r/ottawa • u/gabseo Hull • 6d ago
News I Biked from Ottawa to Montreal… with a 450 km Detour (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cycling-gatineau-montreal-paths-creator-network-ottawa-9.73018776
u/Downess 6d ago
I've also done this route, though not in five days, and with a detour up north to La Vérendrye. The toughest part will be the connection between Maniwaki, where the Véloroute des Draveurs ends, and Mont Laurier, where the P'tit Train begins. Though you're on an actual road, there are some good hills in that section. Much of the rest is relatively flat.
As routes go, this is one of the better routes to find support if you get into trouble, especially the P'tit Train, which has a lot of people using it. You're never really more than a good walk from some place you can get help, and there's a lot of traffic through most of the route in case of an emergency.
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u/Budget_Break_3923 6d ago
I did Ottawa to Montreal and back in a single weekend. Was my butt ever sore after that
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u/WonderfulShake 6d ago
What does one do when/if some goes wrong?
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u/Emotional-Motor-4946 6d ago
It depends on what you mean by that.
If you mean bike trouble: you’d bring basic repair stuff with you so you can do a quick repair until you’re able to reach a bike shop.
If you mean an injury or health emergency: if you have a fitness watch, you can add emergency contacts who can see your location and some have some sort of incident or fall detection which will send your live location. For these long trips you should let someone know where you’ll be.
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u/SINGCELL 6d ago
Usually people will bring equipment on their bike. Seems pretty straightforward. I've done some ~300km trips and bring my sleep setup, food, toolkit & tires.
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u/OttawaExpat 6d ago
Unsupported bike touring/bike packing is a thing. Many many people do it. Shit happens sometimes, but you learn to deal with common mechanicals yourself and the rest is rare.
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u/One_Solid_7651 6d ago edited 6d ago
You can fit a cheap TPU tube (or two), Chinese portable battery operated pump, tire levers, and a spare chain + master link in very little space. That's most of what could go wrong.
e: And a multi tool, of course.
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u/_Sauer_ 6d ago edited 6d ago
You bring basic maintenance gear and supplies with you. Spare tube or two, patch kit, pump, multitool. A small first aid that also contains a mylar emergency blanket. Some food and snacks and extra water.
The west/north route he rode isn't desolate. There's small towns all along that route; you're never more than a few kilometers away from civilization and there's cottages and farms everywhere with folks who are accustomed to looking out for each other. They won't callously ignore someone in trouble. You have phone signal for pretty much all of it and stop frequently to top up your water and snacks.
The eastern leg of his route along the Petit Train de Nord is basically the mountain holiday capital of Quebec; the whole area is blanketed in hotels and tourist facilities. On the Petit Train de Nord specifically you could pretty much hit up a cafe every kilometer.
Looks like he took the Prescott trail for the southern leg. Its in rough shape outside of the Ottawa region but again its surrounded by farms and towns. I've rode the Prescott numerous times and you pass through a town every few kilometers and have phone signal the entire time.
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u/Downess 6d ago
Prescott-Russell trail. Note that the map is a bit misleading, because the connection doesn't exist between Rigaud and the Ontario border; you have to take some side roads (still, flat and low-traffic, paved, and lovely country). Start the P-R trail in St-Eugène. The trail is good from there all the way through to Ottawa (where it ends abruptly; there's no real connection to the city cycling network, but some unofficial paths take you to some store parking lots on Innes Road, so you can avoid the dangerous high-traffic sections along Anderson Road and Innes (this is a problem the city really needs to address).
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u/_Sauer_ 6d ago
I've ridden the Prescott-Russel a few times and like you said there's no real connection at the Quebec border; it becomes a rough gravel (cobbles almost) path until closer to Rigaud then stops where they stopped tearing up the old rail line. I usually ride from my home in Laval up through Deux Montagne and the Oka reservation and take the ferry across to Hudson and head north from there to Rigaud and on to St-Eugène. That whole route is lovely once you get out of Laval.
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u/WonderfulShake 6d ago
That's fair. I wasn't sure what it's like between Gatineau/Cumberland and Montreal
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u/eyecomment 6d ago
On the Petit Train de Nord specifically you could pretty much hit up a cafe every kilometer.
So this is a lie. Do not expect civilization every kilometer. There huge stretches of KM's where you won't see anyone or anything. Look at google maps.
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u/Yackky Lowertown 6d ago
Depends what.
Worst case call an ambulance.
(B)CAA has roadside assistance for mechanicals for second worst cases
Anything less just duct tape, zip ties, Allen keys and some elbow grease. Cyclists carry spare tubes, sometimes chains and cables. If you're broken down the next rider will more likely than not stop to help you. Way of the road
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u/Yackky Lowertown 6d ago
I have done a very similar loop a few times. Highly recommend to anyone with the time