The Making of a Cross Canada Route

Yes. I was working my way south from Radium to Kimberley, but there are also a couple of photos I took in the Grand Forks area on my way home.

So, basically, it just hurts all the time?

So what was the diagnosis, just bruised ribs? I saw mention of it, but it wasn't clear.

When the TCAT is completed, the Saskatchewan to BC part will definitely be on my list of roads to ride, love the pics MANXMAN! It would also be a great way to make it to N-B if I had the time you never know.

The next couple of weeks are looking great for the TCAT

On Saturday Manxman heads out for some exploring in BC.

Kiffernathan departs soon to explore Manitoba.

Jenna heads to Northwestern Ontario to ride a section.

I'm meeting Fab next week to ride the Eastern Quebec section.

Sdwebb owes a ride report from his trip in central Ontario.

Gord is planning a cool trip that hopefully will link the TCAT across a gap we have run into.

Big month for the TCAT coming up


Leaving Monday to finish up the TNE route. It should be available for download this fall. For folks who live in the East the TNE will be a great route. Long and remote Primarily big gravel roads that will bring folks into some of, if not the most remote places in North America. Approx 4000 km in length with about 3300 of that being non paved, it will make a great two week trip. It travels through New Brunswick, zig zags across the Gaspe with some nice mountain roads through the Chic Choc mountains, ferries across the St Lawrence river to a town called Baie Comeau, shares the TCAT route to a town in northern Quebec called Chibougamau, follows the Rue Du Nord to the James Bay Highway and finishes at the end of the Trans Taiga highway. A real wilderness route

The new website to host the routes is coming along nicely and we expect it to be available this upcoming fall. Along with the TNE route there is one that's been submitted and will be available when the site goes live, it's a 2 day loop in eastern Quebec. A few more routes are in process of being made as well. Mild to wild, the goal is to have a bunch of multi day routes from around the country available as free downloads. If anyone has a favorite route and would like to share it, shoot mean email.


For the Northwest (Yukon, NWT) of Canada we decided not to do routes but to rather just have a bunch of info and pics of the big "classics". Dempster, Canol, Campbell, Nahanni Range, etc. Thanks in advance to everyone who helped with photos and info for these areas . When the whole TCAT project gets finished I think a trip to this area of the country is what will be next fir me



All for now, I'll be back in a couple of weeks and should have some tales to tell

Let me know where and when you'll be hitting NB. Would love to show you the route through. I'm good to go Wed morning!

2 Weekends ago we ran the sections North of Cambell River as part of the North Island Ride... I scheduled 2 days to get from Cambell River to Grant Bay and 2 Days Return via a different route... This worked out into some long days in the saddle for people and only a couple of the riders actually made it to the beach at Grant bay... The group I rode with only made it as far as Port Hardy due to tire Punctures on the Merry Widow {alternate} trail... Going by rider input an extra day {3} would of made the ride from CR north much more relaxing... 5-6 days is what I would recommend for doing the whole island main trail sections {not including return} coming off the Nanaimo ferry...

As all the main sectiongs of the VI routes are pretty well done we are now scouting out optional routes to add some spice... Last weekend we worked on brushing the cave trail and were finally {not without a struggle} able to overcome the last of the snow and downed trees on Kinman pass and complete the loop... Here is a short bit of video on these routes:
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Jenna, when are you heading to NW ON? Any chance you'll be at the MB/ON border on Aug 14 or 15? That might be a ways from where you are headed, I don't know, but if you are in the area it would be good to meet (at least briefly) to connect the route. We'll be 3 guys on the old-style KLRs, one olive green, one red, and one black.

Oh man!!! Naw, wont be heading out of Atlanta till the 6th of September. I know it's a big place, but I hope to run into someone while we're out and about.

Got bored last night


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Nice video, Ted! Makes me wish I had some xtra cash to buy a gopro, but I thought a SPOT may be a wiser choice. How are the ribs feeling??

Hey Jenna, if you time it right you could catch CroMag in VT from Sept 22-25 too.

Still very uncomfortable. Wish I had another week to recoup but thats the way things go, leaving Monday and heading east

where are you going again? I just got in from offshore and a little out of touch

Ottawa to the Maine/New Brunswick border

Ride the TNE across NB

Ride the TNE across the Gaspe

Ride the TCAT/TNE from Baie Comeau to Chibougamau

Chibougamau home (if time permits follwoing the TCAT)

10 days, meeting a few folks from this forum along the way

Sorry for the delay in creating the ride report. The actual trip was from July 12 to July 16; however, I spent a week at a friend’s cottage on Christian Island at the end of the trip and then the following week in Haliburton. So by the time I got home and life back to “normal” and the usual procrastination process, the report is coming off the presses as we speak.

I spent the week prior to the trip prepping the GPS, packing, replacing the rear bearings (due to the dire warnings from the Ottawa riders thread) and swapping my TKC80s for a Pirelli Scorpion MT90 front and a Metzeler Tourance rear. The trip would cover many miles of asphalt and I didn’t want to wear out the knobbies. Additionally, Deadly indicated that I was in for “dirt roads”. I thought that these more street oriented tires would be fine.

After reading the Trans-lab ride report, I figured I should also invest in some new rain gear. I found a place called Gears Canada in Richmond Hill that could provide me something (which was better than what I had). Although he generally sells over the Internet, he allowed me to come to the shop to take a look and try the stuff on. He cut me a pretty good deal too. I must say that I am happy to report that I have no idea if the gear works or not. Nothing but gorgeous sunny days for the entire trip.

By Monday night, everything was packed, checked and ready for an early morning departure the next day. Of course the alarm didn’t go off. I know it wasn’t the snooze but it could have been the AM/PM or the volume (for the Seinfeld fans in the audience).

Well after scrambling around, I managed to depart exactly on time: 6:30 AM from the outlaw’s house in Richmond Hill. I too once lived the life of a commuter who dragged his tired ass to and from Richmond Hill each day. I couldn’t help but think of how much I hated that as I saw all the faces of the zombies on the morning grind.

As a side note, I think the decision to make the TCAT available as tracks vs routes has been made. My mileage shows that tracks are indeed likely better. I had a nice route set up to get up to Tobermory without using the slabbiest of slabs … the 400. Somehow the Garmin 60Cx figured out a way differently than MapSource, so there I was pounding north up the highway - luckily against traffic. Did I mention the pity I feel for the poor souls who were heading south?

An aim that I had was to be at Christian Island by Saturday evening to meet up with my wife and kids. I have 3, the youngest under a year old, and "arranging" to go tear-assing through northern Ontario for 5 days was no small feat. I didn’t want to push my luck by making it even longer. So although I could have bypassed the 400 and made my way north without the GPS, I decided to go with it since I was hell bent on getting to the 11:20 ferry from Tobermory to South Baysmouth and making some good miles into the north before packing it in for the day (the next ferry would have been at 3:40 PM).

From the 400 , the GPS took me across Hwy 9 to airport road. As I sailed up the fairly non-descript asphalt, I thought to myself “this would be the perfect place for a radar trap”. Sure enough, there was old smokey on the side of the road before the odometer had clicked over another km. Luckily, I can’t afford speeding tickets and do everything possible to keep it within the 10 km of the limit. Oddly enough, that was the only cop that I saw for the duration of the trip.

I came close to taking a picture of Wiarton just for shits and giggles. My second son was born on Groundhog Day and although my wife put the kibosh on calling him Wiarton Willy Webb, there is still a fondness in my heart for this place … but not enough to waste time for a picture - I had a ferry to catch. In fact, there would be no pictures before Tobermory (sorry, but your not missing much other than a bunch of Windmills that have been erected on the peninsula). I’ve been told that the countryside here is spectacular, but Hwy 6 doesn’t show it off much.

Slowly I passed through several small towns, each calling themselves “the gateway to the North”. As an avid ice cream fan, I came close to ending the trip in Markdale, when I passed the Chapman’s factory. I reconsidered when I realized that my arteries are likely fully plugged already and dying in an “Into the Wild” kind of way on the side of a trail in Northern Ontario is a better way to go anyway.

One thing to note is that there are 2 national parks on the north end of the Bruce Peninsula. And of course there is Sauble beach on the west shore that is pretty spectacular. I definitely need to make a trip back here some day with the rest of the family. Another thing to note was that due to being late getting up I forewent breakfast - something that is against my religion. Maybe the lack of sustenance or just that it was too early, but I was pretty cold on this first leg (then again, I’m a wuss when it comes to being cold).

I rolled into Tobermory about an hour before the ferry was to depart. Since it was a Tuesday and the MS Chi-cheemaun is a pretty big boat and I thought that they’d always squeeze a bike on, I hadn’t made a reservation. I was a little surprised when the guy said he only had space for a couple more bikes! I forked over the thirty something bucks and parked at the back of the line.



Next order of business was coffee and something to stuff into my pie hole. So across the parking lot to the Leeside restaurant for some take-out: a western sandwich. An average place, but it sure tasted good after 4 hours of cold riding. I made a decision that I would do my best to support local restaurants and merchants on the trip. I am a fan of Timmies, but I was hoping to have a more diverse experience than the big chains can provide.

I ended up with just enough time to snap a picture of the harbour.



They start the loading process by sending on a bunch of bikes that end up in the nose of the ship. The dockman stopped the line of bikes at me and motioned for the cars, RVs and semis to start in. The remaining bikes then get loaded into the stern. Their website indicates that tie-downs are provided. All we found were ratty old ropes. After securing the bike as well as possible, I headed up to the deck. Although the rules state that no passengers are to remain on the vehicle decks while the trip was underway, there was a beach-comber type fella with a bicycle load of stuff who crashed on the spot for the duration.

Although it was very windy, I found a nice Muskoka chair in the sun and warmed up a bit. Turns out that the woman sitting beside me owns a Harley, so the bike chat began. Seems she is a big proponent of the “loud pipes save lives” school. I told her that my KLR just sounds like a sick frog so I have to sound my horn as I ride so that people can hear me coming.

The obligatory photos from the boat:









In order to maximize riding time for the day I headed down to the Mess Hall for some … Cabbage Rolls. The photo makes them look shrivelled as Clint Eastwood, but they were tasty anyway.



As a part of the preparations for disembarking, I managed to get an ADV salute for ya all.

The ferry spit us out onto the southern shore of Manitoulin Island at a little after 1 PM. I felt like the pressure to keep moving was off and it was time to start enjoying the ride (and taking some photos). The rugged landscape of northern Ontario with it’s changing elevations was starting to become apparent. There were many panoramic photo ops. When I took the following picture, I thought it was looking off the end of the island into Georgian Bay. After looking more closely at the location on the map, it is actually a massive bay off of Lake Huron.



There were also some fantastic real estate opportunities to be had, you might be able to negotiate moving this beauty to your perfect location as a part of a deal.



The weather was perfect and the miles were passing easily. However, highway 6 is still a pretty major route in this area, resulting in a pretty straightforward ride. The only dirt that I found was 4 sections, each about 10 meters long, where road crews were ripping things up.



Just north of Little Current, I crossed the swing bridge that connects Manitoulin to Goat Island and the north (the only land access to the island). It is a single lane job, so you have to queue to wait for oncoming traffic to pass. In the daytime of the summer months, it opens for the first fifteen minutes of the hour for boat traffic.



I knew I was approaching Espanola well before I came to the sign for the town. When I was a boy, my parents subjected the family to a trip from Newcastle, ON to Victoria, BC by car. And then back again. On that trip, Espanola was the first time I had encountered a pulp and paper town. It is a smell you don’t forget. I soon came to the source of the aroma.



Just to the north of the town, I said goodbye to highway 6. The Old Webbwood Road was an alternate route to highway 17 and it was the first taste of dirt road on the trip.



It was a fun little road while it lasted, which wasn’t long. I was soon into the village of Webbwood and onto highway 17. Map Source gave me an interesting route to get west from here, heading north of 17 onto some secondary roads and such. In the week leading up to the trip, some careful cross-checking with Google maps made me skeptical. If any brave soul has tried this route, I’d be interested to hear how it turned out.

I took the safe route and headed west on 17 into Massey. I saw a Tourist Information centre sign on an old building in town. It wasn’t overly late, but I thought I would stop in and ask about camping in the area. The Tourist Information sign was actually the bait to get customers to the town museum. What the hell … for 3 bucks, I got a lone guided tour of the place. I found out that mining and lumber were historically the main industry for the town. Wow, all that for 3 bucks. They also had genuine buffalo skin and beaver skin coats on display. Well, when I see beaver on display, I just have to take a photo.



I also found out that The Chutes provincial park was less than a kilometer up the street. Since the plan was only to get to Wawa the next day, and starting the TCAT section on Thursday, I was happy to call it a day. I had lots of time to get the tent set up and take a hike to see a variety of rapids.







I walked back into town to have dinner at a restaurant call the Dragonfly (at the recommendation of the park clerk). The jerk chicken tasted OK but it seemed like it was made in a factory and slopped out of a bucket into a pan to heat it up. I love rice, but I am somewhat spoiled by my wife’s culture and their way of making rice into a meal. Sorry to report that the rice didn’t quite make the cut for me.

After dinner, I made my way back to the tent to lie down for a few minutes to aid digestion. Next thing I know it was Wednesday.

Pm sent, and Fab I sent you an email.

Hate to say this but I have had to bump my trip a week or two. My back and chest are healing nicely and although sleeping is a nightmare I sincerely thought I'd be good to go by Monday. Well......I just tried to get on my bike without swinging a leg (as bike will be loaded) and couldn't get my leg up and over the seat. Stubbornly I finally succeeded but had tears of pain rolling down my face. Seems it stretches all the muscles in my chest and back that have been going into and out of spasm for the last two weeks

So why such a big deal bumping the trip a week or two? I feel like a schmuck as others have made their vacation plans around these dates. Fab......SORRY Really sorry and I really hope you may be able to reschedule your time off and if not I hope you can make other plans (email sent ). Zaner, I sent you a pm....sorry. A few others affected as well, emails and pm's sent.

Low moment for me But I don't feel I really have a choice


Mr Webb, enjoying the report...bring on the TCAT stuff

Sorry to hear it is taking some time to heal up and wish you the best. Hay we are all human and some times it takes longer to heal, not any easier as you get older . It has to suck to not be able to ride right now but at least you tried.
Don't do what i did once and thought it was not that bad then ended up hurting it even more and took way longer to heal up. Stupid brain telling the body what to do, should have listen to the body that time.
Good luck in the healing process beer beer and more beer sometimes helps.

Hey Deadly, where do you plan on crossing into NB from Maine?

Are you planning on dropping in on CroMag? I'm heading over and hopefully will finally get some GPS tracks done