Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
afelotreyu
Hey guys,
EDIT: Ideas and suggestions are also welcome for any of the questions above.
I found a website with a maps containing gps coordinates going from the GTA to Victoria for a 21 day motorcycle trip. The trip is divided into days with a place to stay at the end of each day. Some of the days are less than 400 kms and the longest is less than 700 kms. There are also some shorter routes around the GTA on the website as well. Definitely worth a look if you are still planning on doing some touring.
http://www.motowhere.com/listpaths/by/Cherry400
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
carl240
I found a website with a maps containing gps coordinates going from the GTA to Victoria for a 21 day motorcycle trip. The trip is divided into days with a place to stay at the end of each day. Some of the days are less than 400 kms and the longest is less than 700 kms. There are also some shorter routes around the GTA on the website as well. Definitely worth a look if you are still planning on doing some touring.
http://www.motowhere.com/listpaths/by/Cherry400
Thank you,
I do want to do this trip, but probably will not be happening until next season, so for now I am collecting information and kinda slowly planning it.
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
I used to live in Regina and Calgary, and have done the drive. I'd love to do the ride one of these years coming up...
Going through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan would save some time and distance.
Now, for specific roads on the way that you should experience...
Highway 1A from Calgary to Canmore: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sourc...70544&t=h&z=10
Lillooet to Pemberton, BC (NOTE - it's skinny, without guardrails and in the middle of nowhere - be careful!): http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sourc...70544&t=h&z=10
If you want some variety going there or back, maybe take a route through the Kootenays? This is a cool drive - Creston, BC to Blairmore, AB: http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sourc...741089&t=h&z=9
Good luck.
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
In regards to police presence you will find them often on the bypasses as well as entering and leaving towns. When I lived out there (saskatchewan) locals often had a 20km/h grace but outsiders not so much.
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
honduhmatic
great road^^^take 3A north from Creston up the side of kootenay lake and then the ferry across and down via Nelson back to 3 at Castlegar...over to Osoyoos and up to Kelowna....man anywhere in that area is inf*****credible...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3509/...0da8ff88b0.jpg
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
You might want to read over my thread i made awhile as I was going to do this trip this summer, but my funds just arn`t there...
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum...1-Cost-of-Trip..
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
afelotreyu, I rode from Toronto to Vancouver to Toronto in June 2006. I rode a new V-Strom 650, and tomorrow I will set out on a long ride on that same bike, which now has just over 100,000 kilometers on its odometer.
I took 401 west to Woodstock, toured London for a while, then took secondary roads to Sarnia, where I crossed the Blue Water Bridge. I have been delayed and harrassed at the Ambassador Bridge (Windsor-Detroit) more times than I care to recall, so I avoid that span when I can (and the tunnel is off-limits to motorcycles). It was dark by then so I took Interstate highways, through Flint and Lansing and west to central Nebraska, then I-76 to Denver. This was not very scenic until I got well into Colorado but I wanted to cover some ground, so slabs were just what I wanted. West of Denver, I switched gears, and took secondary roads such as CO-125, rejoining I-80 near Point of Rocks Wyoming. I wound my way to Arco Idaho, then took US-93, which is a lovely scenic highway along the busy Salmon River, all the way to Missoula Montana. I took I-90 to Spokane, then US-2, then a variety of highways through Washington, crossing back into Canada at Osoyoos, then TCH to Vancouver. I took six days to reach Vancouver, averaging about 875 kilometers per day. The scenic roads were delightful, and the Interstates were efficient, so the route suited me.
About that daily mileage: never before that trip had I exceeded
720 kilometers in a day, and I was then 64 years old.
Long distances can be pleasant. I have several times topped
1000 kilometers in a day, several days in a row.
My return trip included a "must see", the Sea-to-Sky through Whistler and Pemberton. I hooked up with the Yellowhead Highway, which took me from B.C. to Winnipeg. Then I went south and found US2, which is a route I like a lot. It led me all the way east to the Mackinac Bridge; I-75 took me back to near Flint, then I-69 brought me back to Sarnia. The eastward journey took five days. I used motels once westward and twice eastward, otherwise sleeping at rest areas or farmers' fields.
Don't just plan to do a long ride; DO IT!
I have been on eleven long rides (over 1000 miles/1600 kilometers).
Not all of them have gone as planned; for example I tried twice in 2010
to reach BC from my home in Florida, and the weather turned me back
each time: deadly winds in Arizona, and 600 miles of snowy roads in
Colorado and Utah ... in JUNE yet!
Good luck!
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stevie t
great road^^^take 3A north from Creston up the side of kootenay lake and then the ferry across and down via Nelson back to 3 at Castlegar...over to Osoyoos and up to Kelowna....man anywhere in that area is inf*****credible...
Awesome man! I have only driven HWY 3 in the car, partially at night, on the way to Sand Point, Idaho. However, a buddy has a cottage on Slocan Lake, so I drove S from Revelstoke to Nakusp... averaged 135 km/hr on this road trying to catch a ferry - also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&sourc...5&ie=UTF8&z=10
I was more thinking that the Crowsnest Pass is nice, and Fernie's a great town that is a bit off the beaten path, nice in summer, fewer tourists than Banff/Louise.
Salos,
When you went to Whistler and Pemberton, did you keep going to Lillooet and Cache Creek? I agree the Sea to Sky Highway is amazing, but it really gets special if you drive all the way through to Kamloops and Salmon Arm. Mind you it's a sketchy, narrow, almost impassable road...
You guys are making me think about riding the bike to Calgary and riding in the mountains! We'll have to see... next year?
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
honduhmatic
...
Salos,
When you went to Whistler and Pemberton, did you keep going to Lillooet and Cache Creek? I agree the Sea to Sky Highway is amazing, but it really gets special if you drive all the way through to Kamloops and Salmon Arm. Mind you it's a sketchy, narrow, almost impassable road...
You guys are making me think about riding the bike to Calgary and riding in the mountains! We'll have to see... next year?
Yes, I went up to 100 Mile House, where I encountered hail ... HAIL on the day before summer started! I stopped for dinner and remarked about the hail to a waitress. She said, "Salos, you are in CARIBOO country, and you can get four seasons of weather any day of the year!"
North of Whistler, the road did get more primitive, and there were about five one-lane-at-a-time bridges. For all of them, the signs told me to yield to southbound traffic, but the road north of each bridge was so twisty that I could not see if anyone was southbound. Fortunately, nobody ever was, but I was a tad nervous.
After dinner at 100 Mile House, I went south a bit, then east to Little Fort and then north to reach the Yellowhead Highway, which is a road I highly recommend. But of course I am not likely to see it again, because I will take the road through Calgary and Moose Jaw if I do it again.
Don't just think about long rides, instead ride them! My first long ride was in 1965, and my second was in 2006. Well, I am trying to make up for what I missed, but you can see that I dawdled a long time and missed a lot of fun. It's a pity that making a living and having a family takes up so much time, but those are important quests, and sometimes the motorcycling needs to wait.
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
http://scootercanada.weebly.com/the-preparation.html Here is a link to a website about a couple who rode, two up, on a 50cc scooter from BC to Barrie Ontario.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/...er&ikwsec=Home
This a book by Neil Peart of "Rush" fame. He rode his bike from Quebec across Canada and down the West Coast to Mexico. Good read. If you stay in Canada between Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay be real careful with your gas. Gas stations can be few and far between.
Re: Toronto to Vancouver and back
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Salos Dafee
Don't just think about long rides, instead ride them!
How do you explain to your boss that you are going to take around 2 or 3 weeks off to travel across Canada on a bike, and still have a job for when you get back? It would be nice to not have to worry about having to look for a new job at the end of an epic ride like this. Has anyone got any ideas on dealing with this issue?