Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Toronto to Ottawa - as the crow flies, almost
I have this crazy idea about riding my bike to Ottawa after work one day, and getting there some time the following day. I think it's possible if I can average better than 20 km/h.
It would involve setting up camp late at night, waking up early, and taking a direct route, as short as possible. I'd like to ride on country roads that aren't too busy. As far as scenery goes, I'm sure I'll find beautiful countryside no matter which roads I use.
Brian Hedney posted his well researched route online which follows the waterfront for much of the trip. His route works out to 506 km. The lakeside route should be fairly flat, given that lakes have that well known feature. The problem for me is that if I leave from work, I'll already be well north of the lake. And I'll be north of the worst of the city traffic, so I'd prefer to start out by heading straight east, straight towards Ottawa.
The route I've drawn, involves very little or no research at all, other than looking at a map and picking the most direct roads, and avoiding major highways (never on Hwy 7). Here's my somewhat direct route. It works out to 392 km. Part of the trip is through the Kawartha Lakes district, which I've been told is very hilly.
Sometime soon, I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.
It would involve setting up camp late at night, waking up early, and taking a direct route, as short as possible. I'd like to ride on country roads that aren't too busy. As far as scenery goes, I'm sure I'll find beautiful countryside no matter which roads I use.
Brian Hedney posted his well researched route online which follows the waterfront for much of the trip. His route works out to 506 km. The lakeside route should be fairly flat, given that lakes have that well known feature. The problem for me is that if I leave from work, I'll already be well north of the lake. And I'll be north of the worst of the city traffic, so I'd prefer to start out by heading straight east, straight towards Ottawa.
The route I've drawn, involves very little or no research at all, other than looking at a map and picking the most direct roads, and avoiding major highways (never on Hwy 7). Here's my somewhat direct route. It works out to 392 km. Part of the trip is through the Kawartha Lakes district, which I've been told is very hilly.
Sometime soon, I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.
Darren J 6/28/2006 04:36:00 p.m.
3 Comments:
Looks like a nice route - avoids major cities too so it will probably be fairly quiet. I suspect though that not all the roads will be paved. Darn google maps. There's yellow lines but it doesn't differentiate between paved/unpaved surfaces.
why don't you try the Hair shirt ride to the Falls ??......... see ya at Warden tonight
_Looks like fun.