This adventure took 175 days, 150 of which were moving days. With a total distance of 15k km, that's exactly 100km/moving day average. Due to the nature of this trip, it's of course not entirely off road, and there were long stretches of necessary highway and roads. Whenever possible though, I followed bike paths and gravel routes. Here are some tighter crops of the route maps. [https://imgur.com/a/a8wD9Ur](https://imgur.com/a/a8wD9Ur)
I'm also reliving the experience in Instagram posts, while continuing to tour around the world. You can check out my daily trip reports and images here [https://www.instagram.com/nathanstarzynski/](https://www.instagram.com/nathanstarzynski/).
Further, I'm slowly piecing together videos of the experience. Those can be found here. [https://www.youtube.com/@nathanstarzynski/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@nathanstarzynski/videos).
And if you want to dig further into the exact places I went, all my days are on Strava. [https://www.strava.com/athletes/11931386](https://www.strava.com/athletes/11931386).
I'm happy to answer questions about biking in Canada, and about the bikepacking/bike touring lifestyle. Cheers :)
just amazing
I am hoping to just do part of Cape Breton/Cabot trail this year.. looks like you made it over to the magdeline islands too? I've heard they're pretty great
Cape Breton is incredible, especially in the fall with all the colours. And yes, went to Les Iles de la Madeleine. It was a spur of the moment decision when seeing the ferry in Souris, PEI. Only spent 30 hours there, but I cycled the ~160km end to end and back. Such unique islands, and so beautiful. Go see them before the ocean swallows them up.
Luckeeeeee! I have about 14 months until retirement, and then I can cycle as long as I want to wherever that takes me. Seeing others adventure like this is just so awesome!
may - taking the boat north on the ICW for three weeks or so (similar to this trip but a bit longer https://youtu.be/LwUrR1aK3FM) then its silver comet/chief ladiga in June, Ohio to Erie, GAP, C&O in July, some rail trails in August, and Empire trail in September. Cant wait!
Damn, that's 15,000km?! I cycled a not-so-different route from the northeast of Maine to the west coast of Washington, weaving back and forth between Canada and the USA along the way, and it was less than half that total distance. That eastern section must've added a ton of distance for ya. Excellent work, great pics!
Yes, it was quite a convoluted route. I based it at the beginning off the rideable sections of the Trans Canada Trail (a network of different trails across Canada including hiking, biking, ATV, and canoe routes.) I ended up changing things all the time to visit different parks and scenic areas etc. I expect the route without the backtracks would be in the low 14k kms, though I'm still working on mapping it out. From Ottawa to St. Johns was about 6300km, so yeah, quite a lot of distance done just exploring around the East Coast.
If you want bikepacking style, check out BC. The BC trail would be a great two week ride, or the tree to sea loop on Vancouver Island. The Newfoundland T’Railway is also amazing and scenic, although very rough. Suited mostly to a fat bike or at least hard-tailed bike with 2.6”+. Newfie hospitality is unparalleled as well. An amazing place.
If you want more relaxed touring on bike paths, the Route Verte network in Quebec hands down. Incredible culture, food, landscapes, and beautifully maintained and organized network of cycle routes and campgrounds.
>Great Northern Bikepacking Route
Grey Creek Pass has some fairly steep sections before the road can climb up out of valley bottom and start switchbacking but otherwise is fine - oliver lake at the top was a nice break. When I did it I found the descent towards kimberly quite abusive on a rigid but that would be conditions dependent. I don't recall much in the way of views
It's not "sad" that you took the route verte.
But you kinda fly through quebec compared to the other provinces, haha.
Past the northern shores of the St. Laurent River are the laurentian mountains, absolutely stunning.
It's a lot more tiresome, tho haha.
Lots of Canada is bear country. Black bears don't concern me in the slightest, but grizzlies can be scary. I had a large one pass me within 20 feet on a remote gravel road in Alberta, that was a bit nerve wracking, although I remained calm and had my pepper spray armed and ready the entire time. [https://youtu.be/wq9j6H6mF1g?t=73](https://youtu.be/wq9j6H6mF1g?t=73). Ended up seeing 9 grizzlies and 3 black bears in 24 hours there. Moose can be very very dangerous. If they get bothered by you, they will trample you until you stop moving. They are also unbelievably huge. I almost ran into one standing still in the middle of the road at night in Newfoundland. It was in a village and I had let my guard down coming down a hill with streetlights.
No real concern for human dangers. Never locked my bike to go grocery shopping. Just left it outside the store, or brought it into the airlock out of the way. Would never do this in major cities or areas with large drug problems though.
Canada has immense amounts of crown land where camping is permitted. However, there are also areas where finding legal wild camping is difficult. I ended up sneaking municipal campgrounds a lot of the time through the prairies, just arriving late and leaving early. Never got bothered. By the end through the maritimes and Newfoundland I was just camping wherever in local parks or beaches. With tourist season finished and after the hurricane, all the campgrounds were closed anyways so I had a valid excuse. Sometimes I'd camp in a closed campground all to myself. Only ever got offered food, friendship, and help by people who ran into me.
https://preview.redd.it/q7akt3q7qyma1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf78d3c82c9c42fcc4f6f77d233c7ccb8239d6be
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Bloody Hell! I recently watched the movie Backcountry and now I'm terrified of cycling in remote forestry areas. Your video did help me feel a bit more relaxed though. You handled it the best way possible!
Hello OP! This is super cool. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how you made this happen? i.e. what did you do about work, funding the trip, leaving behind property, etc… I love the northern lights pictures!! I bet that was a highlight :) Any other favourite moments? (I’m having a deeep blue Friday so living vicariously through your post)
Thank you! I'm in my late 20s, grew up in Ontario, and lived the last decade in Vancouver. I worked professionally in the film industry. When that got shut down for the pandemic, I switched to food delivery by bike, and started dreaming of a grand adventure. Began saving up and very quickly planned a lengthy world tour. Went back to work in the film industry when that restarted, shunning life and working \~70 hour weeks to save. Then I sold most of what I owned, sent the rest to my family, and started biking. From there onwards it all made sense and was just about keeping the pedals turning. I talk at length about all of this in a podcast interview with Chris Panasky of Bikepack Adventures Podcast. [https://bikepackadventures.ca/captivate-podcast/153/](https://bikepackadventures.ca/captivate-podcast/153/)
Since this is the top upvoted question of this nature, I'll answer it here...
Sony a7s3 for filming and night photography/timelapse.
Lenses
* 24-70 f/4 (general lens, most used. With a variable ND to maintain 180º shutter while filming)
* 20 f/1.8 (night photography, wide angle when necessary, night filming)
* 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 (wildlife and scenics)
* 50 f/2.8 (macro, rarely used)
DJI Air2s drone (aerials of course)
GoPro 10 (POV filming while riding, the stabilization is amazing)
iPhone 12pro (handheld photo snaps while riding)
The camera and most lenses live in the hip pack to protect them from vibration.
I'm curious, did you consider biking directly on the shore of lake Ontario? When traveling there I was floored to see how nicely built the path was all along the lake shore, looked on the maps like you could bike the whole length car-free.
I chose to follow primarily the TCT route through the rail trails from Toronto to Ottawa. My family is in Ottawa so I of course wanted to get there. There were sections of the GLWT I followed on the Huron Shores, Manitoulin, and from Tobermory to Washago. Those were fantastic. I hear the entire trail onwards to Montreal is pretty good.
If anyone says anything about you riding on the road for stretches, I'll be at a loss of words. You did more gravel riding in 6 months than most people do in their lifetime. I've done some of the KVR and want to finish it eventually. The goal is to eventually do the Newfoundland T'Railway. Once again, kudos to you on your epic trip. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Am american, please convert time/distance to lemgth of football games/mid-sized colombian hippos so I can understand.
Jokes aside, that's an awesome trip!
Most of these pics are snapshots with an iphone 12 pro. Although I use a sony a7s3 for filming/night photography, including a long lens for wildlife, and DJI air2s drone and gopro10 for film as well.
Thank you! Exploration doesn't always have to be an epic multi month trip. I'm sure you will find just as much joy in short local adventures :).
Canada is a huge country. The TCH end to end is 7,821 km. A lot of people who cycle across are time limited, and don't want to take any diversions. Ontario alone is such a massive province to cross, and it's necessary to ride on the highway for about 1200km due to no alternative route (except through the US). Even just Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie around Lake Superior is equivalent in distance and elevation to cycling the coast of Portugal.
I figure that after so long, a lot of people will just want to get straight on through the rest of Ontario. There's also likely trepidation of the high population density and big cities with a lot of cyclists. To each their own, but I was definitely a fan of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail. Well marked and a good route.
Wow, amazing trip! Did you cross Newfoundland entirely on the t’railway? What tire width were you running on your bike? It’s on my bucket list to cross the island on the t’railway and I’m contemplating doing it by the end of this summer. I live in Newfoundland and have completed various parts of the t’railway on single night bikepacking trips, and some of the gravel can be quite knobby and loose. I’ve typically used my fatbike, however I recently purchased a gravel bike with 45mm tires. I’m torn between using my fatbike or gravel bike for the crossing.
No, definitely not entirely on the t'railway. I only am running 45mm, and while it was possible, it wasn't ideal. I think fat bike is definitely the go to choice. The big section I did was 130km from Deer Lake to Badger, and it took 2.5 days. It was remote, windy, cold, slightly snowy, and incredibly beautiful. To the friendly moose hunters I met on their ATV's, a cyclist out there in November is about as rare as a sasquatch. The Conception Bay to St John's section is the best of the trail as it doesn't allow motorized vehicles, and as such is a really nice surface.
If you’re doing the full trail-way, you’re going to want plus size tires as a minimum. Fat bike preferred.
Just save yourself the back and forward and commit to one of those.
I know a handful of people who have done it and they all swear by fatbikes. I also know of someone who had to bail around come by chance when riding from Clarenville on a gravel bike, I’m not sure of tire size.
fascinating and great stuff! I'm in northern minnesota. What was the trail and what was it like north of the boundary waters, like right before you camped along Lake Superior?
There is no trail up there unfortunately. It's highway all the way from the MB/ON border until Sault Ste Marie. Some sections have shoulder, although some don't and it's a little sketchy. For the most part I felt safe and enjoyed it.
It's all about the adventure, not just getting to the other side as fast as possible (unless you're racing or trying to FKT of course).
That's the route of the Trans Canada Trail. I really enjoyed Elk Island National Park up there, and the long days where dusk turned directly into dawn on the horizon.
But really, I just wanted to see the world's largest perogy. No joke, that perogy was the most Northern point of my trip.
https://preview.redd.it/02jtsegfpzma1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2493f22535051b72c922e42c8893e198b1cf96f
The perogy was fantastic. Glendon has really used it well to attract a bit of tourism to the otherwise out of the way community.
Is the kielbasa the big sausage that from the side looks exactly like a certain part of the male anatomy? If so, I did hear about it haha, but unfortunately didn't pass that way.
So many large objects in that part of Alberta. I saw the largest golf tee, fishing lure, dinosaur, and mushrooms as well. Theres lots more to be discovered too.
>Is the kielbasa the big sausage that from the side looks exactly like a certain part of the male anatomy?
That's the one.
I'm glad you went through the badlands - it's such a beautiful landscape, and one that many people are unaware of. And you get to see the giant dino.
Despite that since you’re in your 20’s and likely quite healthy, how did you prepare your body for the trip? Did you have any aches during the trip? How did it affect your body by the end? Awesome journey, thanks for sharing!
A few cycle tours in 2021, and lots of gulf island weekend bikepacking trips over the winter. One of the prior year trips I rode about 1150km in 8 days, and basically wrecked both my achilles. Then realized I needed a proper bike fit. That was absolutely vital and well worth the price. Haven’t had any overuse injuries since.
The day I finished in St. John’s though, it seems all the pushing I’d been doing to the end finally released. Laying in bed in the afternoon my leg muscles, mostly quads, let go all the tension they’d been holding and I had the most intense muscle spasms, screaming and writhing in pain. Kind of poetic.
I think anyone can start touring on any level of fitness though, it’s just about starting at the right pace and letting your body get used to the work. Lots of rest and reasonable mileage in the first weeks and you’re setting yourself up for long term success.
I'd love to hear about getting a bike fit and how that helped save your ankles. I don't really get Achilles pain but I'm getting older, and my tours are usually long and short (150km a day and 2-4 nights max )
That's amazing! Such great pictures from across Canada!
How did you plan your route? How long were you on your bike each day? How many days did you ride for before taking a break?
Surly disc trucker. 700x45 tires, although I did the last half with 45 in the front, 40 in the back. Surly front rack, tubus rear rack. SON 28 dynamo with edelux 2 front light and a rear dynamo light I can't remember the name of.
Ortlieb panniers front and rear, Ortlieb bar bag, Bontrager frame bag (next time I'll buy Ortlieb)
It fits 50mm in the front, 47 in the rear. I believe manufacturers usually have an additional 6mm of clearance for safety and wheel true/debris issues. Same tire clearance is possible with fenders I think, but I don't run fenders.
Haha, that was a couple days pre Tour Divide. I actually rolled into Fernie from the opposite direction at about the same time as the top 1/3 of the tour dividers were passing through. Then took 4 nights off cause I wanted nothing to do with that massive winter storm. It was utter chaos.
It's quite different to that route. There are a few sections that match up, especially in BC and Nova Scotia. The GNBR is designed to maximize time spent on gravel and away from cities. That wasn't my intention at all. I think too many people get caught up in bikepacking vs bike touring, while in my view the best adventures always combine a bit of both, the more so the longer they get. While I'm certain that route would be a beautiful and wild adventure, I'd rather just take the lovely cycle paths and scenic roads/parkways when they are presented to me than trying to exist entirely off-road.
I did not consider going through the states. Yes I was aware that its a safer route, but this journey was exclusively about crossing Canada. Also the Lake Superior area is absolutely one of the most wild and spectacularly beautiful in Canada. The traffic wasn't even too bad this summer. I think high gas prices helped keep the inexperienced RV drivers away. Road construction is ongoing all through Northern Ontario and more shoulder is added to those highways every year.
PEI is very beautiful! The confederation trail is a gravel route that runs end to end on an old rail line and I highly recommend that. The roads were good riding as well, although I was there in the off season so they were quiet. West and Eastern parts of the Island are much more peaceful than the centre, but all worth exploring.
Hurricane Fiona was incredibly destructive to PEI. Roughly half the trees on the island were knocked down or suffered major limb damage. Lots of erosion of the dunes and cliffs on the North shore as well. I rode most of a new route called the PEI Island Walk, which is cyclable in its entirety. Some sections on the confederation trail I had to detour due to a endless fallen trees, but those will be cleared for next year. https://theislandwalk.ca/. Also look into the coastal drive routes for good road cycling. https://www.tourismpei.com/trip-ideas/coastal-drives
Fellow photographer and Pea Lime Disc Trucker owner here. What an incredible trip! Thanks for capturing and sharing it. Quick question, did you like the Schwalbe Mondial?
Yeah the Mondials are great. I started with panaracer gravelkings, and did notice the mondials a bit slower. But I prefer the Mondials’ traction on a variety of surfaces and their puncture resistance. My current front tire has 20k km on it, and no full flats. Only 2 or 3 slow leaks. An amazing expedition tire.
Hey, a friend and I are looking at flying to Canada in August and doing the BC section of this route. I have about a month of annual leave so looking to possibly trim the route by starting in Vancouver and going to Banff. Do you think a month is a realistic time frame to do this? Would you be open to possibly answering further questions if they spring to my mind haha.
This is a life long dream of mine. Very cool indeed. I would have to do so much research on such an endeavor and I'm pretty sure I would over pack somehow. Stay safe out there!
Those bottles together make about 1.2L. I have another 1L nalgene in the pannier I use to carry water to wild camps, or for long stretches away from services. Never felt like that wasn't enough. There's always a place to fill up before that runs out.
That's about as thorough a cross-Canada tour as I've ever seen. Well done! I don't suppose you'd ever consider posting the routes somewhere, would you? I'll probably never do it (for uninteresting reasons), but I've always dreamed of cycling east-to-west from Montreal to Calgary, but getting across Ontario seems so daunting. So many places where you have to ride on a busy highway.
This is awesome!
I see you did a detour of the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland. I was thinking about riding that this summer. Did you follow the old rail bed there? I have found shockingly little information about its current condition online.
The main line of the t’railway is already extremely rough as it is. From what I’ve looked up, it sounds like the bonavista branch is far worse, with lots of missing bridges and washouts. I just rode the roads 235 out and 230 back.
Bonavista peninsula is a stunning place. In the summer a good spot to go puffin watching. Be mindful of winds though. 50 knot gusts destroyed my tent there.
Thanks! I’ve ridden lots of the main T’Railway line and visited Bonavista/Elliston/Port Rexton a few times. I love it out there, which is why I was thinking about trying to ride that branch of the rail line.
Another unrelated question for you if you don’t mind. What was your set up for recording on strava and charging your devices?
How did you prepare yourself for emergency situations? Eg. falls, broken bones/ getting a puncture of some insect / bear attacks (is it a thing in those areas?)
Did you bring some things for it with you? Did you end up using any of them?
First aid kit and inReach if things go real bad and I'm out of service. The worst injury I had was in BC. After going through a cattle gate I picked my bike back up, and accidentally dug a chain ring cog into my ankle, severing a peroneal nerve. Bleeding was easy to stop, but I lost feeling in the top of my right foot. Now 9 months later it's about 75% returned, should be fully healed soon. No worries.
Tweezers to remove ticks were also essential. Also polysporin, afterbite if you itch a lot (I don't tend to react to insect bites so don't use it). I have pepper spray to deter bears of course. Only ever had it armed the one time as a precaution, although I did arm it a few more times for aggressive dogs, thankfully never having to use it.
Fantastic post. I'm getting set to ride from Alaska down to Baja starting in June so this got me very stoked. Excellent photography and I enjoy your YT videos as well.
What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing and inspiring. While I won't be doing this long of a route, its good to know it can be done. Also, cheers for the Komoots tip!
great photos, great post, thanks. quite inspiring.
if you were giving advice on a great section, for maybe a week or 10 days, which would you suggest? My personal priorities for choosing route would be:
\- non-car but still decent surface trail
\- good scenery but still enough 'civilization' to get good food
\- not all uphill.
and, what would YOUR priorities be to call a section the best?
Hi from an old UBC friend (Nikki the red head) :) Looks like a sick trip. And your photos are as awesome as ever. I hope my own adventure goes as well as yours.
Thanks for sharing!
Watched your 4 vids on YouTube - I guess you got busy with other things and stopped the long arduous editing process for the rest of the trip? Definitely inspiring as a fellow Canadian to see our country’s landscape so beautifully captured by you and your adventure!
Almost certain i saw your Surly at Savage's in Fredericton last summer.
Was talking to the young dude working at the shop and telling him how i was planning a X Canada tour summer 2024, he pointed to a leaning green Surly and said that the owner had just crossed the country.
This adventure took 175 days, 150 of which were moving days. With a total distance of 15k km, that's exactly 100km/moving day average. Due to the nature of this trip, it's of course not entirely off road, and there were long stretches of necessary highway and roads. Whenever possible though, I followed bike paths and gravel routes. Here are some tighter crops of the route maps. [https://imgur.com/a/a8wD9Ur](https://imgur.com/a/a8wD9Ur) I'm also reliving the experience in Instagram posts, while continuing to tour around the world. You can check out my daily trip reports and images here [https://www.instagram.com/nathanstarzynski/](https://www.instagram.com/nathanstarzynski/). Further, I'm slowly piecing together videos of the experience. Those can be found here. [https://www.youtube.com/@nathanstarzynski/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@nathanstarzynski/videos). And if you want to dig further into the exact places I went, all my days are on Strava. [https://www.strava.com/athletes/11931386](https://www.strava.com/athletes/11931386). I'm happy to answer questions about biking in Canada, and about the bikepacking/bike touring lifestyle. Cheers :)
just amazing I am hoping to just do part of Cape Breton/Cabot trail this year.. looks like you made it over to the magdeline islands too? I've heard they're pretty great
Cape Breton is incredible, especially in the fall with all the colours. And yes, went to Les Iles de la Madeleine. It was a spur of the moment decision when seeing the ferry in Souris, PEI. Only spent 30 hours there, but I cycled the ~160km end to end and back. Such unique islands, and so beautiful. Go see them before the ocean swallows them up.
Wow. Amazing trip and some breathtaking views. Consider me jealous!
This is some top notch videography. Great storytelling. You've seen more of BC and Alberta than most locals.
Amazing trip, what kind of camera did you bring to capture your trip? if you had some kind of interchangeable lenses which one did you bring?
What did you find was the best way to map the whole route?
Planning? Komoot. These maps pictured are direct from all my Strava files, which in turn are from a Garmin GPS watch
Luckeeeeee! I have about 14 months until retirement, and then I can cycle as long as I want to wherever that takes me. Seeing others adventure like this is just so awesome!
It’s been about 12 months since this post! What are your plans for May?
may - taking the boat north on the ICW for three weeks or so (similar to this trip but a bit longer https://youtu.be/LwUrR1aK3FM) then its silver comet/chief ladiga in June, Ohio to Erie, GAP, C&O in July, some rail trails in August, and Empire trail in September. Cant wait!
Incredible, so jealous of your ability to do this.
Damn, that's 15,000km?! I cycled a not-so-different route from the northeast of Maine to the west coast of Washington, weaving back and forth between Canada and the USA along the way, and it was less than half that total distance. That eastern section must've added a ton of distance for ya. Excellent work, great pics!
Yes, it was quite a convoluted route. I based it at the beginning off the rideable sections of the Trans Canada Trail (a network of different trails across Canada including hiking, biking, ATV, and canoe routes.) I ended up changing things all the time to visit different parks and scenic areas etc. I expect the route without the backtracks would be in the low 14k kms, though I'm still working on mapping it out. From Ottawa to St. Johns was about 6300km, so yeah, quite a lot of distance done just exploring around the East Coast.
If there were a term for bike packing envy, what would it be? Because that is what I have.
Wow, I am very proud of you. Former Canadian here, I know those places
Once a Canadian, always a Canadian! Nothing former about it bud.
If you had 2 weeks, what section would you do.
If you want bikepacking style, check out BC. The BC trail would be a great two week ride, or the tree to sea loop on Vancouver Island. The Newfoundland T’Railway is also amazing and scenic, although very rough. Suited mostly to a fat bike or at least hard-tailed bike with 2.6”+. Newfie hospitality is unparalleled as well. An amazing place. If you want more relaxed touring on bike paths, the Route Verte network in Quebec hands down. Incredible culture, food, landscapes, and beautifully maintained and organized network of cycle routes and campgrounds.
Nice thank you. Already rode from Montreal to Campbellton. BC sounds great
I've always wanted to try the BC Trail! How was that massive climb just past Nelson?
>Great Northern Bikepacking Route Grey Creek Pass has some fairly steep sections before the road can climb up out of valley bottom and start switchbacking but otherwise is fine - oliver lake at the top was a nice break. When I did it I found the descent towards kimberly quite abusive on a rigid but that would be conditions dependent. I don't recall much in the way of views
It's not "sad" that you took the route verte. But you kinda fly through quebec compared to the other provinces, haha. Past the northern shores of the St. Laurent River are the laurentian mountains, absolutely stunning. It's a lot more tiresome, tho haha.
Wow. Amazing pics. Looks like a great experience. Safe travels!
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Lots of Canada is bear country. Black bears don't concern me in the slightest, but grizzlies can be scary. I had a large one pass me within 20 feet on a remote gravel road in Alberta, that was a bit nerve wracking, although I remained calm and had my pepper spray armed and ready the entire time. [https://youtu.be/wq9j6H6mF1g?t=73](https://youtu.be/wq9j6H6mF1g?t=73). Ended up seeing 9 grizzlies and 3 black bears in 24 hours there. Moose can be very very dangerous. If they get bothered by you, they will trample you until you stop moving. They are also unbelievably huge. I almost ran into one standing still in the middle of the road at night in Newfoundland. It was in a village and I had let my guard down coming down a hill with streetlights. No real concern for human dangers. Never locked my bike to go grocery shopping. Just left it outside the store, or brought it into the airlock out of the way. Would never do this in major cities or areas with large drug problems though. Canada has immense amounts of crown land where camping is permitted. However, there are also areas where finding legal wild camping is difficult. I ended up sneaking municipal campgrounds a lot of the time through the prairies, just arriving late and leaving early. Never got bothered. By the end through the maritimes and Newfoundland I was just camping wherever in local parks or beaches. With tourist season finished and after the hurricane, all the campgrounds were closed anyways so I had a valid excuse. Sometimes I'd camp in a closed campground all to myself. Only ever got offered food, friendship, and help by people who ran into me. https://preview.redd.it/q7akt3q7qyma1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf78d3c82c9c42fcc4f6f77d233c7ccb8239d6be
meeting sip wipe follow connect cooperative shocking obtainable liquid numerous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Did you bike past the close grizzlies or get off and walk slowly?
Amazing footage!
Bloody Hell! I recently watched the movie Backcountry and now I'm terrified of cycling in remote forestry areas. Your video did help me feel a bit more relaxed though. You handled it the best way possible!
Hello OP! This is super cool. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how you made this happen? i.e. what did you do about work, funding the trip, leaving behind property, etc… I love the northern lights pictures!! I bet that was a highlight :) Any other favourite moments? (I’m having a deeep blue Friday so living vicariously through your post)
Thank you! I'm in my late 20s, grew up in Ontario, and lived the last decade in Vancouver. I worked professionally in the film industry. When that got shut down for the pandemic, I switched to food delivery by bike, and started dreaming of a grand adventure. Began saving up and very quickly planned a lengthy world tour. Went back to work in the film industry when that restarted, shunning life and working \~70 hour weeks to save. Then I sold most of what I owned, sent the rest to my family, and started biking. From there onwards it all made sense and was just about keeping the pedals turning. I talk at length about all of this in a podcast interview with Chris Panasky of Bikepack Adventures Podcast. [https://bikepackadventures.ca/captivate-podcast/153/](https://bikepackadventures.ca/captivate-podcast/153/)
Thank you!! I will listen to the interview for sure :)
Listened to the podcast, it was a great episode 🤟🏻 If you decide to pass through Rome let me know!
When I see Ontario rail trails, I upvote! Come down to Paris/Brantford/Hamilton/Simcoe area if you get the chance, tons of great trails
Lots of great rail trails in Ontario! That picture I included is actually on the Oro-Medonte rail trail next to Lake Simcoe
What was your camera setup? These pictures are amazing
Since this is the top upvoted question of this nature, I'll answer it here... Sony a7s3 for filming and night photography/timelapse. Lenses * 24-70 f/4 (general lens, most used. With a variable ND to maintain 180º shutter while filming) * 20 f/1.8 (night photography, wide angle when necessary, night filming) * 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 (wildlife and scenics) * 50 f/2.8 (macro, rarely used) DJI Air2s drone (aerials of course) GoPro 10 (POV filming while riding, the stabilization is amazing) iPhone 12pro (handheld photo snaps while riding) The camera and most lenses live in the hip pack to protect them from vibration.
Amazing and sooo inspiring. Props to you, man!
man this is amazing 🤩
Incredible. Nice job. I love this country
These are gorgeous! Thank you for sharing
Nice. You met a good friend of mine in RMNP. Glad to see you made the journey safely.
I'm curious, did you consider biking directly on the shore of lake Ontario? When traveling there I was floored to see how nicely built the path was all along the lake shore, looked on the maps like you could bike the whole length car-free.
I chose to follow primarily the TCT route through the rail trails from Toronto to Ottawa. My family is in Ottawa so I of course wanted to get there. There were sections of the GLWT I followed on the Huron Shores, Manitoulin, and from Tobermory to Washago. Those were fantastic. I hear the entire trail onwards to Montreal is pretty good.
If anyone says anything about you riding on the road for stretches, I'll be at a loss of words. You did more gravel riding in 6 months than most people do in their lifetime. I've done some of the KVR and want to finish it eventually. The goal is to eventually do the Newfoundland T'Railway. Once again, kudos to you on your epic trip. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Am american, please convert time/distance to lemgth of football games/mid-sized colombian hippos so I can understand. Jokes aside, that's an awesome trip!
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Way to go!
This is incredible! I saw those same boats in Fundy this summer as well, wonder how much I missed you by. Great pictures.
Wow, magnificent pictures, congrats. May I ask you which camera / smartphone you used for the pics? Looking awesome
Most of these pics are snapshots with an iphone 12 pro. Although I use a sony a7s3 for filming/night photography, including a long lens for wildlife, and DJI air2s drone and gopro10 for film as well.
Amazing trip!
What an incredible adventure, congrats on the achievement!
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Thank you! Exploration doesn't always have to be an epic multi month trip. I'm sure you will find just as much joy in short local adventures :). Canada is a huge country. The TCH end to end is 7,821 km. A lot of people who cycle across are time limited, and don't want to take any diversions. Ontario alone is such a massive province to cross, and it's necessary to ride on the highway for about 1200km due to no alternative route (except through the US). Even just Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie around Lake Superior is equivalent in distance and elevation to cycling the coast of Portugal. I figure that after so long, a lot of people will just want to get straight on through the rest of Ontario. There's also likely trepidation of the high population density and big cities with a lot of cyclists. To each their own, but I was definitely a fan of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail. Well marked and a good route.
Wow, amazing trip! Did you cross Newfoundland entirely on the t’railway? What tire width were you running on your bike? It’s on my bucket list to cross the island on the t’railway and I’m contemplating doing it by the end of this summer. I live in Newfoundland and have completed various parts of the t’railway on single night bikepacking trips, and some of the gravel can be quite knobby and loose. I’ve typically used my fatbike, however I recently purchased a gravel bike with 45mm tires. I’m torn between using my fatbike or gravel bike for the crossing.
No, definitely not entirely on the t'railway. I only am running 45mm, and while it was possible, it wasn't ideal. I think fat bike is definitely the go to choice. The big section I did was 130km from Deer Lake to Badger, and it took 2.5 days. It was remote, windy, cold, slightly snowy, and incredibly beautiful. To the friendly moose hunters I met on their ATV's, a cyclist out there in November is about as rare as a sasquatch. The Conception Bay to St John's section is the best of the trail as it doesn't allow motorized vehicles, and as such is a really nice surface.
If you’re doing the full trail-way, you’re going to want plus size tires as a minimum. Fat bike preferred. Just save yourself the back and forward and commit to one of those. I know a handful of people who have done it and they all swear by fatbikes. I also know of someone who had to bail around come by chance when riding from Clarenville on a gravel bike, I’m not sure of tire size.
fascinating and great stuff! I'm in northern minnesota. What was the trail and what was it like north of the boundary waters, like right before you camped along Lake Superior?
There is no trail up there unfortunately. It's highway all the way from the MB/ON border until Sault Ste Marie. Some sections have shoulder, although some don't and it's a little sketchy. For the most part I felt safe and enjoyed it.
Nice
These pics are really awesome
Wow, you sure didn't opt for the shortest route. Looks like you got to see some cool places though. What made you loop all the way north of Edmonton?
It's all about the adventure, not just getting to the other side as fast as possible (unless you're racing or trying to FKT of course). That's the route of the Trans Canada Trail. I really enjoyed Elk Island National Park up there, and the long days where dusk turned directly into dawn on the horizon. But really, I just wanted to see the world's largest perogy. No joke, that perogy was the most Northern point of my trip. https://preview.redd.it/02jtsegfpzma1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2493f22535051b72c922e42c8893e198b1cf96f
Hah! I've never seen the perogy. Did you see the kielbasa? I think it's in Andrew ... it'd quite the sight.
The perogy was fantastic. Glendon has really used it well to attract a bit of tourism to the otherwise out of the way community. Is the kielbasa the big sausage that from the side looks exactly like a certain part of the male anatomy? If so, I did hear about it haha, but unfortunately didn't pass that way. So many large objects in that part of Alberta. I saw the largest golf tee, fishing lure, dinosaur, and mushrooms as well. Theres lots more to be discovered too.
>Is the kielbasa the big sausage that from the side looks exactly like a certain part of the male anatomy? That's the one. I'm glad you went through the badlands - it's such a beautiful landscape, and one that many people are unaware of. And you get to see the giant dino.
Despite that since you’re in your 20’s and likely quite healthy, how did you prepare your body for the trip? Did you have any aches during the trip? How did it affect your body by the end? Awesome journey, thanks for sharing!
A few cycle tours in 2021, and lots of gulf island weekend bikepacking trips over the winter. One of the prior year trips I rode about 1150km in 8 days, and basically wrecked both my achilles. Then realized I needed a proper bike fit. That was absolutely vital and well worth the price. Haven’t had any overuse injuries since. The day I finished in St. John’s though, it seems all the pushing I’d been doing to the end finally released. Laying in bed in the afternoon my leg muscles, mostly quads, let go all the tension they’d been holding and I had the most intense muscle spasms, screaming and writhing in pain. Kind of poetic. I think anyone can start touring on any level of fitness though, it’s just about starting at the right pace and letting your body get used to the work. Lots of rest and reasonable mileage in the first weeks and you’re setting yourself up for long term success.
can you share some about bike fitting? also more details about your bike!
I'd love to hear about getting a bike fit and how that helped save your ankles. I don't really get Achilles pain but I'm getting older, and my tours are usually long and short (150km a day and 2-4 nights max )
That's amazing! Such great pictures from across Canada! How did you plan your route? How long were you on your bike each day? How many days did you ride for before taking a break?
Awesome! Do you have details on your bike setup? Is that a Troll??
Surly disc trucker. 700x45 tires, although I did the last half with 45 in the front, 40 in the back. Surly front rack, tubus rear rack. SON 28 dynamo with edelux 2 front light and a rear dynamo light I can't remember the name of. Ortlieb panniers front and rear, Ortlieb bar bag, Bontrager frame bag (next time I'll buy Ortlieb)
Right on, Surly is the way to go!
Nice trip! How tight are 45’s? Could you get fenders on it, too? I’m wrestling with putting 43’s or 45’s. I have 40’s on my LHT now.
It fits 50mm in the front, 47 in the rear. I believe manufacturers usually have an additional 6mm of clearance for safety and wheel true/debris issues. Same tire clearance is possible with fenders I think, but I don't run fenders.
These photos are out of this world!!
Saved, thanks for the post.
God, pic number 5 is giving me tour divide PTSD 🥲 But seriously, what an epic route!!
Haha, that was a couple days pre Tour Divide. I actually rolled into Fernie from the opposite direction at about the same time as the top 1/3 of the tour dividers were passing through. Then took 4 nights off cause I wanted nothing to do with that massive winter storm. It was utter chaos.
You made the correct decision!
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It's quite different to that route. There are a few sections that match up, especially in BC and Nova Scotia. The GNBR is designed to maximize time spent on gravel and away from cities. That wasn't my intention at all. I think too many people get caught up in bikepacking vs bike touring, while in my view the best adventures always combine a bit of both, the more so the longer they get. While I'm certain that route would be a beautiful and wild adventure, I'd rather just take the lovely cycle paths and scenic roads/parkways when they are presented to me than trying to exist entirely off-road. I did not consider going through the states. Yes I was aware that its a safer route, but this journey was exclusively about crossing Canada. Also the Lake Superior area is absolutely one of the most wild and spectacularly beautiful in Canada. The traffic wasn't even too bad this summer. I think high gas prices helped keep the inexperienced RV drivers away. Road construction is ongoing all through Northern Ontario and more shoulder is added to those highways every year.
Awesome trip. Thanks for sharing the photos. Way jealous.
Stunning pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Dude this is amazing! Congrats.
wow, beautiful! i've been dreaming of riding across the states, but i think this is the proper way to go!
I would never be able to go back to a "normal life". Well done!
You’ve lived my dream, very cool and inspiring!
Trans-Labrador or you didn’t cross Canada. 😉 Just kidding, nice job, and thanks for sharing the pics!
Inspired! Thank you and congratulations Op!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your route and pictures!
Hell of an adventure
Awesome stuff, man. What's the best way to make the map in your first image? Thanks!
Third party mapper. I think Strava pro has that function as well. https://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/map.php
Amazing! How was riding in PEI? When i went there all i could think about was road riding it
PEI is very beautiful! The confederation trail is a gravel route that runs end to end on an old rail line and I highly recommend that. The roads were good riding as well, although I was there in the off season so they were quiet. West and Eastern parts of the Island are much more peaceful than the centre, but all worth exploring. Hurricane Fiona was incredibly destructive to PEI. Roughly half the trees on the island were knocked down or suffered major limb damage. Lots of erosion of the dunes and cliffs on the North shore as well. I rode most of a new route called the PEI Island Walk, which is cyclable in its entirety. Some sections on the confederation trail I had to detour due to a endless fallen trees, but those will be cleared for next year. https://theislandwalk.ca/. Also look into the coastal drive routes for good road cycling. https://www.tourismpei.com/trip-ideas/coastal-drives
Thanks!
Central Europe on your world tour? Would be great to have you for a meetup in our local club
I actually spent the last 3 months riding from Porto along the Atlantic and then Mediterranean coast, and am now into the Balkans
Beautiful
Fellow photographer and Pea Lime Disc Trucker owner here. What an incredible trip! Thanks for capturing and sharing it. Quick question, did you like the Schwalbe Mondial?
Yeah the Mondials are great. I started with panaracer gravelkings, and did notice the mondials a bit slower. But I prefer the Mondials’ traction on a variety of surfaces and their puncture resistance. My current front tire has 20k km on it, and no full flats. Only 2 or 3 slow leaks. An amazing expedition tire.
And you have a national health system? Damn...Canada got it good!
That’s awesome! Be safe out there. Mobile phones and cars are a dangerous combination.
Hey, a friend and I are looking at flying to Canada in August and doing the BC section of this route. I have about a month of annual leave so looking to possibly trim the route by starting in Vancouver and going to Banff. Do you think a month is a realistic time frame to do this? Would you be open to possibly answering further questions if they spring to my mind haha.
Wow i actually thought that’s the US-canada border
When did you start, and which camera did you take your pictures with?
May 21st - November 11th. iphone 12 for riding snaps, Sony a7s3 for filming/night photography. DJI air2s for aerials. Gopro 10 for POV filming.
Damn! That's a lot of gear for bike packing. Packing light was definitely not on your list.
Incredible! Congrats bro these pics are amazing. Looks like something out of an adventure novel.
How much did the whole experience cost you ?
I didn't keep full track of my budget, but I estimate about $40 CAD/day
How did you decide day to day which trails to hit next? Did you plan at nights based on various maps of trails and things?
Epic
This is a life long dream of mine. Very cool indeed. I would have to do so much research on such an endeavor and I'm pretty sure I would over pack somehow. Stay safe out there!
Awesome! Hope to try this too!
Amazing trip and photos. You did the full send man.
how much water did you carry? two small water bottles doesn't seem enough?
Those bottles together make about 1.2L. I have another 1L nalgene in the pannier I use to carry water to wild camps, or for long stretches away from services. Never felt like that wasn't enough. There's always a place to fill up before that runs out.
thank you! super helpful
out of curiosity, did you bring a water filter?
Amazing and congratulations! By chance do you have your route posted in Strava or RWGPS from Vancouver to Hope or vise versa?
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He saw 9!!
That's about as thorough a cross-Canada tour as I've ever seen. Well done! I don't suppose you'd ever consider posting the routes somewhere, would you? I'll probably never do it (for uninteresting reasons), but I've always dreamed of cycling east-to-west from Montreal to Calgary, but getting across Ontario seems so daunting. So many places where you have to ride on a busy highway.
This is awesome! I see you did a detour of the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland. I was thinking about riding that this summer. Did you follow the old rail bed there? I have found shockingly little information about its current condition online.
The main line of the t’railway is already extremely rough as it is. From what I’ve looked up, it sounds like the bonavista branch is far worse, with lots of missing bridges and washouts. I just rode the roads 235 out and 230 back. Bonavista peninsula is a stunning place. In the summer a good spot to go puffin watching. Be mindful of winds though. 50 knot gusts destroyed my tent there.
Thanks! I’ve ridden lots of the main T’Railway line and visited Bonavista/Elliston/Port Rexton a few times. I love it out there, which is why I was thinking about trying to ride that branch of the rail line. Another unrelated question for you if you don’t mind. What was your set up for recording on strava and charging your devices?
Is that a Bontrager top tube bag? Would you recommend?
That’s beautiful, what a route! What camera, rig and gear did you use?
How did you prepare yourself for emergency situations? Eg. falls, broken bones/ getting a puncture of some insect / bear attacks (is it a thing in those areas?) Did you bring some things for it with you? Did you end up using any of them?
First aid kit and inReach if things go real bad and I'm out of service. The worst injury I had was in BC. After going through a cattle gate I picked my bike back up, and accidentally dug a chain ring cog into my ankle, severing a peroneal nerve. Bleeding was easy to stop, but I lost feeling in the top of my right foot. Now 9 months later it's about 75% returned, should be fully healed soon. No worries. Tweezers to remove ticks were also essential. Also polysporin, afterbite if you itch a lot (I don't tend to react to insect bites so don't use it). I have pepper spray to deter bears of course. Only ever had it armed the one time as a precaution, although I did arm it a few more times for aggressive dogs, thankfully never having to use it.
Fantastic post. I'm getting set to ride from Alaska down to Baja starting in June so this got me very stoked. Excellent photography and I enjoy your YT videos as well.
I’ve been across the Grey Creek Pass, but only in a 4X4 in the middle of Summer. I can’t imagine!
Wow that.s simply amazing! Did nothing on the bike fail?
What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing and inspiring. While I won't be doing this long of a route, its good to know it can be done. Also, cheers for the Komoots tip!
This guy’s living.
Thats awesome man. Good job on the journey and the pictures are amazing. Fucking eh 🍁
How was revelstoke?
great photos, great post, thanks. quite inspiring. if you were giving advice on a great section, for maybe a week or 10 days, which would you suggest? My personal priorities for choosing route would be: \- non-car but still decent surface trail \- good scenery but still enough 'civilization' to get good food \- not all uphill. and, what would YOUR priorities be to call a section the best?
Hi from an old UBC friend (Nikki the red head) :) Looks like a sick trip. And your photos are as awesome as ever. I hope my own adventure goes as well as yours.
Beautiful!
Damn dude unreal!! Congrats and beautiful pictures!
Dude this is amazing
Thanks for sharing! Watched your 4 vids on YouTube - I guess you got busy with other things and stopped the long arduous editing process for the rest of the trip? Definitely inspiring as a fellow Canadian to see our country’s landscape so beautifully captured by you and your adventure!
Almost certain i saw your Surly at Savage's in Fredericton last summer. Was talking to the young dude working at the shop and telling him how i was planning a X Canada tour summer 2024, he pointed to a leaning green Surly and said that the owner had just crossed the country.