Question Anyone ever cycled the Trans Canada Trail?

[ohmegatron]

So I'm building an ebike and I'm extremely excited about it (who's got two thumbs and has developed a new autistic new special interest? This guy). I figured it would be great to ride across Canada, and I've always wanted to see the Trans Canada Trail. I live in Edmonton, and have always wanted to go East. I went to the central Okanogan (then caught a bus to Vancouver) from Edmonton on my last cycling trip, then never tried again due to getting a job, getting off the streets, becoming a functioning member of society, feeing too old to go on another trip...

Anyway. It's time for me to get back in the saddle. Any Canadian cyclists who have done that trip, or parts of it?

 

[ali]

Yeah, i ended up on and off the trail when i was cycling from BC to Florida (switched countries in Manitoba). To be honest, it's not really one big long trail, it's more like lots of little trails maintained by local people in each province or city, so if you're in a jurisdiction where there happens to be some public land and a motivated local community, it can be great, but in other places you're basically just cycling along the road and wouldn't even know it was a trail at all if there wasn't a signpost every now and then. There's also some sections that you can't easily bike on, at least not with an average touring bike anyway.

I think if you really want to follow the trail then research up-front which sections are nice and try to aim your route so you hit those sections, but then pick your own route for the other sections. Personally i was happy with my approach which was just to ignore the trail maps altogether and figure out my own route across the country, then from time to time i ended up on the trail by accident, and it was always a pleasant surprise. Best parts i reckon were in BC where i ended up on some sections in the Kootenays (Columbia & Western Rail Trail is great) and then across the border from Alberta to Saskatchewan there is a cross-province park (Cypress Hills) with some cool singletrack and even a bit of full-ass unmarked bushwhacking. Super fun.

Some more about my experiences here: Featured - First tour, heading out of Kamloops - https://squattheplanet.com/threads/first-tour-heading-out-of-kamloops.42789/

 

[ohmegatron]

Yeah, i ended up on and off the trail when i was cycling from BC to Florida (switched countries in Manitoba). To be honest, it's not really one big long trail, it's more like lots of little trails maintained by local people in each province or city, so if you're in a jurisdiction where there happens to be some public land and a motivated local community, it can be great, but in other places you're basically just cycling along the road and wouldn't even know it was a trail at all if there wasn't a signpost every now and then. There's also some sections that you can't easily bike on, at least not with an average touring bike anyway.

I think if you really want to follow the trail then research up-front which sections are nice and try to aim your route so you hit those sections, but then pick your own route for the other sections. Personally i was happy with my approach which was just to ignore the trail maps altogether and figure out my own route across the country, then from time to time i ended up on the trail by accident, and it was always a pleasant surprise. Best parts i reckon were in BC where i ended up on some sections in the Kootenays (Columbia & Western Rail Trail is great) and then across the border from Alberta to Saskatchewan there is a cross-province park (Cypress Hills) with some cool singletrack and even a bit of full-ass unmarked bushwhacking. Super fun.

Some more about my experiences here: Featured - First tour, heading out of Kamloops - https://squattheplanet.com/threads/first-tour-heading-out-of-kamloops.42789/

It says on the wiki the trail in Saskatchewan is made entirely of off-highway back roads, so I'm expecting a lot of gravel.

I've got family in Calgary, and I'm pretty familiar with the #2 highway from Edmonton to Calgary. Debating if I want to go south to Calgary first or head straight from Edmonton.

Aside from my personal interest in getting on the road again, I also want this trip to be a fundraiser for indigenous land and water rights, and I had this idea of using the trail as a unified, Canadian trail to appeal to the masses I'll try to get donations from. But even then I'm not stating on the west coast, so it's not that much of a draw.