touring

From the Bike Train website:

We are excited to announce a new pilot project that introduces twice daily Bike Train service between Montreal and Toronto offering bike racks onboard. The pilot will run from August 24 to October 8 allowing cyclists to take the train with their bikes - no box or disassembly required!

Awesome! This is something that Justin and the Bike Train crew have been working towards ever since it was just an idea. If this keeps up, I can imagine all VIA trains accepting bikes, and not just a few special "bike trains".

A few more details from the announcement email:

Two trains in each direction per day, initially being offered for direct Montreal and Toronto passengers only. In the coming weeks, additional stops en route may be added.

There will be 6 bike racks available on each train. Although Bike Train staff will not be onboard the train, a host of information on the destination cities can be found on the new Bike Train website www.biketrain.ca/montrealtoronto

* $109 each way, including passenger ticket, bike transport, and all taxes and fees.
* Twice daily service in each direction (one train in each direction on weekends)
* Tickets must be bought through the Bike Train website.

Over the last two weeks I have made a couple of trips to the Niagara Region taking photos for the fine folks at biketrain.ca

So, I made this little video to remind myself how lovely the Niagara Region is any time, with spring especially so. The First trip for the Bike Train this year will be June 27.

Could not be soon enough, I'd say.

Charlie Prinsep was hit by a car, August 4th, 2007 near Brooks, Alberta. I was visiting my family this September near Lethbridge, Alberta. I had made the suggestion that I could make some sort of memorial for Charlie as a favour for family and friends. When I got a response from Charlie's mom that it was a good idea I was committed.

This last Sunday I recruited my mother to help me make the memorial, which ended up being a bike wheel retrieved from a bike store's trash, some flowers, a laminated sheet with a photo and quote from Charlie's brother, and a convenient fence post.

I convinced my parents to detour to Brooks on my way back to the airport in Calgary and we picked a spot near the entrance to Brooks since I didn't know at the time where he had died. It now looks pretty secure and away from ditch mowers so it may survive a year or two. This is sort of a smaller version of a ghost bike.

My trip to Alberta is almost over and I'll be flying back to the Big Smoke in just a few days. I had started off planning my trip so that I could bring my bicycle along with me and go on a bike trip as well as visit family. (Warning: This post is not actually about me going on a happy cycling trip.) In the end it was too much of a pain to bring the bike and I began to worry more about the actually impact of an airplane flight on the environment and less on how much driving I'd have to do without a bike.

I had an environmentalist's existential angst about my trip to Alberta when I realized that flying as a passenger in a jet plane is one of the best ways to boost my personal contribution to climate change. Even worse was that there just isn't a viable alternative. I hate taking the bus; it's cramped and severely tests my endurance. I hate that the only stops happen in big parking lots to yet another crappy chain restaurant. The train is out of the question as well as it rings in at the absurd price of $1000 for a round trip from Toronto to Edmonton, and then I'd have to spend another $200 to take the bus all the way to Southern Alberta and back again. The fact remains, however, that my plane trip produces so much carbon dioxide (and other "climate forcing" factors) that it nullifies all the times in a year that I decide to commute by bike rather than by private automobile.

This Labour Day, while biking around the city, I stopped in at HTO park where I met Bertrand Lemeunier, a cyclist passing through Toronto on a cross Canada trip. He was relaxing on one of the teletubby hills with a conspicuously loaded bicycle.

Bertrand Lemeunier

Bertrand is doing the full edition, cycling from St. John's to Vancouver, plus side trips along the way. This means he'll complete the trip at the end of the year, by his estimate. Being full of good news, I pointed out that he'll probably be facing some winter weather and a head wind. (Just call me if you need a pep talk.) He was unfazed. He was already aware of the Viking Biker, and had, in fact, stayed at the same place as him when they crossed paths in the Maritimes. "You just have to wear the right clothing," he said casually.

A photographer from Lyon, France, Bertrand is using his skills to raise money for a Canadian charity while he crosses the country. Thus far, he has brought in $5797 for the Children's Wish Foundation through donations. Bertrand is also donating the larger part of the sale of his photographs. Plenty of information is available on his site, Enfants O Canada, in French and English.

The post below was submitted by Tinkerbell after a trip on the Niagara Bike Train.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. A bicycle named "Tinkerbell"? Hey, don't blame me, blame the biped. And while I admit that the biped's choice of names leaves something to be desired, you gotta admit that she does plan some pretty cool trips. Like this last one, taking the Bike Train to get from Toronto to Buffalo.

Union Station

I've been down to Union Station, but I always get left outside while the biped gets to go in. Who knew the lobby was so grand! And it was much improved with being chock-a-block full of bicycles. Getting onto the Bike Train was a breeze. I was just wheeled up the ramp and hoisted into the baggage car. So much better than the indignity of having my handlebars and pedals removed and being stuffed into a box like on that trip to Cuba. Don't get me wrong, wheeling around Cuba was a blast. But you know, you just never feel the same after you've been disassembled....

Last Friday, my partner Wendy and I rode down to Port Dalhousie/St. Catharines and stayed overnight at a nice B&B.

The next morning we pedalled down most of the fabulous Welland Canal trails (45k from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, a fully paved recreational trail, highly recommended) and returned to Toronto on the Bike Train via Niagara Falls. (More Photos)

Bike Train organizer Justin LaFontaine, has done an excellent job getting this pilot project off the ground. All 56 spots of the inaugural run were sold out. Congrats!

So, how is it? It's a breeze. Getting your bike on and off the train was easy. Mind you Justin and his assistant have to do some heavy lifting since there are no baggage handlers at the Niagara Falls Station. But they are very careful and friendly.

"Time to put up, or ...", Justin tells me. And I think he's right. But with a bit of help from many of us who enjoy bike touring in the we can make sure VIA will sees the obvious benefits of a long overdue bike/train alliance.