It's winter, I'm totally depressed already and dreaming of riding so what better way to pass time than to discuss some ride planning. So in addition to a number of RallyConnex, ODSC, OFTR and other rides such as EOAR, Roaming Rally, Rockhound Rally, etc I want to plan a few multi-day rides that will combine off road riding (and by off road, I mean gravel and dirt over varying terrain and challenges). I've mentioned some of these in other threads here but I thought I'd use this single thread as a peacekeeper for them. In addition to this, look for the other relevant threads such as my GPS tracks thread in this sub-forum as well.
1- TCAT Ontario: this is the trans-Canadian adventure trail (thanks to Deadly99 of www.graveltravel.ca). I'm planning to run the Ontario portion from roughly Calabogie area to around North Bay and then back to Toronto. I would expect this to be four days and three nights of riding. I'll be looking to trailer little bikes out to the start point and ride with camping and personal gear on the bikes for the duration of the ride. Wild camping, park camping, food, etc - we will work all these details out but essentially, expect between 300-350km of riding per day on gravel and mostly easy trails with a few areas / sections of challenging terrain that will be clearly marked / visible with ways around them for those who prefer not to try or those on bigger bikes. My challenge is that on my small bike, there's no bloody way in hell that I'm going to slab it for. Toronto all the way out to Calabogie to begin there so I'll need to find someone who will drive with me (my trailer holds three small bikes) and drive my truck and trailer back home for me (got time to figure that out)...
A few things to note:
A- small bikes means proper dual sport motorcycles with proper dual sport tires that are at least 70/30 (70 dirt / 30 road) tires. Count on needing about 150km of fuel range and bikes must be blue plated, not green plate (unless laws change by next season as they did in 2015 for ATVs / UTVs).
B- camping gear should include the obvious things: tent or hammock, sleeping bag, etc. You should be prepared with some kind of water bladder or other container, don't worry about carrying food - it's easier to hit up country restaurants and save coffee / tea / etc for the campsites. A lightweight camping chair with a backrest is highly recommended - you'll need it after a day of riding. Everything else is up to you - I'm happy to help and recommend camping gear lists based on my own experience. We will be wild camping legally on crown land along the way - the challenge with wild camping is finding suitable clearing for all of us, a clearing that provides decent flat ground so we aren't tenting on top of roots and rocks...(see camping gear thread after this one to learn more about why I bought a camping hammock...) - depending on where we will be for the nights, we can look at Ontario provincial parks for camping - they've got proper toilet and shower facilities and many allow up to four tents and four bikes per site for an average of $50 per night per site.
C- big bikes means adventure style bikes that have some level of off road riding capability. These are typically heavy and often have inadequate tires for a proper TCAT run. Again, we can calculate where the off road challenges and crossings are and see if we can devise a way around them for those who really want to ride big bikes with 50/50 tires as they will be fine for gravel riding and perhaps some hard packed dirt.
2- RAP: Round Algonquin Park starting from Lake of Bays / Baysville area - this can be done in either three or four days - this can be quite challenging depending on the route chosen, not very big bike friendly but there is a big bike friendly path around the park that does a good job of avoiding pavement. If we have a mixed group, we can always plan and coordinate our own paths and decide on nightly meeting locations for lodging / camping.
3- 2 or 3 days of Bancroft: this trip involves camping at Silent Lake provincial park and using that as home base for either two or three full day rides throughout various trails, logging roads, gravel, etc - did this last summer, it was spectacular and I've got amazing routes. If you want to ride this with big bikes, make sure you've got amazing tires and some skills - it will not be easy on big bikes: awesome forest loam trails, some sandy areas, some shallow water crossings and rocks of varying size and shape. Last summer, we drove with the trailer to Bancroft in the afternoon and pitched the campsite. Rode the entire next two days (lots of KMs each day), went back, packed up and went home that night so it ended up being two nights of camping with two very full days of riding.
1- TCAT Ontario: this is the trans-Canadian adventure trail (thanks to Deadly99 of www.graveltravel.ca). I'm planning to run the Ontario portion from roughly Calabogie area to around North Bay and then back to Toronto. I would expect this to be four days and three nights of riding. I'll be looking to trailer little bikes out to the start point and ride with camping and personal gear on the bikes for the duration of the ride. Wild camping, park camping, food, etc - we will work all these details out but essentially, expect between 300-350km of riding per day on gravel and mostly easy trails with a few areas / sections of challenging terrain that will be clearly marked / visible with ways around them for those who prefer not to try or those on bigger bikes. My challenge is that on my small bike, there's no bloody way in hell that I'm going to slab it for. Toronto all the way out to Calabogie to begin there so I'll need to find someone who will drive with me (my trailer holds three small bikes) and drive my truck and trailer back home for me (got time to figure that out)...
A few things to note:
A- small bikes means proper dual sport motorcycles with proper dual sport tires that are at least 70/30 (70 dirt / 30 road) tires. Count on needing about 150km of fuel range and bikes must be blue plated, not green plate (unless laws change by next season as they did in 2015 for ATVs / UTVs).
B- camping gear should include the obvious things: tent or hammock, sleeping bag, etc. You should be prepared with some kind of water bladder or other container, don't worry about carrying food - it's easier to hit up country restaurants and save coffee / tea / etc for the campsites. A lightweight camping chair with a backrest is highly recommended - you'll need it after a day of riding. Everything else is up to you - I'm happy to help and recommend camping gear lists based on my own experience. We will be wild camping legally on crown land along the way - the challenge with wild camping is finding suitable clearing for all of us, a clearing that provides decent flat ground so we aren't tenting on top of roots and rocks...(see camping gear thread after this one to learn more about why I bought a camping hammock...) - depending on where we will be for the nights, we can look at Ontario provincial parks for camping - they've got proper toilet and shower facilities and many allow up to four tents and four bikes per site for an average of $50 per night per site.
C- big bikes means adventure style bikes that have some level of off road riding capability. These are typically heavy and often have inadequate tires for a proper TCAT run. Again, we can calculate where the off road challenges and crossings are and see if we can devise a way around them for those who really want to ride big bikes with 50/50 tires as they will be fine for gravel riding and perhaps some hard packed dirt.
2- RAP: Round Algonquin Park starting from Lake of Bays / Baysville area - this can be done in either three or four days - this can be quite challenging depending on the route chosen, not very big bike friendly but there is a big bike friendly path around the park that does a good job of avoiding pavement. If we have a mixed group, we can always plan and coordinate our own paths and decide on nightly meeting locations for lodging / camping.
3- 2 or 3 days of Bancroft: this trip involves camping at Silent Lake provincial park and using that as home base for either two or three full day rides throughout various trails, logging roads, gravel, etc - did this last summer, it was spectacular and I've got amazing routes. If you want to ride this with big bikes, make sure you've got amazing tires and some skills - it will not be easy on big bikes: awesome forest loam trails, some sandy areas, some shallow water crossings and rocks of varying size and shape. Last summer, we drove with the trailer to Bancroft in the afternoon and pitched the campsite. Rode the entire next two days (lots of KMs each day), went back, packed up and went home that night so it ended up being two nights of camping with two very full days of riding.
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