Creating a Cross Canada Overland Route

ben2go

Adventurer
BMW F650 might fit ya! They're good bikes and can even be lowered further.



Man that's a helluva bush plane! Huge. Gotta find out what it is...
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Is it possible with a 29 inch inseam?

I wish I could have flown a sea plane when I was a pilot.I never got to fly a tail dragger.Man,I really missed out.
 

skysix

Adventurer
This thread is about the TCAT.
But how can it be a true Trans Canad trail if it doesn't go to the Westernmost trail in Canada the Yukon/Alaska border crossing?

The North-South trail in the east is fine, and a US border to Arctic Ocean trail could also be done I suppose (under the heading of the North or whatever), but c'mon, really? Trans Canada only applies to the south?
 

deadly99

Explorer
We understand that Beaver Creek is the most westerly town in Canada and did a a lot of humming and hawing about using it as the terminus for the route. We decided not based on a few items. One is that it didn't seem like a dramatic place to end the route as compared to a remote beach on the Pacific. Two is the crazy long paved roads to get there didn't feel like they suited the intended terrain for the tcat.

When our site goes live in the fall with a handful of smaller routes from different area's in the country there will be a section dedicated to the Yukon and the NWT. Perhaps you'd like to have some input in regards to this? Shoot me an email if your interested or have any questions.

Cabin fever has become hard to take, 50 more days until we can get out and explore again :)
 
Great North East Route

Looks like an aswesome trip, I actually did basically the same route 2 years ago in a in a sub compact mazda rental car. Its a lot of gravel thats for sure, we dinged up the car pretty good (thank god for windshield insurance). We took the ferry through Lake Mellville which is quite the place and I definately enjoyed the Labrador coast, its really nice out there, great driving :smiley_drive:. Im planning to go back next year, Im thinking of taking the ferry from Quebec to Nain, Labrador and then charter a boat to Torngat Mountains National Park. Expensive but a once in a lifetime trip if I can pull it off. I recently posted an article on my blog about the Trans Taiga Highway you can check it out at http://www.greatestexpeditions.wordpress.com
 

deadly99

Explorer
Winters over !

Winter is coming to an end in Canada and we've begun working on the TCAT again.



Planning has begun in earnest now for our May ride. Leaving in two weeks for a couple of weeks, slabbing to the Main/New Brunswick border where the TNE will start. The TNE for this section was created by JP and friends and looks to be some fun gravel roads crossing the province in a northerly direction. Looking forward to meeting JP on this trip and hopefully spend some time riding together :thumb. I haven't spent much time in this province and I'm quite looking forward to checking it out. East coast hospitality is world renowned and true to form we have a backyard lined up for a nights stay near the beginning of the route, thanks R-Charger, look forward to tipping a brown bottle and weather permitting warming up by a fire :freaky

Based on some rides I had previously done on the Gaspe Bay penninsula I have put together a loop around the Gaspe staying true to gravel as much as possible while still including a tourist stop at Perce Rock as well as a chunk of the paved coastal road. The Gaspe Bay is home to the Chic Choc mountains, some of the only mountains to break tree line in this part of Canada. The area is full of fun logging roads and promises a nice addition to the TNE route. Most folks just ride the pavement around the outside of the penninsula and don't get to appreciate the fun that is waiting in the interior :thumb

Perce Rock

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Perce-Rock.jpg


After the Gaspe we'll take a ferry across the St Lawrence River and meet up with Fab in Baie-Comeau. The next couple of days will be riding Fab's section of the TCAT/TNE. This section serves both the TCAT and the TNE. From the photo's and correspondence I've had with Fab this section looks great. Some real remote country in this part of eastern Quebec with some great looking scenery. Fab was put together a few optional technical section in his part of the route that look.....fun :wink:

This picture shows Fab's section of the TCAT/TNE. The purple line being the main route, the other colors representing a couple of "fun" sections. This section leaves off in the town of Poisson Blanc. The TNE heads north from here and heads up through the town of Chibougamau, then takes the Rue Du Nord, James Bay Highway and the Trans Taiga Highway where it terminates.

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This shows the southern half of the proposed route for the TNE.


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The TCAT heads east from Poisson Blanc and passes through the town of Parent before making its way to the town of Mt Laurier (nice 400 km sandy gravel stretch). This promises to be a very fun section of the TCAT and is quite popular with folks from these parts as the roads are very twisty, hilly and sandy. I also have a couple of fun optional tecnical sections in mind for this section :evil Here is a picture showing the proposed main route through this area.


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Juames takes over the TCAT from mt Laurier and will bring the route into the city of Ottawa. Luckily for him there is a park in his way that is full of twisty little gravel roads (Papinaeau Labelle Park).


Other than NFLD this will make the Eastern part of the TCAT almost complete and will totally complete the TNE. Our new web site should be up and running this fall and will have the TNE route available. The TCAT should be available the following fall (2012).

Things are really starting to come together :clap
 

deadly99

Explorer
Upon return from this trip we are hosting a two day rally. It utilizes a modified section of the TCAT. We are using this primarily as test of our gps tracks and terrain. Looks like about 60 bikes and a small handfull of rovers/trucks will be attending :victory:

We went out last weekend to pre ride a few sections of the route and as expected things are still a bit wet due to the spring thaw.



[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrQBHSrsB4&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - ~PI18C8[/ame]
 
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deadly99

Explorer
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN_0wVgnCas&feature=related"]YouTube - wet2[/ame]

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And Stephen put this one together, he is a professional photographer and is just beginning to try his hand at video. He plans to put together a doumentary style movie that we'll package with the guidebook :ylsmoke:

This is a quick promo for the upcoming rally at the end of the month...The Roaming Rally.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HIsb9Pd1Y&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Roaming Rally 2011 Preview[/ame]


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For anyone interested this is the information we distributed to the folks who are attending the rally.

GPS files and information document:


http://www.fasttrackphoto.com/ted/RoamingRally2011.zip


Paper Maps (in pdf format):


http://www.fasttrackphoto.com/ted/RoamingRally.zip
 

deadly99

Explorer
Truck is packed, heading out to route northern Ontario for a week.

Had planned on taking the bike for two weeks and heading east but the bike broke at the last minute. A part that's no longer available, long story, so while the bike is getting a part built and installed I'm going to put the truck to the test :smiley_drive:

Monsoon style rains and cold temps led to a last minute chase the sun.

The plan is to drive the proposed route through Ontario up to Abitibi Canyon then head west. Lots of locals helped with the route choices and it looks very promising. Lots of gravel in some pretty remote spots are what is on the plate.

The mind shift in packing is exciting. A plug in cooler, a portable BBQ, steaks for the grill and a few bags of groceries. Beats freeze dried meal in a bag :victory:

Talk to ya soon
 

deadly99

Explorer
So the next phase in Ontario is to head north, we last left off half way up the Nippissing Ghost Road. Once again we headed out to chase the route. It was very cold and raining, the plan was for Ewan to ride his bike and for me to drive my truck (due to mechanical issues and pre booked vacayion time from work). This last minute switch of transportation meant a serious re look and how packing was to be done. I'll just say that having a bbq and a powered cooler makes for much better eats :D

Before jumping inot this section of the TCAT let me say thanks to the folks who helped create this section. Gord....the Portelance Road suggestion was bang on with what the TCAT hopes to accomplish, long remote gravel roads with great scenery and a feeling of remoteness :thumb

Truck loaded up and ready to go.


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As I've had a few questions on the truck from previous posts..
Its a Ford ranger with fiber glass fenders (front and rear). This reduces weight and allows for more travel in the wheels when the going gets rough. The suspension is a Camberg kit with Bilstein shocks and a few modded parts. Bumpers and skid plate are custom. It's a 2 wheel drive with a slip dif and works well as long as speed is applied :thumb I"ve had jeeps, etc in the past and wanted something that could keep up to bikes...with my budget this fit the bill. The small 6 cyc engine is decent on gas which was also a concern when building the truck.


So I drove over to Ewans house and it was raining...forecast showed potentailly better weather up north as opposed to ouot east where originally planned to go.

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At this point I was really feeling bad for Ewan :rofl I think I was enjoying a nice vanilla flavoured latte and deciding on what music to do and fiddeling with the heat as I just couldnt get it right :rofl


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We may it to the first designated rest stop, a town called Anrpior which is about an hour out of town. It was COLD, real COLD. I sincerely felt bad for Ewan at this point. We stopped at a Timmies and Pelvis was freaking out. His legs and feet were freezing. After much talk he decided to ditch the bike an djump in the truck, a wise choice given the temps and as a plus it would mean I'd company :clap

ps..this is where Pelvis got the nickname Ewan :evil


Ewan at the Timmies making the hard choice and laughing at me calling him Ewan :wink:



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We ditched Ewans bike at my parents house which was around the corner and hit the road. 4 hours into the day and we were finally on our way. I set the Nuvi (much will be said about this marvel of science as the report progresses :deal) to no avoidances :deal:deal:deal


Leaving the Ottawa area, Nuvi did us proud as it brought us down some fun roads near Calabogie.




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We cruised through the Ottawa Valley before heading west




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Saw this moose in the ditch



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Took a quick lunch in the town of Wilno...Polish capital of Canada for those who didnt know :rofl (Wilno has about 40 residents)


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Great lunch :1drink



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deadly99

Explorer
So we kept going through rural Ontario, lots of small farms carved out of the forests


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Drove through Algonquin Park


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After leaving the park we catch up to the route again. The route left off near the town of Huntsville, Ontario which is in the Muskoka region. Cottage country to folks from Toronto


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Tourism season starts this upcoming weekend which is a long weekend called Victoria Day weekend, also known locally as May two four (after the amount of beers in a case as well as the date it usually falls on). All the motels we passed were empty so we stopped at a good looking one and did some negotiating and got a sweet cabin for the price of camping. 3 bedrooms, on a beach, living room and full kitchen. I believe it was on Ox lake..


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The view from the living room


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On the table is another member of this trip...Don Julio. A great fellow, so along with myself, Ewan, Nuvi and Don the trip now has four full time members :nod




Given that I had the truck I'd decided that some good food was in order for this trip. The last few "making of trips" I survived on dehydrated "meal in a bag" crap and vowed never again. On tonights menu was a nice 12 oz sirloin with fried fresh mushrooms and glazed onions. Accopanied by a perfectly baked potatoe with fresh chives from a farmers market and some sour cream. Of course I brought spices, etc :wink: At home I enjoy cooking and bringing that to a "bike" trip is a cool thing for me. Damn I feel civilized :1drink


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