine passes and enjoy some fabulous mountain parks.
The prairies that stretch across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba aren’t highly rated but if you want to get off the beaten path and enjoy some quirky sights (there are plenty of “world’s biggest….” statues) and small town hospitality, this might just be your place.
Some highlights of the journey east from Montreal include the historic Quebec City, the pretty tourist town of Kamouraska and the fantastic rail trail from Trois Rivieres which takes you into northern New Brunswick. Unfortunately, once in New Brunswick the trail condition quickly deteriorates so it’s back to the roads. We headed south from Edmunston, largely following the Saint John river as far as Fredericton and then cut across large swathes of woodland to Sackville. Once in Sackville, we took a weekend trip to Prince Edward Island, spending one night in Kinkora and another in New Glasgow, famous for its lobster suppers!
DON’T TAKE THE TRAIL
There are a few marked bike trails in Canada and they’re tempting to take but in general we would advise you to ‘just say no’ to trails unless you like very rustic riding – and unfortunately that includes the partially finished TransCanada Trail!
The one exception is in Quebec where maintenance is very good but in other places like New Brunswick the trails are in appalling condition. They may also be taken over by ATV drivers and poorly signed. Unfortunately, unless you have heard from other cyclists that the trail is a good one, the only thing it’s likely to be good for is wasting time.
The roads we covered were in pretty good shape. Sometimes you do get cracks and dips left over from the winter thaw. For maps, you can stop at any tourist bureau and get the free provincal highway maps. They are at a large scale 1:1 000 000, but in most cases there aren’t too many road alternatives not already shown on these maps so they are just fine for bicycle touring.
CHALLENGES
All the comforts you want in terms of hotels and food are of course available in Canada, although finding water can be a challenge. There certainly aren’t fountains everywhere like you see in Europe. Bathrooms, however, are plentiful in places like supermarkets and we often filled our bottles there.
Traffic can be another sticking point. Generally the cars aren’t too aggressive and the traffic density is low but through Northern Ontario, from Thunder Bay to Sudbury, there is only one road and it’s not a good one. You’ll need nerves of steel, all your brightest clothing and a mirror before you set out.
Also, be aware of the weather if you are cycling outside of summer. We had good luck in September but it could just have easily been rainy and chilly at that time of year.
ACCOMMODATION AND BUDGET
Sticking to a $20 a day budget per person is possible but only if you embrace wild camping and are careful what you buy in the supermarket. Free camping spots are generally easy to find. They’re a little trickier to tack down in the prairies, where a lot of farming means more fenced land, but there community campgrounds at reasonable prices are available.
Some typical costs are $1-1.50 Cdn for a filter coffee, $5 Cdn for a sandwich in a cafe, $20-30 Cdn a night for a campground and $60-100 Cdn for B&B accommodation.
Two of our favourite campgrounds were Camping Des Erables in Montmagny, Quebec and Iroquois River Campground with free wireless internet in Edmunston, New Brunswick. Going through Thessalon, Ontario (between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury), cyclists can have a cheap bed for the night for $20 with wifi and a kitchen and laundry at Auld Kirk (234 Main Street, 705-943-0062, kirktome at me dot com).
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