Victoria to Halifax and back - May 2012

[bkslater]

Hi!
Planning to leave Victoria BC on May 5th and head to Halifax, stay a week or so and then ride back. I am heading there to meet up with my daughter and new grandchild. I am guessing that 10 - 12 days each way might be do-able.
Looking for company both ways - have just started dialing this in so things like a US route, camping vs motels vs couch-surfing etc is still up in the air.
Me: male 55 employed, more or less sane, single malt, dark ales, guitar player, geek
My Bike: dualsport 2009 BMW F650GS .
I have been riding on and off for 30 years but this would be the longest trip yet.
Would welcome any thoughts from you that have made the trip this time of year, good places to stay, s and music and anyone that might like to hook up for all or part of the way - lets talk!

cheers
Brian

[bkslater]

Thinking of getting off vancouver island on the 4th of may now and taking a ferry to Washington, then take it from there. I have heard a lot here in favour of a southern route so I am starting to look at this as more of a circle tour - take a southern US route across to Halifax, then over the top of the great lakes to Kenora, secondary highways across the prairies and then see what time is left before choosing the last leg through BC and back home.
:^)
B

[Growler]

2 good points about your ideas

these routes will keep you in the warmer weather for the trip, change of scenery coming out and going back.

have a good trip, keep the black side down

[bkslater]

Just starting to sketch out a route as shown in this image - south through the states at Seattle and working east to Boston and up to Halifax, then back via Montreal, Toronto and over the Lakehead. MapQuest says it's 131 hrs 50 mins / 12435.22 kilometres (that works out to something like 95 km/hr). So I am guessing a slow-poke like me will be more like 150 hours or 22-7 hour days (round trip).

The next steps will be to fine-tune this route somewhat and look for more rural/scenic byways in the states (suggestions please!!!). That and dialing both myself and my bike into shape for the trip!!!! I am looking into GPS and video for both planning and recording the trip - more on that later.

For me thats getting onto an exercise program and finding a bit of fitness that driving a desk for so long has ‘hidden;^) , and for my bike its things like dialing in the suspension properly, moving the mirrors outboard, throttle lock (as I am prone to a bit of carpal tunnel numbness), choosing and installing accesssory driving lights, toolkit, spare bulbs and such. I am excited about learning more about my bike, so far I just love it - but as its only been a few months since I bought it we are just getting to know each other eh!

B

[PanEuropean]

Hi Brian:

I just finished driving a car from Toronto to Sidney, BC this past week - left Toronto last Thursday, arrived in Sidney on Monday.

I took US Highway 2, rather than the trans-Canada. There is less traffic on Highway 2, and the costs in the USA are substantially less - fuel averaged about 85¢ a litre, hotels about $50 a night, both of which are significantly less than Canadian prices. Food in the USA is about half the price of food in Canada, although the food in America can be pretty toxic. Speed limits are substantially higher in the western part of the USA (70 to 75 MPH, which is more than you will find in Canada).

My suggestion is that you take the Coho ferry from downtown Victoria to Port Angeles, then hit US Interstate 94, take that east until you can hook up with Highway 2 in Montana, then take Highway 2 across the top of the USA to Sault Ste. Marie. You can then cross back into Canada there.

The actual distance from Victoria to Toronto is almost identical (about a 50 km difference) via US Highway 2 or via the Trans Canada.

If you wish, you could swing really far south in the USA - if weather is a problem in Canada when you leave. May 5th should be fine for Vancouver Island, the coastal parts of Washington state and BC, and for southern Ontario and the St. Lawrence seaway, but it could be a little early for going through the Rocky Mountains, for the Canadian Prairies, and for the south shore of the St. Lawrence and Gaspé peninsula. By that I mean your chances are about 50-50 - you might have fine riding weather, or, it might be below freezing, with or without snow.

You can always do the all-Canadian route on the way back, when summer riding conditions are assured.

Michael

[bkslater]

Thanks for the info Michael - I am prettu sure the US route is the way to go and canada coming back. have not had access to the computer much so i have not posted here, but I have been busy. my bike is ready and my camping setup is almost complete enough for a first shakedown crusie - thinking next weekend to shoot up from Victoria to parksville or so, not a long ride but lots of great camping spots on the ocean.
oh yeah and to solve the dilemma of how to take a guitar on this trip i sized down and just bought a mandolin. should be fun@!

[Growler]

When you get to Nova Scotia let me know, there's always a free night in the Annapolis Valley(the most beautiful part of Nova Scotia with the highest tides), good food and a Sleemen's (Ontario) for you.

P.S. I have a mandolin but haven't played it for awhile,

Cheers Growler

[bkslater]

allpacked up and heading out tomorrow

follow me on my blog;

dumpsterjam - SL8ROCK

Growler: i'll be there for that in about 10 days!
:^)
Brian

[markharf]

Brrrrrr. Snow level is about 4000 feet tonight (1200m), dropping further tomorrow. Watch the weather forecasts carefully, and pay attention to the passes enroute; your chosen route includes some chilly, open, potentially blizzard-ish country between here and the plains. Getting cold and wet while riding tends to equate to getting stupid...which can have serious consequences.

Try overlaying this map (http://www.weather.com/maps/news/for...er6_large.html) with your route map above and you'll see what I mean. There are other snow zones which don't appear on a large-scale map like the one I've linked, too.

Safe journey!

mark

[bkslater]

ya the show was a factor
basically headed south tilla open pass and made a run for it.
Snoqualmie and the I90 ended up taking me to Sturgis
and the adventure continues

dumpsterjam.blogspot.ca

shiney side up
brian