Trans-Canadian Route?

[McBike]

Am planning a trans-continental solo ride beginning on the Oregon Coast
to Glacier Nat'l Park and eastward.  Would enjoy riding around the top of
Lake Superior (Thunder Bay) eventually reaching Boston.  Is this a feasable
route?  Thanks,  McBike

[FredHiltz]

Hi McBike,

I just drove there en route to a ride further west. From Duluth to Thunder Bay is fine. Several nice Minnesota state parks offer camping and waterfalls. A paved bike path parallels the road part way. In Canada, the traffic increases after joining TC 11, but shoulders are good.

Unfortunately, the route from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie is not at all good cycling. Because it is the only paved road, every kind of vehicle uses it, most of them at high speed. There are long stretches with no paved shoulder. Expect to get off into the gravel when trucks come both ways.

We did not see a single cyclist in that bad stretch. Chatting with store clerks, we heard that some people do ride it, and then they launched into a tale of someone killed out there.

I'd like to see more opinions about this road.

Fred

This message was edited by FredHiltz on 7-7-07 @ 5:02 AM

[freerider]

Having also driven the road from Thunder Bay to the Sault, I agree with Fred. It's not a nice road for cycling, at all.
There are few pit stops, supply stores, or habitation of any kind. If you like desolate places, this would be a good place, but unfortunately it's not desolate enough to be free from traffic.
I wouldn't recommend it.
Dani

[biker_james]

My wife and I rode from Thunder Bay to Montreal last year. It's not an easy ride by any means. It is fairly remote, the shoulders are limited to non existent, the pavement is rough, and we saw more semi's than we did cars. That being said, it is a gorgeous ride along the north shore of Lake Superior with beautiful scenery and wonderful people. I think that maybe twice we pulled right off the road due to wide ( very wide) loads coming up on us. I did not find it to be a very relaxing ride for sure, with having just a little space for the bike and avoiding the broken pavement, but I didn't feel that my life was in danger either. We are glad that we did ride it.