Bike route Pittsburgh — Toronto?

[Sarah Pearman]

Friends who like riding bikes stupidly long distances:

Next month I'm taking some time off from my job where I ride a bike so that I can spend a week riding my bike even more, because that seems logical, and I'm planning to ride to Toronto. I haven't really ridden any significant distance in that direction and don't know much about what the ideal route would be beyond what the Google Maps bike layer is suggesting to me, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any part of that trip (in either direction — I will probably ride back as well, and I suppose depending on elevation profile / boredom potential / etc. I may or may not want to return via the exact same route). I'm planning to do it in a fairly leisurely fashion: probably something like PGH to Erie on day 1, Erie to Buffalo on day 2, and then Buffalo to Toronto on day 3. If anyone has tried-and-true routes, warnings of roads to avoid, etc. for any of these segments — or wisdom to offer about complications that I might encounter attempting to cross the border on a bike — any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!
-Sarah

[Monica VanDieren]

 Adventure Cycling Association has a route mapped out with warnings/cues from Pittsburgh to Toronto.  It's broken into two on their website (Pittsburgh to Erie Underground Extension and the Underground Railroad Route from Erie up though Owen Sound ON).  I've not ridden it so I can't attest to its accuracy.  Also, if you google biking across the Peace Bridge you'll find a video on what lanes to take and I believe there is a blog with a map posted so you can find the most hospitable access road.  There are many people who ride from Toronto to Buffalo and have posted about that route online including a list of bike friendly B&Bs just across the border from Buffalo.  Finally, there is a bike train that runs from Toronto to Buffalo in case you get to Toronto and want to take the train back, at least part way.  

Have fun!

[William Huber]

Dan and Jim cooked up a great Cranberry -> Erie route a few years ago, which passed through Evans City, Prospect, Slippery Rock, Grove City, and Meadville on the way north. You'd have to ask them for the cue sheet. If you don't mind hours and hours of not turning, you could alternatively follow Pa Bike Route A to Erie (it's mostly Route 19).

Google "Lap of Lake Ontario 1000k" and pull up the cue sheet...they should have a good route for the Niagara Falls -> Ontario segment.

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[Paul Heckbert]

I've biked from Buffalo through Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario and St Catharines as far west as Vineland Station. Bicycling in Ontario is quite nice. Biking across the Peace Bridge is easy. Take a passport. You'll probably get through faster than the cars, which get backed up with long waits, sometimes. Biking the Niagara Parkway along the Canadian side of the Niagara River is highly recommended - very scenic! http://www.gobiking.ca/niagara-loop/index.html Bicycling from upstream is a great way to see a waterfall. It is mostly asphalt bike trail, but some share-the-road and some crushed limestone, I think. When you get to Niagara-on-the-Lake, you can pick up the Waterfront Trail (see http://www.waterfronttrail.org/), which is mostly share-the road close to Lake Ontario, on the sections I visited. Hamilton, ON has a number of waterfalls (over the same escarpment as Niagara Falls, but not as big) but you might not have time for a side trip to them. Someone mentioned a bike train from Buffalo to Toronto. There used to be "Bike Trains" from Niagara Falls ON to Toronto, but Via Rail eliminated them in 2013, I heard. However, GO Transit has commuter trains that allow 2 bikes per car, with no hassle (roll on, roll off) between Hamilton ON and Toronto, as long as you avoid morning rush hour toward Toronto or evening rush hour away from Toronto (I've used this). See http://www.biketrain.ca/schedule-and-tickets . And on summer weekends, it says there are trains between Toronto and Niagara Falls ON. Toronto is a wonderful city for bicycling - so many cyclists! When you get closer to Toronto, the Waterfront Trail becomes a genuine trail (no cars). An alternate route between St Catharines and Buffalo (also scenic, but it's hard to beat Niagara Falls and the cascades) follows the Welland Canal, the shipping canal with many locks, for ships traveling between lakes Ontario and Erie. A third option would be to cross to the NY side of the Niagara River. There's a bike trail on that side, also, but the US is less bike-friendly than Canada.

On Saturday, July 12, 2014 1:19:33 PM UTC-4, Sarah Pearman wrote:

I'm planning to ride to Toronto. ... probably something like PGH to Erie on day 1, Erie to Buffalo on day 2, and then Buffalo to Toronto on day 3. ...

[stephen michael]

I was at REI last night and they seem to have a few of the UGRR route maps in stock.  

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