Route Advice wanted - Michigan/Ohio to Montreal

My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.

The safest course as I presently see it is to go south of Lakes Erie
and Ontario, staying in New York state, and not crossing into Canada
until at least Ogdensburg and maybe later. I've already biked in this
vicinity from Rochester west (including through Cleveland, albeit 40
years ago), and route selection east of Rochester doesn't look like a
great problem.

Where I'm completely at loose ends is in considering a "Canadian
option", starting, say at Port Huron/ Sarnia and working my way
through Toronto and on up the north shore of Lake Ontario and the St.
Lawrence River.

Does anyone have any detailed route recomendations or experiences
going on this route, or know of any trip reports I could consult?

Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.[...]

Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?

Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc and take
the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the Lake Express [2]?

[1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

On Apr 16, 9:35*pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. *My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.[...]

Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?

Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc and take
the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the Lake Express [2]?

[1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

I don't need advice on how to get out of Milwaukee. When I figure out
the total mileage, likely motel availablity along the way, and likely
ferry availability onto and off of Prince Edward Island and onto
Newfoundland, I'll decide how to start the trip. Most likely through
Chicago, then either east on 6 toward Cleveland, or northeast on 12
toward Detroit, eventually angling north toward Port Huron. I'm
familiar and comfortable with those routes. If time looks tight, I'll
take the ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon, which saves about a day. I
hear good things about the Manitowoc/Ludington ferry, but it's too far
off route for the present trip.

Where I really need help is on the opportunities and prospects of a
route north of Lakes Erie and Ontario. That's a big unknown.

Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 9:35 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.[...]
Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?

Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc and take
the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the Lake Express [2]?

[1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.

I don't need advice on how to get out of Milwaukee.

That part was intended to be a joke.

When I figure out
the total mileage, likely motel availablity along the way, and likely
ferry availability onto and off of Prince Edward Island and onto
Newfoundland, I'll decide how to start the trip. Most likely through
Chicago,[...]

To diverge from the main subject, what is a good route through Chicago?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Once you are past Toronto, I've done that part from there to St John's
during my Canada trip in 1997 (http://www.mvermeulen.com/canada).
I've done three trips across that approximate region, all of them a
while ago and only the 1997 trip is fully recorded:
- 1988; Boston to Rochester, MN going south of Lake Ontario, north
of Lake Erie, crossing Michigan and
taking the Ludington Ferry. Remember the roads from Port Huron
as being reasonable and a little better
than roads south of Lake Erie.
- 1992; North of Lake Michigan, south of both Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie as part of a trip across the US.
Some roads a bit busier south of Lake Erie, fair amount of
accomodation.
- 1997; North of both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as part of a trip
across Canada in the trip report
referenced above.
So I can't help you much with detailed route accounts other than to
say I took the obvious routes between Port Hope and Montreal and there
was a good balance of reasonable roads to cycle but also enough
choices of where to stay, eat, etc. Based on what I know, I would at
least be biased towards staying north of Lake Erie and a little more
ambivalent on being north vs. south of Lake Ontario.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

p.s. The Maritimes is a great place for cycling...PEI was a bit
touristy for me, but I particularly enjoyed Newfoundland as being more
remote. I was on a bicycle trip in 2007 with someone who sells real
estate on PEI and she tells me the number of visitors to PEI has gone
down in the past decade and Newfoundland is being more discovered so
the contrast may not be as great as when I went.

Another route that ends in St John's still on my "to do" list some day
is to go from Quebec City onto the Trans-Labrador Highway to Goose
Bay. From there take roads/ferries south through Labrador and cross
over into Newfoundland from the north...someday...

On Apr 16, 10:33*pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 9:35 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. *My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.[...]
Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?

Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc and take
the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the Lake Express [2]?

[1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.

I don't need advice on how to get out of Milwaukee.

That part was intended to be a joke.

When I figure out
the total mileage, likely motel availablity along the way, and likely
ferry availability onto and off of Prince Edward Island and onto
Newfoundland, I'll decide how to start the trip. *Most likely through
Chicago,[...]

To diverge from the main subject, what is a good route through Chicago?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

To get through Chicago, there are bike paths along Lake Michigan for
17 !/2 miles - from 5800 north to 7100 south. Not recommended on a
summer weekend, when they're too crowded but otherwise pretty good
going. South of that, you take 41 down to either 12 or 20 and then go
east. 12/20 eventually join up and separate again east of Gary.
North of the bike path, I know the route when I see it but can't
readily describe it. From the path, you stairstep north and west to
Clark, and stay on it for quite a while, the name changing to
Chicago. Then you drift over to Green Bay Road, and eventually can
take Sheridan Rd. (IL 42) to the Wis line where it becomes Wis. 32,
which you can either take through Kenosha or Racine or, as I prefer,
go west to CTH H, which goes north through rural areas, eventually
becoming Howell Ave (38) as you approach Milwaukee county.

On Apr 17, 3:09*pm, wrote:
Once you are past Toronto, I've done that part from there to St John's
during my Canada trip in 1997 (http://www.mvermeulen.com/canada).
I've done three trips across that approximate region, all of them a
while ago and only the 1997 trip is fully recorded:
* *- 1988; Boston to Rochester, MN going south of Lake Ontario, north
of Lake Erie, crossing Michigan and
* * * taking the Ludington Ferry. *Remember the roads from Port Huron
as being reasonable and a little better
* * * than roads south of Lake Erie.
* *- 1992; North of Lake Michigan, south of both Lake Ontario and Lake
Erie as part of a trip across the US.
* * * Some roads a bit busier south of Lake Erie, fair amount of
accomodation.
* *- 1997; North of both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as part of a trip
across Canada in the trip report
* * * referenced above.
So I can't help you much with detailed route accounts other than to
say I took the obvious routes between Port Hope and Montreal and there
was a good balance of reasonable roads to cycle but also enough
choices of where to stay, eat, etc. *Based on what I know, I would at
least be biased towards staying north of Lake Erie and a little more
ambivalent on being north vs. south of Lake Ontario.

--mev, Mike Vermeulen

p.s. The Maritimes is a great place for cycling...PEI was a bit
touristy for me, but I particularly enjoyed Newfoundland as being more
remote. *I was on a bicycle trip in 2007 with someone who sells real
estate on PEI and she tells me the number of visitors to PEI has gone
down in the past decade and Newfoundland is being more discovered so
the contrast may not be as great as when I went.

Another route that ends in St John's still on my "to do" list some day
is to go from Quebec City onto the Trans-Labrador Highway to Goose
Bay. *From there take roads/ferries south through Labrador and cross
over into Newfoundland from the north...someday...

I should have known to just check out your trip reports first. I've
been immersed in the one you cited for a couple hours, and that just
covers the part of your trip that's of immediate interest to me.
You've answered most of the questions I hadn't asked yet about the
Maritime provinces. I was looking at taking the route you took in
Nova Scotia, and am glad you had some success with it. In
Newfoundland, of course, there's no choice most of the way, and I'm
glad the road is a pretty good one. I found some of those cold July
temperatures you reported disconcerting - not undoable, but you'd like
better in the heart of summer.

My thinking east of Quebec Cite' was to take your route to Riviere-du-
Loup, then go to Edmundston (which I've biked before), then to go
south to Fredericton and east to Moncton (which I haven't done),
picking up your route east of there.

I'd have to detour a long way north to pick up you rroute by-passing
Toronto. Unless I get some good directions for going through it, my
bias for staying in New York state and crossing to Canada at or past
Ogdensburg is strengthened.

I've biked through Montreal and enjoy the town, so I won't try to by-
pass it and Route 138 from there to Quebec Cite' is first class. I
took the bike across the river on the ferry to Levis rather than mess
with the bridge. Or I might stay north of the river until St. Simeon,
and then take the ferry to Riviere du Loup.

I have some competence in French, and look forward to using it in
Quebec.

Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 10:33 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 9:35 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. My immediate question is how
to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at least
until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions in another
couple posts.[...]
Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?
Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc and take
the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the Lake Express [2]?
[1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.
I don't need advice on how to get out of Milwaukee.
That part was intended to be a joke.

When I figure out
the total mileage, likely motel availablity along the way, and likely
ferry availability onto and off of Prince Edward Island and onto
Newfoundland, I'll decide how to start the trip. Most likely through
Chicago,[...]
To diverge from the main subject, what is a good route through Chicago?


To get through Chicago, there are bike paths along Lake Michigan for
17 !/2 miles - from 5800 north to 7100 south. Not recommended on a
summer weekend, when they're too crowded but otherwise pretty good
going. South of that, you take 41 down to either 12 or 20 and then go
east. 12/20 eventually join up and separate again east of Gary.

Thanks. That was the part I was wondering about, since much of the area
south of downtown in Chicago is not a safe area to travel through
without multiple police escorts (we had a utility project in the area
where off-duty CPD officers were hired for security).

North of the bike path, I know the route when I see it but can't
readily describe it. From the path, you stairstep north and west to
Clark, and stay on it for quite a while, the name changing to
Chicago. Then you drift over to Green Bay Road, and eventually can
take Sheridan Rd. (IL 42) to the Wis line where it becomes Wis. 32,

Much of Sheridan can be ridden, except Lake Bluff where the MUP is
mandatory.

which you can either take through Kenosha or Racine or, as I prefer,
go west to CTH H, which goes north through rural areas, eventually
becoming Howell Ave (38) as you approach Milwaukee county.

38 becomes Howell Avenue in "The Real OC" aka Oak Creek.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Tom Sherman wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 10:33 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
On Apr 16, 9:35 pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
My present thought about a long trip this summer is to go from
Milwaukee to St. John's, Newfoundland. My immediate question is
how to get to Montreal, after which I know what I want to do, at
least until the Maritimes, where I'll have some more questions
in another couple posts.[...]
Do you not have to get to Milwaukee from Germantown first?
Which is the better way to cross the lake - north to Manitowoc
and take the SS Badger [1], or to the Port of Milwaukee and the
Lake Express [2]? [1] http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx.
[2] http://www.lake-express.com/.
I don't need advice on how to get out of Milwaukee.
That part was intended to be a joke.

When I figure out
the total mileage, likely motel availablity along the way, and
likely ferry availability onto and off of Prince Edward Island and
onto Newfoundland, I'll decide how to start the trip. Most likely
through Chicago,[...]
To diverge from the main subject, what is a good route through
Chicago?

To get through Chicago, there are bike paths along Lake Michigan for
17 !/2 miles - from 5800 north to 7100 south. Not recommended on a
summer weekend, when they're too crowded but otherwise pretty good
going. South of that, you take 41 down to either 12 or 20 and then
go east. 12/20 eventually join up and separate again east of Gary.

Thanks. That was the part I was wondering about, since much of the
area south of downtown in Chicago is not a safe area to travel through
without multiple police escorts (we had a utility project in the area
where off-duty CPD officers were hired for security).

North of the bike path, I know the route when I see it but can't
readily describe it. From the path, you stairstep north and west to
Clark, and stay on it for quite a while, the name changing to
Chicago. Then you drift over to Green Bay Road, and eventually can
take Sheridan Rd. (IL 42) to the Wis line where it becomes Wis. 32,

Much of Sheridan can be ridden, except Lake Bluff where the MUP is
mandatory.

which you can either take through Kenosha or Racine or, as I prefer,
go west to CTH H, which goes north through rural areas, eventually
becoming Howell Ave (38) as you approach Milwaukee county.

38 becomes Howell Avenue in "The Real OC" aka Oak Creek.

--
Mike Kruger
"You have to be careful if you are reckless." - Richard M. Daley

Tom Sherman wrote:
Ron Wallenfang wrote:


To get through Chicago, there are bike paths along Lake Michigan for
17 !/2 miles - from 5800 north to 7100 south. Not recommended on a
summer weekend, when they're too crowded but otherwise pretty good
going. South of that, you take 41 down to either 12 or 20 and then
go east. 12/20 eventually join up and separate again east of Gary.

Thanks. That was the part I was wondering about, since much of the
area south of downtown in Chicago is not a safe area to travel through
without multiple police escorts (we had a utility project in the area
where off-duty CPD officers were hired for security).

I've taken Ron's route a couple of times, and 41 / 12 isn't bad in daylight
for a male touring cyclist through southeast Chicago, and Gary.

There is a new route map through northern Indiana he
http://www.nirpc.org/PPHome.html
I haven't tried these yet. They are more recreational and will suit many
cyclists riding through the area better (maybe me), but having read Ron's
ride reports it's clear he's fine doing high mileage traffic surfing.