Friday, March 30, 2012

Getting ready for Montreal--Toronto


The accomplice will go to a conference in Toronto mid-month, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for the first big cycling adventure of the year: riding from Montreal to Toronto. If I'm actually going to do it is not 100% certain: should the weather forecast predict high temperatures of less than 5°C and/or significant precipitation I will most probably cancel the trip. But that will be a last minute decision and until then I'll keep planning and dreaming. Here are the bare facts so far:

  • Route: I have it mostly worked out: follow the Route Verte 5 to the Quebec border, then follow the Waterfront Trail on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario into Toronto.  Still to do: figure out the best way to get out to York University.
  • Accommodation: Most campgrounds won't be open for the season yet and thus I will travel light and stay in the cheapest motels I can find. In some stretches of the route, for example Prince Edward County and around the Thousand Islands, that might not be that cheap after all but we'll see. 
  • Bike: Clearly Wolfgang, my trusty all-purpose Cross-Check. Were it summer, requiring much fewer clothing items, I might have done it on Gunnar, but for early spring Wolfgang is the better choice. He is in pretty good shape, with readjusted pedals and a new bottom bracket but there are still a few things I need to service, most importantly repacking the rear hub and changing the brake pads.
  • Return to Montreal: By train, hopefully in one of their bike trains.
  • Daily kilometrage: Total distance is about 650km and I plan on doing it in 6 days. The daily average thus is about 110km. I won't book any accommodation in advance and thus take the liberty to do less or more per day.
  • Food: Being a vegan, I'm a little worried about my food options en route. Ideally I'd cook myself but doesn't go well with credit card touring. But since it's only going to be 6 days I should be okay.

2 comments:

  1. Save your money and use warmshowers.org and couchsurfing.org, and you'll get dinner, a bed to sleep in, and breakfast in the morning for $0. I've toured and traveled using those resources, and have also hosted others, and it beats dishing out money for hotels and convenience store food any day. I've met some really great people and reciprocated the favor when they needed a place to stay as well. Of the ~15 or so people I've stayed with or hosted myself, I've never had a negative experience.

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    1. Andy, good idea. I think I even still have a couchsurfing account (never got any requests down in Ithaca) and I just signed up for warmshowers.

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