General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[W. K. Lis]

Commuter alert: Construction for Bloor bike lane project gets underway Tuesday

Too bad the suburban councillors still consider bicycles to be recreational only. There is room on the wide suburban arterial roads for bicycle lanes, but the suburbs are very slow to even consider that. Only putting them in the ravines or parks, because bicycles are recreational.

 

[WislaHD]

Too bad the suburban councillors still consider bicycles to be recreational only. There is room on the wide suburban arterial roads for bicycle lanes, but the suburbs are very slow to even consider that. Only putting them in the ravines or parks, because bicycles are recreational.

Eglinton may change that mentality, hopefully.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Montreal still has problems with snow clearing of bike lanes and paths.

Toronto on the other hand...

 

[ShonTron]

@steveintoronto

I did the Peterborough-Uxbridge route yesterday, after trying the Peterborough to Hastings route on Sunday.

Hastings was generally really good; it was upgraded from a rough snowmobile track in 2012. The trail continues through Peterborough itself now, as the city removed the long-disused industrial spur under Highway 7/115, which was previously the CN line to Belleville. But there are no services in between; it was necessary to bring lots of water.

It was my first time going west, rather than east, and I found the trail in better condition that I remember, between Omemee and Reaboro was improved (it was still in rough shape from Reaboro to Highway 36). And only Mariposa-Simcoe Street was bad, with lots of overgrowth. I saw the dirt bike tracks, but encountered no illegal users; the trail was very well used between Peterborough and Omemee, but otherwise quiet except the last 5 kilometres into Uxbridge, where the trestle was finally re-opened.

 

[salsa]

Later this year I am planning to bike the entire trail from Peterborough to Uxbridge, and then bike all the way back to Toronto in the same day. I have mapped out the route that I am planning to take: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14458722

I haven't been on this trail before, so I really appreciate all the excellent and detailed posts by @ShonTron and @steveintoronto. If there is anything else I should know or if there's some interesting sites that are worth visiting, I would be happy to hear.

 

[innsertnamehere]

check out the historic train in Uxbridge, always sort of interesting. The new trestle bridge is sort of neat too - brand new deck with the original trestle underneath, but that is right on the path.

There is a large artificial lake in a gravel pit south of Goodwood Road on Concession 4 in Uxbridge, that apparently people go swimming in quite often. Its a bright blue colour, very visible on google earth. Might be worth checking out. There is an unopened concession road people use to access it from the south.

 

[the lemur]

Cycling with babies and toddlers in The Netherlands

Count the number of people, include children, with helmets.

As someone else said, the only people who really wear helmets in the NL are road bike riders, who are generally found on the road.

There's never been a real reason to wear helmets there because cyclists have to mix with drivers much, much less than here and when they do, it's with drivers who have been trained how to drive around bikes (and peds) and who probably are or have been cyclists as well.

It's a small, densely populated country with a high density of roads per square km, so it makes sense to educate everyone on how to share the roads, bike paths and sidewalks. It's not about people being exclusively drivers or cyclists or pedestrians but as road users or 'participants in traffic' (verkeersdeelnemers). Kids get training early on at school on how to behave in traffic.

(By the same token, the fact that much of the country encompasses water and/or is below sea level (such that the concept of 'at grade' relative to sea level is not as straightforward as it seems), schools teach swimming as a required part of the curriculum).

 

[44 North]

Later this year I am planning to bike the entire trail from Peterborough to Uxbridge, and then bike all the way back to Toronto in the same day. I have mapped out the route that I am planning to take: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14458722

I haven't been on this trail before, so I really appreciate all the excellent and detailed posts by @ShonTron and @steveintoronto. If there is anything else I should know or if there's some interesting sites that are worth visiting, I would be happy to hear.

I'd say pack a tarp and sleeping bag and make an excursion out of it. Plenty of places to sleep among the stars along the way (some being legit). And by splitting the trip into two days you can go even further up to shield country / Central Ont. Not that far north of Peterboro the smooth farmland and rolling hills will abruptly transition into rugged terrain and a totally different ecosystem. Perhaps ride as far as Petroglyphs?

 

[steveintoronto]

@steveintoronto
the trail was very well used between Peterborough and Omemee, but otherwise quiet except the last 5 kilometres into Uxbridge, where the trestle was finally re-opened.

That was my impression too, what people I did meet was on that stretch. I'm just catching up on this thread, I should have been following closer, since the short Lakefield to Peterbro section is on my radar, hopefully getting a lift up Hwy #28 past there, and I feel I may have misrepresented Peterbro by my impressions of the area by the bus terminal and up to the trail, so will spend a bit of time doing a 'cycle about' of PBs trails.

My lift is actually headed to Quebec, so I was searching for something longer, and came across the "Hastings Heritage Trail". Whoa! 200 kms long or so, but unfortunately ends north of Trenton with no viable connections back to TO. I'm a little miffed at my Google skills of late, or the lack of a *comprehensive* easy to find and use compendium of trails. Best I've found is an interactive map that you click-on, and it gives you the name of the trail and not much more. Evidently it's not just me, and many have reader feedback stating: "Sounds great, where's the map?" It's a real crap shoot getting the details you need to cycle these trails, and I don't mean to demean the various orgs for doing excellent work, the fault is with Queen's Park for not funding a central repository of info to make this info available. As Shon has mentioned in some of his articles at other websites, Quebec has been doing this for years, and is far ahead of Ontario in that respect, but of course, cycling trails are a Provincial domain in Quebec. In Ontario, it's municipal and county jurisdiction. And some publish exquisite maps (I'm itching to do Waubashene to Orillia to Barrie) and excellent maps are made available on-line. Try and find anything detailed on the Hasting Heritage Trail...even if it connects to the PB to Hastings trail via the Trans-Canada Trail. I'm more than willing to pay for a detailed *paper* map if anyone knows of one being published. I'm pumped to do the trails, but hate missing crucial turns. As much as I've done the Cambridge to Paris to Brantford to Hamilton Trail, I've yet to not have to backtrack in Brantford. Absolutely excellent trail in most spots, but damn...they don't make it easy in terms of following discontinuous sections. Had same problem in Lindsay coming in from the east. No signs that I could see directing one south, so I just saw the bridge in the distance to the north, as that was on my 1988 Graphic Map (no longer available, like atlas maps with relief and old rail lines indicated) and followed the railbed, or what was left of it.

Whatever, I see some comments above that I must catch up on before posting further, but great to see others getting out there! We're almost half way through Summer, it's gone before you know it. Use those trails!

I shouldn't quote out of sequence, but this is such a good point from 44:

I'd say pack a tarp and sleeping bag and make an excursion out of it

Yeah...long sigh...I'm aging, albeit in phenomenal shape (years of Thyroid Cancer can have an up-side) but I went slower this time on the Cambridge to Hamilton ride, took me five hours instead of four, I actually took the time to see the sights and do some miles with people I met along the way, one who loves doing the Port Dover leg (which is an incredibly good one, btw! The problem is getting to/from Port Dover when the ride is started/finished) so my *quality* of ride was enhanced at the expense of time. But I do hate myself sometimes by being driven by time and a bus you cannot miss at the other end. as with the case of the PB to Uxbridge ride, I had crucial impressions on the trail surface and other points that I'm unable to debrief to this forum by not making mental note of positioning. These rides are a lifetime memory/experience, and I am driven to outperform, but at the huge expense of missing the point in doing it, and that's exactly 44's thought: Savour it! I will add a proviso no matter whether you do it as a day-trip like me, or an overnighter...*be prepared!* Print maps from your computer printer unless you have a real map, and have a map folder handy on the bike with the current map per location visible. Even if you run into trouble (shit happens) you must know where you are to phone it in, and some of those trails....*many of those trails*...are very inaccessible. I'll add more comments later after catching up on the string.

Plenty of places to sleep among the stars along the way (some being legit). And by splitting the trip into two days you can go even further up to shield country / Central Ont.

Consider B and Bs! Travel light, but treat yourself to a bed, toilet, shower and meal. A lot has to do with how you travel and how experienced you are with camping. I find with camping you never know whether you're going to get a good night's sleep or not. That can have crucial bearing on your cycling performance next day. If you have a schedule to keep, especially consider B and B, but phone ahead to make sure you have something reserved, and the bike either goes in the room with you, or is locked up inside somewhere.
[splitting the trip into two days you can go even further up to shield country ] It's a very good point! Some of those side trails look incredible. There is a branch off if memory serves me correctly, to the Kawartha lakes. Try "Victoria Trail".

Here's a link, but like most of them, they don't make it easy to browse:
http://www.ontariobybike.ca/ontario-cycling-map/search-by/region?value=Kawarthas Northumberland

Just found a crude, and not up to date but *useful* depiction of the Hastings Heritage Trail intersecting the Trans-Canada Trail which connects in via the Peterbro to Hastings Trail just opened (see Shon's post) to Peterborough!

So it can be done! Now to find better maps to detail it.
http://www.billavista.com/atv/Articles/Ontario_Trails/maps/EOTA/EOTA Overview.jpg

Any help from readers most appreciated.

 

[steveintoronto]

Later this year I am planning to bike the entire trail from Peterborough to Uxbridge, and then bike all the way back to Toronto in the same day. I have mapped out the route that I am planning to take: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14458722

I haven't been on this trail before, so I really appreciate all the excellent and detailed posts by @ShonTron and @steveintoronto. If there is anything else I should know or if there's some interesting sites that are worth visiting, I would be happy to hear.

This raises a crucial point, and I invite others to add theirs on this, I admit to "losing my nerve" on 're-entry' into the GTA. I think it's called "Common Sense and the Rightful Fear of Danger".

If you are going to take risks, take *knowable risks* like being stuck on a cycle trail in the middle of nowhere rather than whacked, broken and bleeding at the side of an arterial road. I *highly* advise *taking the GO* into and out of Toronto and region. If someone can show me safe routes into/out of Toronto, then I take it back. I have used ways in in the past....but having done it too many times when I was younger, I look back on it and wonder "How in Hell did I do that without getting severely damaged?".

There's a *litany* of incredible trails to be done. Spend your energy on *them* not on getting in and out of TO. Even pay someone (or better, a few of you chip in on a van) to get a safe lift in and out. Again, I've lost my nerve. And I think it's a good thing. GO makes the trip a wonderful beginning and end, and/or a paid trip by vehicle to a drop-off, and then GO at the other end (Or VIA, but it's a lot more complicated). There's even acceptable routes to the edge of Toronto where you can take the TTC in, but been a few years since I've done that. There's absolutely nothing wholesome about fighting cars out to kill you, let alone breathing fumes, to poison your trip. It's like getting kicked in the groin after a wonderful session of lovemaking.

I want to start a string within this forum on Rail Trails, so stand by for some more discussion on that, and how to connect with GO. Barrie, Peterbro, Niagara Falls are just three excellent jump-off/back points. Even Hamilton and K/W! More to come on this...

 

[nfitz]

In the capital of Lithuania, the mayor has one-upped Tory in the war on parking in bike lanes:



Can Tory keep up with the Jones's or the Zuokas's?

 

[MisterF]

This raises a crucial point, and I invite others to add theirs on this, I admit to "losing my nerve" on 're-entry' into the GTA. I think it's called "Common Sense and the Rightful Fear of Danger".

If you are going to take risks, take *knowable risks* like being stuck on a cycle trail in the middle of nowhere rather than whacked, broken and bleeding at the side of an arterial road. I *highly* advise *taking the GO* into and out of Toronto and region. If someone can show me safe routes into/out of Toronto, then I take it back. I have used ways in in the past....but having done it too many times when I was younger, I look back on it and wonder "How in Hell did I do that without getting severely damaged?".

There's a *litany* of incredible trails to be done. Spend your energy on *them* not on getting in and out of TO. Even pay someone (or better, a few of you chip in on a van) to get a safe lift in and out. Again, I've lost my nerve. And I think it's a good thing. GO makes the trip a wonderful beginning and end, and/or a paid trip by vehicle to a drop-off, and then GO at the other end (Or VIA, but it's a lot more complicated). There's even acceptable routes to the edge of Toronto where you can take the TTC in, but been a few years since I've done that. There's absolutely nothing wholesome about fighting cars out to kill you, let alone breathing fumes, to poison your trip. It's like getting kicked in the groin after a wonderful session of lovemaking.

I want to start a string within this forum on Rail Trails, so stand by for some more discussion on that, and how to connect with GO. Barrie, Peterbro, Niagara Falls are just three excellent jump-off/back points. Even Hamilton and K/W! More to come on this...

Some of the rural roads on the outskirts of the suburbs are fairly cycling friendly. 9th Line south of Stouffville was recently rebuilt with fully paved shoulders and highly visible markings at intersections. Other roads in that area with wide paved shoulders include Highway 7, Woodbine Ave, and Stouffville Road. Once you get into the suburbs themselves the arterials are often quite hostile to cycling, but detours into side streets can often get you around them.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Some of the rural roads on the outskirts of the suburbs are fairly cycling friendly. 9th Line south of Stouffville was recently rebuilt with fully paved shoulders and highly visible markings at intersections. Other roads in that area with wide paved shoulders include Highway 7, Woodbine Ave, and Stouffville Road. Once you get into the suburbs themselves the arterials are often quite hostile to cycling, but detours into side streets can often get you around them.

Unless they're all cul-de-sacs or crescent roads, creating a maze for bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

 

[steveintoronto]

It used to be, some thirty years back, that you could even cycle through Brampton to get back into Toronto, or at least to the edges, and then TTC in (before the front racks, outside of rush-hour, they'd let you take your bike on-board, esp if your front wheel was quick-release) and most drivers admired you for doing the distance in the country, and then having the sense to take the "Better Way" in the last twenty miles or so.

Now getting through Brampton is nigh impossible, it's a wall of density, and there may be routes, but as Lis infers, it can be a nightmare trying to figure out where they're going to take you and under what conditions. Rail Trails are great in that (other than within urban areas) you can get into a pace and go all day uninterrupted save for pit stops.

Which brings me to:

Some of the rural roads on the outskirts of the suburbs are fairly cycling friendly. 9th Line south of Stouffville was recently rebuilt with fully paved shoulders and highly visible markings at intersections. Other roads in that area with wide paved shoulders include Highway 7, Woodbine Ave, and Stouffville Road. Once you get into the suburbs themselves the arterials are often quite hostile to cycling, but detours into side streets can often get you around them.

Agreed on all points. If you are going to take an arterial, at least be sure you have your own lane, albeit that's still no guarantee of not getting whacked. There's been incidents in the last few years of groups of cyclists getting killed as cars drift over the line and hit them. Given the chance, and also the farther distance, a round-about route can be much safer and and keep the 'vibe' of the trip intact. Again, it comes down to maps, and a compass never hurts. Time and again for me, windy roads lead to losing your sense of direction, and a compass on your bars, even a cheap one, can keep you on course.

Unless they're all cul-de-sacs or crescent roads, creating a maze for bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

That's the downside! The only way to deal with that (and it's almost inevitable you get direction disoriented) is to print off maps before your trip, or have an excellent map to begin with, and I'm still researching that, with little result.

The situation you describe is what I'm seeing tracing the Trans-Canada Trail east through Hastings, Campbellford, and intersecting the Hastings Heritage Trail. Going through those two towns (and this is common) the trail becomes discontinuous, and more often than not, it's left up to you to figure out how to find where it starts again. Tracing this route (and others) on Google Map (in lieu of anything better) can be real hit and miss, and having sections printed off before you get there can be an absolute trip-saver. Sometimes asking locals can be a wealth of good info, more often than not, they don't know. In many cases, the trails can't be picked up from main streets, it's back streets, and a map is by far your best bet.

Whenever I Google for trails, I'm astounded by how many are out there, some look absolutely incredible...accessing them is the challenge though.

Btw: A trail I haven't mentioned recently but is fairly easy to access either end with a half an hour ride is the Elora to Cataract Trail. Unless it has deteriorated, the trail surface is excellent. It's best to start at the Elora end from either Guelph or K/W, via the Kissing Bridge Trail for the latter. There's now a partial link connecting the two, albeit the gravel that was down when the link was opened is not the right grade. It's coarse. That being said, the local side-roads are excellent, very little traffic on some, you'll pass maybe two or so vehicles on at least a few of them, and paved, in good shape.

At the Cataract end, I'm exploring taking another *almost* connecting trail to Hwy 10. (The Caledon Trailway). It ends in Tottenham, but unfortunately no bus service from there, but there is service out of Brampton for Orangeville on Hwy 10, which the trail crosses. Failing that working out, you can cycle west down almost to Georgetown on the same Caledon Trail, something I've done twice over the last few years. The major roads south of Caledon become quite dangerous. If you head to Georgetown, be sure to take the back roads.

 

[salsa]

If you are going to take risks, take *knowable risks* like being stuck on a cycle trail in the middle of nowhere rather than whacked, broken and bleeding at the side of an arterial road. I *highly* advise *taking the GO* into and out of Toronto and region. There's a *litany* of incredible trails to be done. Spend your energy on *them* not on getting in and out of TO. Even pay someone to get a safe lift in and out. GO makes the trip a wonderful beginning and end, and/or a paid trip by vehicle to a drop-off, and then GO at the other end (Or VIA, but it's a lot more complicated). There's even acceptable routes to the edge of Toronto where you can take the TTC in, but been a few years since I've done that.

If someone can show me safe routes into/out of Toronto, then I take it back. I have used ways in in the past....but having done it too many times when I was younger, I look back on it and wonder "How in Hell did I do that without getting severely damaged?". There's absolutely nothing wholesome about fighting cars out to kill you, let alone breathing fumes, to poison your trip. It's like getting kicked in the groin after a wonderful session of lovemaking.

My plan is to take GO to the start point of my ride (which is Peterborough), so at least I won't be "spending my energy" getting to the trail. But I would like to bike all the way back to Toronto rather than racing to beat the last bus out of Uxbridge and paying another fare. It's not what I usually do but I want to give it a try, and also to break my distance record. But it doesn't mean I'm a daredevil. As someone pointed out, 9th Line between Stouffville and Markham has a newly-paved shoulder for cyclists and goes downhill the whole time. I biked it a few weeks ago and it's pretty good. And if you look at my planned route that I linked in my previous post, I found a way to avoid almost all arterial roads in Markham without getting entwined in a maze of cul-de-sacs, using small streets that I'm mostly familiar with already. But if necessary, I can still use the sidewalk if I don't feel safe, which I probably won't need to do.

As much as I've done the Cambridge to Paris to Brantford to Hamilton Trail, I've yet to not have to backtrack in Brantford. Absolutely excellent trail in most spots, but damn...they don't make it easy in terms of following discontinuous sections. Had same problem in Lindsay coming in from the east. No signs that I could see directing one south, so I just saw the bridge in the distance to the north, as that was on my 1988 Graphic Map (no longer available, like atlas maps with relief and old rail lines indicated) and followed the railbed, or what was left of it.

This is where the bike layer feature on Google Maps comes in handy. I can rely on it to find my way around places like Brantford if I lose my way, but I will usually plan my route in advance, study it and write down turn-by-turn directions. I've been doing it this way for a long time and it works well for me.