Last night I planned out the next 5 nights of National and provincial parks to stay at in order to get me home on Sunday. The issue I’m having, as I have in the past when doing these rides in Canada, is distances between places to sleep. I’d prefer to give my money to public land, even though I think Ontario Provincial Parks are expensive ($50/night) and it bugs me that there is no hiker/biker rate. And I’m reluctant to wild camp, which I should probably get over. In any case, distances are either too short (100 or less kms) or too far (140+ kms). 120/5 is the sweet spot for me.
So for tonight I was looking at 100 km to Boucherville National Park, on an island basically on the east side of Montreal. I figured with that short day I could rest a little, swim, and I had even picked out an Indian food place nearby for take out. But the riding was so nice and I am a sucker for a challenge, so ended up riding all the way to Oka and the ferry I’ll take tomorrow. Now I have to make a new plan for the next few nights 🙂
The riding continued to be pretty amazing. So much cycling infrastructure. Why is Quebec such an outlier in North America in this regard?
The ride over the 3 km bridge into Montreal was interesting. I thought it would freak me out, but it didn’t.
Then I just blew through Montreal. Didn’t even so much as stop other than at red lights (most of them, anyway). But I have 2 observations about riding through it. One is that it only took a handful of turns. This is testament to prioritizing cycling and good planning I think. The other is that it only took like 30 minutes to cross. This surprised me.
I’ll give you one guess where the trails started to suck. The burbs. Of course the burbs.
It didn’t help that I hit this part at about 120 km when everything often becomes a bit of a grind. Even an $8 cone didn’t totally do the trick. I was racing against sunset and I really just wanted to swim.
Got to the park at 7:30. Of course the person in front of me in line had problems that took 10 minutes to sort. I chugged a near beer while I waited. Got my site, got lost looking for it, raced to the beach after I found it, sun half behind the hills, oh that water was divine.
You’re on the home stretch but as they say, take time to stop and smell the roses! The bike trails look amazing. Now I want to see some amazing food. Sleep well, ride safe.
I’ve heard great things about cycling in Quebec, and now I’ve seen the photos to prove it!
This is an excellent place to for bike touring. Maybe via rail will get their shit together and allow bikes on trains soon, which would make it so much more accessible from Toronto.
So far my favourite bits have been the waffle sausage and this bicycle highway. Home stretch! Hopefully more beautiful cycling ahead.
The waffle sausage was special 😉
Gorgeous. Oh man, that sweet lake water for swimming, savour it all! And as much as I’m looking forward to you being home (maybe not as much as Ms. Floyd) take your time and absorb all the beauty and experiences. Being out on the open road, with sunsets and freedom, is as good as it gets. xo
It sure is
An alternate to overcharging Ontario provincial parks in that part of Ontario is the canal locks. Most on the Rideau have $5 per person rates. When you sign in, they give you the code for the washroom. No showers. Always a place to eat nearby.
I’m not 100% sure if the Trent system has the same deal but will look into it.
On my first adult bike tour, first night, I was in Presquille park,band the RV ahead of me with 4 senior people and 4 bikes on back paid HALF what they charged me! And I still don’t qualify for the seniors rate, (which I think is only a 30% discount now.). Oh, and on multiple occasions I’ve paid and THEN they tell me there are no working showers, toilets, or drinkable water. Happened just last fall. No refunds.
You might guess I’m not a fan.
Well damn! I’ll be along the rideau tomorrow but already booked a campsite. I’ve had pretty good luck with parks in Ontario, but your experiences sound very bad.
Trent has some locks you can camp at, a few near Lake Simcoe at least.
I was forgetting that I’ve already camped on the Trent – twice at Burleigh Falls. It has a very nice pub 100 metres away, but last time I was through the ice cream place was for sale.
I had plans last summer to stay at lock 10 or something on the Trent but then changed plans. I don’t remember what happened. One of these days.
Rideau lock 36 at Newboro is 120 k from Ottawa on the way to Kingston and allows camping. There are two main ways to bike there, both involve trails (towards Kars or towards Carlton Place.)
I’m trying to find a camp near Adolphustown/Glenora Ferry, but I may have wild camped there. That’s about another 120 km from Newboro. And Port Hope is another 120 km, but the campground there may be closed. I’ll try to phone them tomorrow.
Port Hope is 120 km from Toronto City Hall. You can’t camp there, but you can take a streetcar home…
This is very good information to know for next time. I had no idea there were so many locks
Where did you cross over off the island? Rte 148 from Laval-Ouest? I’ve always gone down by Beaconsfield along the 20 (it only sounds insane – you only touch the highway for a kilometre or so and it has a 4m shoulder.)
I just followed the route verte signs for 1 and 20: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/211566354