Kelly - Cycle Trekkers

October 15, 2016March 14, 2017

Cycling Prince Edward Island: Canada’s smallest province

confederation bridge, Cycling Prince Edward Island

Kelly’s write up of cycling Prince Edward Island during our cross Canada cycle trip in Autumn 2016. Michael’s write up of exploring Prince Edward Island by bicycle will be published soon (ish).

The Confederation Bridge

It’s not cheating if you are forced to take a shuttle! With that being said, I’m glad we weren’t allowed to cycle the 14km bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island (PEI). Not only is the bridge busy, we discovered that the bridge has only 2 lanes, a few sharp inclines and a small hard shoulder. The cycle would have been horrible! So we would actually start cycling Prince Edward Island, after this huge bridge!

We waited for the shuttle at the visitor centre for 45 minutes. Left to just stare at the long bridge, disappearing into the horizon. Eventually the shuttle did arrive. We some how managed to squeeze our bikes into the bus, and away we went.

Cycling Prince Edward Island

As soon as we started cycling Prince Edward Island, we discovered the confederation trail. With a bit of hesitation, we hopped on it to see what it’s like.

It seems like a lot of cyclist tourists completely avoid jumping on the trans Canada trail. In provinces like New Brunswick, I can sort of understand this, and, in the Prairies, well it just doesn’t exist. However, jumping on these bike trails (when you can) means getting off the busy highway, seeing some unspoilt country and camping in peaceful places, instead of next to a busy road. So what, you might get a bit of dirt in the chain. That’s going to happen anyway. Suck it up!

The Confederation Trail (part of the Trans Canada Trail) in PEI is awesome! It’s might be a compacted gravel road, but it’s much flatter than the highways and main roads, has picnic spots every couple of kilometres and is very quiet. We loved it and jumped on it whenever we could.

The Green Gables

PEI is tiny in comparison to other provinces. You could easily cycle across the island in a day. We decided to take 4 days to explore the island a bit. First stop, Cavendish and the Anne of Green Gables house (which Michael was just ecstatic about).

From the shuttle it was 20km on the bike trail and 20km on the main roads, and we were on the other side of the island. The bike trail was awesome, but as soon as we got off the bike trail, the rolling hills started. After Fundy, these hills were nothing, but they were unexpected. Everyone had told us PEI was flat – such lies!

People had warned us that after September everything in PEI starts to shut down for the season – they weren’t wrong. As we approached Cavendish we noticed lots of “shut for the season” signs. Even PEI national park had shut up for the season – including the campground where we had planned to spend the night.

For this reason, we thought the Green Gables were going to be quiet – boy, were we wrong! Suddenly there were people everywhere. It felt strange being surrounded by so many tourists. We spent an hour or so checking out the house and grounds – and visiting the only café opened for miles. Then, headed off the check out Cavendish and the national park and find somewhere to camp.

Cavendish

Cavendish is a coastal national park with lots of sandy beaches and dune systems. It actually reminded me a bit of the beaches back home in Western Australia. The only downside was that it was far too cold to go for a swim.

Finally we found a picnic site to camp at and set up for the night. The following morning we followed the coast for a bit, hoped on a hilly main road, then the bike trail, and made it to the province’s capital, Charlottetown.

Charlottetown

We decided to spend two nights in Charlottetown, just because we could! There was only another 2 weeks left of the cycle trip, and we were getting lazy. Waking up late, having short cycle days and just chilling out at coffee shops, bakeries and breweries.

Charlottetown is cute! There are also several bakeries, coffee shops, breweries, COWs with their supposed, “world’s best ice cream” and a superstore. We kept ourselves busy!

The ferry to Nova Scotia (our home for the winter)

The following morning, we woke up early, with the aim to get an early start and avoid the rain. It turned out I completely underestimated the distance, and on top of this we had a strong head wind. Who said cycling west to east had fewer headwinds? I’m sure we’ve had more headwinds than tailwinds. Anyway, we made to the ferry in time, had lunch and enjoyed a smooth sailing to the next and final province, Nova Scotia.

Cycling Prince Edward Island was short, but really enjoyable. I definitely would recommend it, as well as the island’s Confederation bike trail.

Next on the agenda: cycling the mountainous, Cabot trail! 3 mountain passes, lots of cold, wet weather and hopefully some beautiful views. And then onto Halifax for the winter!

I’m pretty nerdy and like to keep track of our stats – check them out here, if you’re interested!

October 8, 2016March 14, 2017

Entering the Maritimes: cycling in New Brunswick

Kelly’s write up of cycling in New Brunswick during our coast to coast Canada cycle trip in Autumn 2016. Click here to read Michael’s write up of discovering New Brunswick by bicycle.

Winter is coming!

We ended up cycling into New Brunswick in the evening of a very cold night. The Trans Canada bike trail that we were on had been fantastic. There were plenty of camping opportunities along the way, hardly any people and plenty of scenic views. We decided we would definitely attempt cycling in New Brunswick on some more of the Trans Canada trail.

As it was already freezing, we decided to set up camp just after the Quebec-New Brunswick border. Next to a small airfield and an old aircraft display. We quickly set up camp, cooked and jumped in the tent, for a chilly night. The following morning we woke to an icy frozen tent, frost on the grass and a definitely chill in the air. Winter was definitely coming (and yes, I’m a Game of Thrones fan). Cycling in New Brunswick was definitely going to be a cold stretch.

Camping next to an airport in New Brunswick

Warming up!

We packed up and headed to the closest coffee shop to warm up – this just so happened to be a Tim Hortons. Feeling a bit unmotivated to continue cycling, we ended up chilling out in Timmys, indulging on donuts, muffin and coffee for about 3-4 hours (yeah, we’re fatties). We still had at least another 80km to go, but absolutely no motivation. I think this is called the 3-month travel slum. After 3 months of travelling, no matter how you travel, it no longer seems as exciting. You start to feel warn down by the constant packing up and moving on.

Cycling in New Brunswick: The 100km challenge

To motivate ourselves we decided to book into a “motel/ apartment/ guesthouse” in the little Maritime town of Perth. The only catch was the apartment was another 106km and it was already 1pm. On top off this it was now getting dark at around 6pm, so we only have a few hours of light to smash our 100km+.

The first 60km to Grand Falls was awesome! We totally smashed it – even with a lunch stop! The cycle was on a smooth, relatively flat road, with moderate traffic. We managed to arrive into Grand Falls before 4pm, so made a “quick” stop in at the superstore, checked out the Grand Falls, and were back on our way.

Having such a good experience on the Trans Canada trail in Quebec, we decided to hop back on the Trans Canada trail to Perth. Big mistake! Soft, rocky gravel is what greeted us on the trail! It was barely cyclable, but we persisted for about 10km to see if the path improved. Suddenly the cycle path ended due to path and road closures! We were forced to detour up a steep hill to get back on the main road.

We decided to stick on the main roads the rest of the way to Perth. These roads were quite hilly and it was taking us a lot longer to pass the kilometres. Eventually we rolled into Perth around 7.30pm.

Cycling in New Brunswick definitely had new challenges that we haven’t had to dealt with so far on the trip. Frost, cold weather, less hours of light and sections of continuously steep, hills.

Suspension bridge on the Trans Canada trail in New Brunswick

Perth, New Brunswick (not so different to Perth, Australia)

It was definitely strange seeing road signs for Perth everywhere. What made it even stranger was that our apartment/ guesthouse was next-door to “Bogan’s Bar and campground.” It felt like home! We spent a couple of nights in Perth, just resting up, drying all our gear out and making plans for the rest of the cycle across Canada.

Hilly terrain!

The next couple of days were hilly! In fact, we completely underestimated the hills. We cycled through the cute towns of Bath, Bristol, Woodstock (not so cute) and south and north Hampton. Still managing to average about 105km a day (how? I have no idea), our legs were definitely feeling it.

Occasionally we would hop onto the Trans Canada trail for a few kilometres, however the path was generally terrible and very bumpy, so we never lasted long on there. At one point we did decide to take the Trans Canada trail, as we were looking for a good camping spot for the night. The path took us down an old road and across a suspension bridge, where there was also a great camping spot. The following morning it was very misty and eerie feeling. It reminded me of something from the headless horseman!

Back on one of the main roads for another very hilly day! We had planned to cycle through Fredericton and onto Oromocto, to stay with our warmshowers’ hosts. They had a beautiful property, with chickens and an organic vegetable garden – the kind of place I would like to own one day.

Sussex

Jacque and Lusia, the German couple we had cycled with previously, had contacted us to let us know they were only a day ahead of us. They were cycling with some German friends, so had been taking it a bit slower. We decided to smash out a few kilometres to try and catch up with them at Fundy National Park.

The cycle to Sussex was easy going compared to the previous days. We managed to arrive into Sussex around 4pm, which was lucky, as Michael’s gears had started to play up.

Luckily there was a bike store in town (Outdoor Elements), with super helpful and friendly staff. They played around with Michael’s chain and gear for a bit. One of the guys in the store also helped sort us out with some accommodation at the Timberland motel, about 8km outside of town. After about an hour we headed off to the motel. On the cycle there we discovered that Michael’s bike still wasn’t fixed, so the following morning he headed back into town to get it sorted. Luckily we only had about 50km to the park, so we had plenty of time to get it all sorted. Before midday we were on our way!

Fundy National Park

The 10% gradients into Fundy National Park were killer! Luckily it was the shoulder season, so there wasn’t too much tourist traffic around. It took us a few hours to ride 50km and by the time we made it to the campsite we were buggered. We hadn’t cycled gradients like this since Europe!

We caught up with the Germans in Alma town. It was kind of strange seeing them again, but also really good to catch up on stories. Michael ate a stupid amount of sticky buns and baked goods from the town bakery, and then we headed off on a hike to work it off.

After Fundy, we had decided to take it easy for the next week and let our legs recover a bit before we hit the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail has 16% gradients, so my legs needed all the rest they could get. So, we decided the rest of the time we’d be cycling in New Brunswick would be our “rest time” – still cycling, but just shorter days.

Mud Flats on the bay of fundy at low tide

Hopewell Rocks

Leaving the park we had only a short, but hilly cycle along the coast road to Hopewell Cape, home to the famous Hopewell Rocks.

We checked into our motel, chilled out for a few hours, and then headed to the rocks to see them at low tide. We got to the park about 5.30pm, after it had already closed for the day. It turns out you’re allowed in the park after hours, but you just do so at your own risk.

It was amazing! We had the park practically to ourselves, and got some stunning shots of the rocks at sunset. The Bay of Fundy experiences the highest tides in the world. The tidal movement is every 6 hours. If you’re not paying attention to the tidal charts, it’s possible to get cut off on the beach, as the tides move so quickly and so much. But, we’re too smart for that; we just headed down after hours in the freezing cold at sunset instead.

Hopewell Rocks was definitely my highlight of cycling in New Brunswick!

Hopewell Rocks at sunset, cycling in New Brunswick — Hopewell Rocks at sunset

Moncton and onwards to PEI

The next destination was Moncton, which meant another short and relaxing day cycle! Moncton seemed like a nice town. It has a good local brewery, called the pump house, which has tasty beers. Highly recommend if you happen to be passing through. We spent the night at the hostel and the following day had a short 60km to our warmshowers’ host in Shemogue. This would be our last full day cycling in New Brunswick! In the morning, we’re head to Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I).

I’m pretty nerdy and like to keep track of our stats – check them out here, if you’re interested!

October 2, 2016March 14, 2017

Cycling in Quebec

Kelly’s write up of cycling in Quebec during our cross Canada cycle trip in September 2016. Click here to read Michael’s write up about exploring Quebec by bicycle.

We were excited to finally be cycling in Quebec! As soon as we crossed into Quebec the roads seemed more European. The buildings seemed more historic and there were bakeries and cafes everywhere. It was great! What did surprise me was that even though everywhere else in Canada the signs were in both English and French. In Quebec everything was only in French (even the signs in the tourist information booth). Time to brush up on my French!

Montreal – our mini holiday!

Overall it was pleasant cycling in Quebec along La Route Verte (Quebec’s designated cycle network) and into Quebec’s largest city, Montreal. We were super excited to be in Montreal! Montreal was our little “holiday” from the cycle trip, where we got to spend 4 nights in an Airbnb in downtown Montreal. The plan was to explore the city, eat lots of food and do touristy stuff.

My brother was also flying into Montreal for the 4 nights we were there. His work (Global Poverty Project) was organising a concert on the weekend, and we got VIP tickets. Woohoo! Cyclist bum turn to VIP! The only problem we had was that we didn’t pack any clothes worthy enough for an event where we would be brushing shoulders with Justin Trudeau, Bill Gates and Usher. I doubt we fitted in with the “posh and trendy crowd,” but hey, we still had fun. And, we were able to shower before the event, so at least we didn’t smell.

GPP concert montreal — GPP concert in montreal

We even got to attend the after party at some trendy at gallery. If only we didn’t have to cycle in the morning, then we could have taken more advantage of the free booze. Unfortunately, we had already delayed our cycle trip to coincide with the event and seeing my brother. So we had to get back on the bikes as soon as possible to make sure we made it across Canada before winter. I barely got the chance to see my brother (if you know him, you’ll also know he’s married to his job). Actually if he didn’t decide to crash at our Airbnb I doubt I would have seen him at all. At least I got to see he was still alive.

Back to “work!”

It was hard getting back on the bikes after have a few days off. Especially after having a late night with lots of drinking. Luckily the sun was out, and we had a cycle path to follow for some of the way. We had decided to take the most direct route to Quebec City, which meant a 3 day cycle along the river (not that we seen much of the river with all the houses and their private beaches). It was still a pleasant and easy cycle, and the roads were much nicer than in Ontario.

Cycling in Quebec City

Cycling into Quebec City was a little confusion. We missed the cycle path signs a few times, but we got there eventually. On the cycle into the city we met several friendly locals. The city vibe was definitely more friendly and welcoming than Montreal.

Quebec City is one of my favourite cities in Canada. It is cycle friendly, has awesome views of the river, plenty of good bakeries and cafes with good coffee, markets and of course the beautiful, old city. Though a bit touristy, I still enjoyed sipping on an espresso and watching the world go by.

We stayed with a girl called, Maude. A warmshowers’ host that had previously cycled through Colombia and Ecuador. So I was keen to hear her stories. It also turned out that she had studied the same thing as me and was working as an urban landscaper. I guess cycle touring tends to attract the same type of person.

After spending a few days exploring the city and feeling like normal human beings, we were ready to hit the road again.

Cycling in Quebec on La Route Verte

We decided to take the ferry across the Saint Lawrence River to avoid the nasty looking bridge, save 20km, and just because I like ferries. Once across the river, we immediately we got on La Route Verte #1. We followed this route along the river for the rest of the day. It was a stunning cycle, with gorgeous views of the river.

Once we arrived at Rivere-du-Loup, we cut inland towards New Brunswick. The temperature had already dropped by 10 degrees in the past couple of days, so we thought we had better take a more direct route to the Bay of Fundy. We didn’t want to risk getting caught in frost and even snow.

We hopped onto another La Route Verte cycle path. This time the path was a compacted gravel cycle path, which had picnic sites, toilets and even primitive campsites along the way. I had heard mixed things about this cycle path, but after spending two days cycling along it, we thought it was awesome! The trees had just started to change to the Autumn colours. Everything was looking particularly colourful and warm (even though it felt far from being warm).

The route lead us into the next province New Brunswick, where we spent the night sleeping at the province border (next to a small airport). Overall, we loved cycling in Quebec! But, New Brunswick was calling, and it was time to move on.

I’m definitely a bit of a nerd at times, and have been keeping track of our cycle stats and route trip notes – hopefully this information will also be helpful to others!

September 23, 2016March 14, 2017

Cycling Ontario: Onwards to Ottawa

Kelly’s write up of cycling to Ottawa, during our coast to coast Canada cycle trip. Her other Ontario blog posts are cycling to Thunder Bay and Cycling Lake Superior. Click here to read Michael’s write up of cycling in Ontario.

We still had 850km to cycle to reach the country’s capital, Ottawa. After some discussion, we decided to take the most direct route to get there. This would mean we could meet my brother in Montreal on 14^th September, and also have a few rest days before then.

Discovering Amish Country

After all the steep inclines around Lake Superior, we finally got to enjoy a relatively flat road. The cycle from Sault St Marie to Sudbury also took us through Amish country. To our delight fruit stalls and bakeries started to appear along the road. We also spotted a few horse and carriages on the highway and horse powered plowes in the fields.

September Long Weekend

Cycling into Sudbury on the Friday before a long weekend was definitely not a smart choice. In fact, it was horrible and very dangerous! Not only did we have to put up with road works, a terrible or non-existent hard shoulder and soft gravel, plus a cross wind, we also had constant RVs and trucks to keep an eye out for.

After a very long, scary day, we pulled off the highway onto a quieter road, just as we were coming into Sudbury. We had decided to try and avoid the highway as much as possible. It was getting late in the afternoon, and we decided to start looking for a campsite, just as a car pulled off just in front of us (this is one of Michael’s pet hates).

“Friendly-cycling-enthusiast” to the rescue

Out of the car popped, Patti! A keen and very enthusiastic cyclist, who insisted we make it to her house that night, to shower, do laundry and sleep in a proper bed. The only problem was, Patti lived at least another 30km away (we discovered later it was more like 40km). There was no way we were going to push on another 30km. We were done for the day and felt completely defeated. Patti then offered to drive the bikes and us to her place. Usually, I would consider this cheating and decline the offer, however after spending the day on the busy highway, fearing for my life, we decided, screw it, lets do it! Cycle touring is about the experiences you have and the people you meet, not about cycling on dangerous, busy roads.

Picnic sites make ideal camping spots

After spending the night at Patti’s we woke early, feeling rested and in good spirit. The weather was good, so we decided to try and smash out the kilometres, getting as close to North Bay as possible. North Bay is where we had planned to take a rest day off the bikes. Having a long day would mean a short cycle day into North Bay and a bonus afternoon off the bikes.

The cycle day was great! We managed to find a camping spot at the picnic site about 20km west of North Bay. We camped behind the drop toilets at the picnic site, which was also an amazing viewpoint and sunset, looking out over Nipissing Lake. It would have been an amazing camp spot if it weren’t for the smell of the toilets.

Since arriving in Ontario, we discovered how great picnic spots are. They are practically free, basic campsites. Sometimes there might be a “no camping” sign; however a lot of the time, there is no sign at all. Some of our best campsites have been at these picnic sites.

Campsite next to the highway on the way to North Bay — “Campsite” next to the highway on the way to North Bay

Rest day in North Bay

We arrived into North Bay early the following day. We had arranged to stay with Liz, a warmshowers’ host from Australia (the first Australian we’ve met since leaving BC). It turned out, she also had a love for beer, worked in a local brewery, and fed us free, tasty and local beer! We definitely scored!

We were in North Bay for September long weekend. After the traffic we experienced heading into Sudbury on the Friday, we decided cycling on the Monday would be hectic, and to take the day off cycling. This meant we got to experience North Bay’s September long weekend festival next to the beach. The town definitely had a great community vibe, and quite a nice beach.

Deep River

The cycle to Deep River was quite pleasant, which meant we were getting used to cycling on the busy Ontario highways, which lacked any decent hard shoulder. The scenery was quite beautiful, and the roads were slightly quieter after the long weekend, which meant we felt quite relaxed. If Ontario roads were cycle friendly and had good hard shoulder, then I’m sure it would have some of Canada’s best cycle routes.

Once we arrived in Deep River, we were fortunate to stay with Mike and Danielle, two warmshowers’ hosts that had toured a lot around the UK. Mike, like Michael, had a interest in fine beers, so we spent most of the evening sampling and learning about beers. It was great! Beer is full of carbs, so it’s great for cycling. They also helped with our route into Ottawa and told us away to avoid all the busy highways.

Goodbye Highway 17!

After Deep River, we finally got off highway 17 and onto some quieter country roads. We had been on highway 17 since Thunder Bay, so more than 1000km on the same, crappy quality road. We were ecstatic to be off it.

The country roads were awesome! On the way into Ottawa we camped out the back of a gas station, for the first time in Canada. On our last cycle trip, camping at gas stations was the norm.

Onwards to Ottawa

We stayed on the country-roads until we reached the start of the city’s cycle paths, about 20km outside of downtown Ottawa. The cycle path led us right to Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa. It was probably the easiest and most stress free cycle into a capital city we have EVER experienced.

We arrived into Ottawa a day early, so decided to stay 4 nights in Ottawa, to check out the city and rest. After 10 weeks of cycle touring, we were definitely beginning to feel a bit drained.

Our warmshowers’ host, Richard, was awesome! He had loads of interesting stories and loads of interesting bikes to go with it. He showed us a whole world of bicycles and bicycle touring that we didn’t know existed. Ottawa is an awesome city! Super bike friendly, with great markets and a real community feel. It felt more like a big town then Canada’s capital city. We were definitely sad to leave.

There were two options when leaving Ottawa, to get to Montreal in Quebec: the Quebec route or the Ontario route. The Ontario route was 20km shorter, so we decided to take that option. The route led us onto an old railway path that was converted into a very quiet cycle (gravel) cycle route. Though it was on gravel it was great, and a brilliant way to end our trip through Ontario.

Bonjour Quebec!

If you’re planning a trip across Canada you might want to check out our gear list, cycle stats or route notes.

September 11, 2016March 15, 2017

Cycling Lake Superior in Ontario

Kelly’s write up of cycling Lake Superior! Click here to read Michael’s write up of biking Ontario.

Lake Superior is friggin’ huge!

Cycling Lake Superior was one of the highlights of our cycle trip across Canada. It’s the largest freshwater lake in the world, and has some stunning national and provincial parks, and I’m sure some amazing hiking. We spent 10 days cycling Lake Superior. We cycled 7000km and only covered about a third of the entire route around the lake. To put things in perspective, 700km is like a return trip from London to Paris.

The day we left Thunder Bay and headed north to Nipigon it rained. On top of this we had a terrible head wind, there were construction work for about 60km and there was next to no hard shoulder, which meant we were pretty much cycling in the road of a busy highway. It was not fun! And, it didn’t feel particularly safe. We had our lights on the whole time, but still I’m not sure we were that visible. The issue was, we had nowhere to get off the road, and so we had to keep going. 110km later and we finally rolled into Nipigon at around 8pm. The raining was still not letting up. We decided to screw the camping, and treat ourselves to a motel.

As it turned out, earlier that morning, before the rain started, Michael found an iphone on the side of the road. As luck had it we were able to return the phone to the owner. And, he gave us a $60 reward. That reward would be our cheap motel, which was actually pretty expensive for a motel ($90 – that’s our budget for 3 days), but the owner did give us a huge thermos of coffee and we managed to dry all our gear out.

Cycling Lake Superior — Beautiful (but cold) Lake Superior

We woke the following day to find the rain had stopped and the sun was making an appearance – woohoo!

After we had finally packed up, it was already a late start, but we decided to check out the town and grab a coffee. When we finally started cycling Lake Superior that day it was almost lunch time. The ride from Nipigon to Marathon was supposed to be hilly, but also very scenic. Straight away I realise we underestimated just how hilly this section would be.

The previous day we were shivering in the rain, today we were sweating, climbing up hills in direct sun. The kilometres were slowly clocking up. We had planned to do about 90km that day, but only managed 75km, and by the end of the day we were knackered. That night we camped at a picnic spot, right on the lake. It was one of the best spots we had camped all trip.

We took the following 2 days cycling to Marathon fairly easy. Allowing ourselves time to stop and enjoy the views and also not to burn out. The ride was challenging, but the scenery made the blood, sweat and tears all worth it. For me, cycling this section of Lake Superior was more difficult than cycling in the Rockies. Finally we made it to Marathon, and stayed with a local guy, Lloyd.

From Marathon the cycle got easier – or we got used to cycling steep gradients.

It felt like we flew to White River, and we arrived nice and earlier. Enough time to chill, have a shower, relax and eat a shit load of food. Apparently there had been a lot of bear sightings, so we were on extra alert. I was sure we would see a bear at some point around Lake Superior – we never did.

The next day cycling was just as good, and we arrived at Wawa at a reasonable time. In Wawa we meet a guy, Zoltan, outside the supermarket who invited us to camp in his garden. He actually ended up going the extra mile and setting up his trailer tent for us to stay in. The generosity of people during the cycle trip, never fails to amazing. People are genuinely amazing! Anyone that thinks otherwise should hop on a bike and go on a cycle tour – within a couple of weeks I can guarantee you would have experienced unbelievable hospitality and kindness from strangers.

Cycling Lake Superior Provincial Park

Cycling Lake Superior Provincial Park was one of the highlights of our cycle across Canada. It is definitely up there with Bow Lake and Banff National Park. We took our time cycling through the park to enjoy the beaches and vistas. One night we camped at Sinclair Cove – it looked like we were on a tropical island paradise. It has to be one of my favourite campsites (though I write this while we’re camped at a picnic spot, next to a stinky drop toilet).

I had to keep reminding myself that it was a lake and not an ocean. I love the ocean and often miss it when I’m travelling. What I’ve discovered is how awesome lakes can be – swimming in a lake feels refreshing like a cold bath, you can drink the water, it doesn’t sting your eyes and there are no sharks.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”mKHT6″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]I had to keep reminding myself that it was a lake and not an ocean [/ctt]

We only had 2 days left of cycling Lake Superior before we reached Sault St Marie, and finally got a rest day off the bikes. I had been told there was a steep incline into Sault. Other than that it should be pretty easy going. We decided to take it easy and set up camp on the beach to enjoy the sunset. We got chatting to some people, and a local told us we would get moved on if we camped on the beach in this area. Complete bumper! Ian, the owner of a local RV park, came to our rescue, and let us camp in his RV park for free. This is just another example of the unbelievable kindness from strangers that we experienced throughout the cycle tour.

Sault St Marie

Finally after almost 2 weeks we made it to Sault St Marie, where 2 amazing warmshowers’ hosts, Juanita and Jeff, greeted us. We spent a couple of night exchanging stories, drying out and cleaning our gear and recovering, and eating some amazing meals, with our awesome hosts.

There is a bike store in Sault, called Velorution that has a free campground for cyclists. We decided, we had to spend at least one night at this campground. Unfortunately, there were no other cyclists staying there the same night as us. We’re in the tail-end of cyclists crossing Canada, so we tend to miss most of the cyclists, but it was still an awesome set up, and we were thankful for the extra rest day.

Already it has been over 2 weeks cycling through Ontario, and we still have 850km before we reach Canada’s capital, Ottawa. That means we would have cycled over 2000km in just Ontario. Ontario is just crazy big!

If you’re planning a cycle trip, you might find cycle tourists’ non training plan handy!

[ctt template=”8″ link=”k5Srw” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Ontario is just crazy big![/ctt]

September 5, 2016March 15, 2017

Cycling Ontario: To Thunder Bay

Kelly’s write up of cycling Ontario to Thunder Bay. Click here to check out Michael’s write up of biking through Ontario.

Cycling Ontario and it’s Lake-lands

Originally we had planned to dip into the USA and cycle the south side of Lake Superior. We had heard several horror stories about cycling Ontario, particularly the roads between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, and though we’ve probably cycled worse roads in Iran and the Stans, we didn’t see the point in putting ourselves at unnecessary risk, especially when there were alternatives. So we headed to the USA border on highway 12 saying “goodbye” to Manitoba and the Prairies.

Highway 12 turned into highway 11 as we crossed into Minnesota in the USA. We followed this highway for 60km through the USA and back into Canada. The ride in the USA was absolutely horrible. It was 60km of hell, complete with thunderstorms, an extremely busy road and a hard shoulder with a rumble strip right down the middle, forcing us to cycle in the busy road.

Finally we made it back into Canada and started cycling Ontario! The road conditions immediately improved, and we couldn’t have been happier to be back.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”6M8sc” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]We couldn’t have been happier to be back![/ctt]

Canada Won the Toss

The plan was to follow highway 11 through Ontario from Rainy River to Fort Frances (which was only a hundred odd km), then head back south into the USA, however our plans changed once we got a message from our German cyclists friends, Luisa and Jacque. They were also heading to Fort Frances, so we arranged to meet up at the campground. We caught up on stories, over what turned out to be Canada’s most expensive beer. They told us they were planning on taking highway 11 to Thunder Bay after locals told them that highway 17 was really dangerous. Michael and I looked at each, found a quarter and flipped on what to do. Heads go through the USA, tails (or I think it was a moose head) stay in Canada. It was the moose head! We were staying in Canada. Bring on cycling Ontario!

I learnt that the route we were following was known as “Mom’s Way” – the alternative route from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay, which (strangely) included the 60km stretch through the USA. It was a lot quieter, with less services than the more popular and direct route to Thunder Bay.

ontario by bicycle — Pretty obvious… exploring Ontario by bicycle!

Cycling with Friends

Surprisingly, though we have done a cycle tour before, Michael and I have not cycled with our cycle tourists that often (well it’s been twice, with the same people), so to cycle with other people was definitely a new and exciting experience for us. Unfortunately for us, Lusia and Jacque had been cycling about 8 weeks longer than us, and have covered a lot more distance, which meant we were the slower cyclists (mainly me being the slowest – which isn’t always fun). On top of that, my knee was starting to ache. However, it was still enjoyable cycling with others and time spent in the saddle definitely went a lot quicker. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to cycle with others cyclists again (hint to any cyclists out there on our route).

The “Mom’s Way” route

The cycling Ontario from Fort Frances to Thunder Bay was enjoyable. The first night we spent on a First Nation’s reserve at Seine River. The locals were really friendly and even opened up the community centre to let us use the showers and fill up our water bottles. The second night we spent next to a lake, which meant we all got cold baths before bed. This is where Jacque taught us his trick of hiding his food bag in the (bear proof) bins, so the bears couldn’t get at it.

The last night to Thunder Bay was spent next to an ice cream van. We managed to cycle 115km in the heat, humidity and storms, and arrived at Shabaqua Junction hoping to find somewhere to camp. We found that, plus more! An ice cream van, complete with a cool chillout area was there to greet us. It was the perfect end to the day!

Lesson Learnt: Don’t drink and then set up the tent

Michael being the alcoholic that he is pulled then out a bottle of rum. I was feeling it after just one rum and ginger beer – and we still had to set up the tent and cook dinner. We somehow managed to do all this just in time for a huge thunderstorm to hit. This is when we learnt that we should not drink before setting up the tent – we set the tent up pretty wonky, and unfortunately we did get a bit wet!

After surviving the storm, we woke up in a rather wet tent. We decided to cycle 500m to a gas station and make breakfast there. Unfortunately, the gas station owners were jerks, but we did meet another cycle tourist, called Mike, who was also heading to Thunder Bay. It turned out he was also going to be staying with the same warmshowers’ host (5 cyclists in 1 warmshowers’ house – I hope he’s got a big house). Mike told us he started in Vancouver 3 weeks early, and was cycling something ridiculous like 150-200km. Personally, I can’t understand why you would even want to cycle that much – I don’t know how you would see anything along the way, and it must be so boring spending so many hours on the bike by yourself. You may as well just be driving or catch a plane. Anyway, each to their own!

So, we were on our way, all 5 of us stinky cyclists, heading to Thunder Bay – that last about an hour before Mike decided to zip on ahead to meet someone for lunch.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”4Tbm7″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]We were on our way all 5 of us stinky cyclists heading to Thunder Bay [/ctt]

Thunder Bay

We stopped at Kakabeka falls along the way, and strolled into Thunder Bay just after 3pm. It was hectic! Thunder Bay was the biggest and busiest city we had been in since Regina, and it was safe to say we were no longer use to so much traffic.

We decided to stop in at Walmart, and then stop in at McDonalds (the German couple had somehow managed to score a $100 gift card for McDonalds, for free, from one of the owners). They kindly shouted us to a hot drink and treat. After that we headed to our warmshowers’ house, to meet our host, Frank. We had a great couple of days relaxing in Thunder Bay, and started to feel somewhat clean and normal, again.

Personally, I wasn’t overly impressed with Thunder Bay. It didn’t have a good vibe about it, and we didn’t find it particularly nice to cycle around. It did however have one of the most amazing dinner buffets EVER! Tokyo House – a Japanese buffet, only you order off the menu and they make it fresh for you. It was great! It was probably the best thing about Thunder Bay! Persians – a sweet kind of donut with pink icing topping, are also pretty good. Definitely worth trying if you happen to be in Thunder Bay.

After a few rest days in Thunder Bay, we said ‘goodbye’ to our host and our cyclist friends. They had decided to catch the bus for the next section of their trip. So, we hit the road, just the two of us and our bikes, ready to explore Lake Superior and continue cycling Ontario.

Are you planning your own self supported cycle tour? Check out this article about how to make money while cycle touring.

cycle tourists manitoba, Cycling Ontario — Our German cyclists friends – having lunch just after crossing into Manitoba

August 31, 2016March 15, 2017

Cycling in Manitoba. New Province, More Prairies!

Kelly’s write about about cycling in Manitoba. Click here to read Michael’s write up about biking in Manitoba.

Cycling in Manitoba

As we entered Manitoba the roads went from bad to worst! The hard shoulder disappeared and was replaced with a soft shoulder (or gravelly road that cannot be cycled). This meant while cycling in Manitoba we were forced to ride in the road. Luckily, the roads were relatively quiet and the drivers were very polite and would tend to get right over in the next lane when passing.

Just the two of us…

We had another great day of cycling with a strong tailwind! Luisa and Jacque cycled with us for the day. The four of us managed to smash out 85km by lunchtime. After lunch we said “goodbye” and headed our separate ways. Lusia and Jacque were headed to Winnipeg, where they thought they might catch a bus from, and we had decided to bypass the city and head towards the USA border in the south east of Manitoba.

Originally, we thought we would cycle the south side of Lake Superior, which would mean cycling through the USA for a couple of weeks. We came up with this plan based on several recommendations from other cyclists and because we had heard horror stories about the highways between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay in Canada.

cycle tourists manitoba, cycling in manitoba — Our German cyclists friends – having lunch just after crossing into Manitoba

Country Town Festivals

Hartney was the next town we were passing through, and we needed to stop for supplies (ie. food). The town looked like a ghost town! We headed to the grocery store and got chatting with some locals. Apparently the town had it’s annual weekend festival, and the locals we spoke to convinced us to camp at the local campsite and join them at the festival.

The festival was cute and the locals were super friendly. We joined them for some beers, watched the fireworks then headed back to the campground. Little did we know the campground would turn into a nightclub in just a couple of hours. Teenagers were up until about 4am making a racket, breaking into the pool and just being super loud. So, we didn’t get much sleep! We discovered that it was an annual tradition – we just wish we knew that before we decided to camp there.

The next day was pretty much a write off, though we did manage to cycle 90km and made it to the tiny town of Belmont. When we arrived we headed to the town campsite (surprisingly, most towns in the Prairies had a town campsite with facilities). We then discovered it was Belmont’s town festival! Not wanting a repeat of the night before, we took up an offer of a local that said we could camp in her garden. We had a great night sleep and even woke to homemade banana bread – people are awesome!

elgin manitoba, cycle touring videos, cycling in manitoba — Love this buildings in the towns we cycled through in Manitoba

Mennonites and Hutterites

We still had a little way to go before our planned rest day at a farm near Morris (100km south of Winnipeg). I had arranged for us to stay with a couchsurfer (Jordan) there. Originally we were only going to stay 1 night, but ended up staying 2, which gave us enough time to clean the bikes, our gear and ourselves, as well as hang out with Jordan. Jordan was awesome! He taught us loads about Mennonites, and the Christianity religion common in the area. We even got to visit a Hutterite community.

If you’re not familiar with Hutterites (or Mennonites for that matter), they are similar to the Amish in the USA. Like the Amish, Hutterites have their own communities. Simply put (and how it was explained to me) the biggest differences between the 3 Christian types; Mennonites don’t agree with violence and don’t live in communities like the Amish and Hutterites. The Amish don’t agree with modern technology, so live in communities that are completely cut off from the modern world. And, the Hutterites believe in living in common (kind of like communism), so everyone is equal, and they also live in communities, though they do use modern technology, but everything they have must have a purpose and be practical. There are different degrees of conservativeness in each group.

Visiting the Hutterite Community

The hutterite community we visited was quite conservative. We were shown around the community by some of the schoolgirls. They wore homemade clothes, with shawls or bonnets. Hutterites even speak their own language, which is a German delict. They also pray in High German, but are taught in English. This meant they had a very distinctive accent. The community was super modern and was made up of about 120 people (approx. 17 families). They had a commercial hatchery for eggs and a dairy farm, beehives, vegetable garden and grew wheat, and were practically self-sustained. They also had their own school. If a Hutterite wanted to leave the community to visit family in another community then they would have to get permission from the Minister. If they needed to visit the doctor or buy something, they would need the minister’s permission. Everyone had a job, which was assigned to you.

Though this all may sound quite restrictive, at the same time, they never had to worry about unemployment or poverty. I don’t think I could live in a community like that, but it works, and it is sustainable, and the people lived good, happy lives. It was an extremely interesting experience. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos, so I can’t show you what it was like, but if you get the opportunity to visit one, I highly recommend it. This is definitely something you’re more likely to experience cycling in Manitoba, opposed to driving through in a car.

Flying the high life

After visiting the Hutterites Jordan took us for a flight in is Dad’s plane – yep, we flew in a plane. Not exactly eco-friendly, but it would have been rude to decline. The wind was quite strong, which made for a bumpy ride, but we got to see for ourselves just how flat the Prairies were.

view from plane canada manitoba — The view from Jordan’s plane – you can see how flat the Prairies are!

Friendly People

The next day it was time to hit the road again! We planned to make it 2 the US border in only 2 days, so we still had a few hundred kilometres of cycling in Manitoba. The first night we spent in the cute town, Vita, where we were greeted by more friendly people and a really good café and grocery store. If I could sum up Manitoba in one word, it would be “friendly” and funny enough, that’s what it said on the “welcome to Manitoba sign” and even on their car registration plates. The people most definitely live up to that expectation.

Tornado?!?

That night we camped at a school, under a shelter as we heard there was a bad storm coming. The storm was terrible! Hail, strong winds, rain, you name it we had it. Jordan had told us when you hear a tornado coming; you will hear a noise like a train speeding pass. We heard cycling in Manitoba could be a challenge, but we didn’t think tornado warnings would be apart of that. That night while we were camping, we heard a train, only there was no trainline anywhere near Vita. After about an hour or so of terrible weather, it suddenly went completely silent. It was an eerie silence. We never found out whether a tornado did touch down that night, but it was definitely one of the worst storms we had ever camped in.

Goodbye Prairies – you’ve been fun!

For the rest of the day we cycled to the US border, with the plan to camp as close to the border crossing as possible. The terrain had already started to change. We could tell we were leaving the Prairies and coming to an end of cycling in Manitoba. We managed to camp only 5km from the border crossing.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”UdS72″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]Goodbye Prairies – you’ve been fun![/ctt]

Throughout the Prairies, I spent a lot of time staring at a grain elevator in a distant town. I wondering whether we’re ever going to reach this town, or whether I’m actually hallucinating. You really feel the distant on the straight flat roads, and a lot of the time you feel the strong winds too. I think these are the main reasons why many cyclists dislike the Prairies. However, they are still quite beautiful, with beautiful people and beautiful towns. So, though the Prairies go on and on, don’t skip out on cycling in Manitoba or Saskatchewan! That’s over 1000km of Canada you’ll be missing, along with some amazing people and beautiful, but challenging landscape.

Are you about to finish a long term cycle tour? Or changing to a different style of travel? Check out our article on the transition from cyclist to backpacker to see what to expect.

August 26, 2016March 14, 2017

Pedalling the Prairies: Swift Current to Manitoba

Kelly’s write up of pedalling the Prairies during our cycle tour across Canada in the summer of 2016. Click here to read Michael’s write up about cycling in the Prairies.

Pedalling the Prairies of Saskatchewan

While pedalling the Prairies we discovered friendly people, good campsites and great cafes. We also discovered that the Prairies went on and on, and on. from Swift Current we got on the Trans-Canada highway 1. It felt like a dream after spending a week cycling through the bumpy roads of the forgotten Prairie lands. The section of highway between Swift Current and Moose Jaw had a wide, smooth hard shoulder. It even felt like we were on a slight descent, though I’m sure we probably weren’t. We were smashing out the kilometres! It felt great! On top of this there were plenty of cute towns to stop at. All of them had a museum, coffee shop and free wifi. We were in cyclist heaven!

We spent an enjoyable couple of days cycling to Moose Jaw. Spending too much time at the various towns and cafes along the way.

One thing I noticed about Saskatchewan is the interesting town names. We visited Kyle and Herbert, and seen signs for Elbow, Eyebrow and Cereal. Moose Jaw and Antler also got a visit from us. I can’t help but be intrigued to how a town got a name like Eyebrow – at least it gives you something to ponder while on the bike.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”1xzLX” via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”] I can’t help but be intrigued to how a town got a name like Eyebrow[/ctt]

Warmshowers’ and Prairie Hospitality

Once in Moose Jaw we were greeted with the lovely Glenda, a legendary warmshowers’ host. This was followed by a few nights stay in Regina with Ron, another legendary warmshowers’ host. And then yet another warmshowers’ host in Sedley and an offer in Arcola.

People tend to give Saskatchewan and the Prairies (in general) a hard time! We were told numerous times to skip the Prairies; that they were boring and had nothing worth seeing. Well, what I have to say to those people: if you want to see boring head to Western Australia and drive 5 hours east – red sandy desert for days. You’ll be lucky if you even pass a gas station or see another person!

The Prairies on the other hand are fully of extremely friendly people, all whom have an interesting story to share. We met ranchers, famers, Mennonites and Hutterites, Germans, British, Ukrainian people, plenty of cyclists and people enthusiastic about cycling, and just a whole bunch of awesome people. In fact, I don’t remember one person that I met in the Prairies that wasn’t amazing in one way or another. For me, a large part of travelling and cycle touring is the people you meet, and we met some amazing people in the Prairies.

regina, cycling the prairies — With our amazing host in Regina!

Rest Days in Regina

We decided to have a few rest days in Regina. There were a couple of reasons for that, firstly for Ron’s amazing cooking, secondly to get a few bike things sorted, and thirdly to sort out my eye! 6 weeks (since the day we arrived in Canada) and I still had an infection on my eyelid. Obviously, at this point I was a little concerned about it and decided it was a good chance to get it checked out. I was told some good and bad news. The good news was it didn’t look like a virus so it shouldn’t spread to my eye and affect my eyesight. The bad news, it will still take some more time to heal and potentially I could have a bump on my eye for the rest of my life. At least I didn’t have too much to worry about!

After Regina we planned to get off the highway and head onto some quieter roads through some smaller towns. Usually the roads weren’t as good, but they were quieter. We also got the opportunity to pass through less travelled areas, which we always preferred.

Cycling through Canada’s Tornado Alley

One thing we hadn’t considered to be an issue or concern while pedalling the Prairies, were tornados! To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know Canada got tornados, so when I received an email from Brad (another warmshowers’ connection) about a tornado warning in the town we had planned to camp in that night, we were a bit concerned. The day had already been struggle, with 60kph+ headwinds we were at times barely cycling 8kph.

We pulled into Fillmore at 1pm for lunch and pretty much passed out from exhaustion and defeat. After lunch we headed to the town hall. This is when we discovered the tornado warning! The lovely people of Fillmore came to the rescue. Before we knew it we had a basement to sleep in and was being shown around the local towns. The random kindness of strangers never fails to amaze. It really does restore your faith in humanity.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”3TJQ0″ via=”yes” nofollow=”yes”]The random kindness of strangers never fails to amaze.[/ctt]

After a goodnight sleep, out of the danger of any potential tornado or hailstorm, we were back on the way. And, for once, the wind was at our backs! We were practically flying down the road towards the next province, Manitoba.

Saskatchewan, pedalling the prairies — Friendly hosts in Saskatchewan!

Making Cycle Touring Friends

We had just passed Stoughton (where we were supposed to camp and where apparently a tornado did touch down the night before), when we heard some strange noises behind us. As it turned out, a German, cyclist couple, Luisa and Jacque had been following us for a few days. They finally managed to catch up with us. They were the first couple we had ever cycled with, so it made a nice change to cycling just the two of us. So all four of us continued pedalling the Prairies together.

We spent the rest of the day, cycling with an unbelievable tailwind and made it 137km to Redvers, right near the Saskatchewan/ Manitoba border. Redver’s had an awesome (and cheap) campsite, so we decided to camp there for the night and celebrate with a few beers.

After 2 weeks pedalling the Prairies of Saskatchewan we finally got to cross into the next province, Manitoba.

Though Manitoba would be a new province, we still had a few hundred kilometres of cycling through the Prairies before we would be out of the pastures and meadows and into the lakelands of Ontario.

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