Cross-Canada by Ebike

[steveo]

Hey Justin

Hope all is well with your trip! Could you give us a more detailed view of your trip through Ontario. I'm sure a few of us here would like to meet you as you complete your journey!

-steveo

 

[tailwind]

Mark,

All is good.

The prevailing winds in the mid latitudes is from west to east in both hemispheres.
http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/climate/older/Prevailing_Winds.html

If you do the big trip around Australia it is best to travel counter clockwise around the continent.
In the south you pick up the roaring forties, westerlies.
In the north and the top end, closer to the equator, you get the easterlies or the "knock em down winds".

Greg

 

[justin_le]

There are some pretty long stretches of "not much" up there in Northern Ontario. I confess, I've flown over it MANY times, but some of those stretches of road are best missed (the standard driving route west from here involves cutting through the U.S.).

It's not completely impossible for Justin, though... I started randomly Googling for things up there, including service stations. Strategically picking stops in advance will be essential, as some of those runs can be long without any services at all.

<snip> Ha, you guys are pretty good. I didn't examine any of this stuff in advance before I left so it's been a bit lucky that it's all worked out so far. Up to this point there had been a number of gas stations/industrial sites/illuminated signs and such scattered between the various towns that I hadn't been too concerned about getting stranded. Until this evening. I passed a roadsign that said 40km to the next destination when there was less than 8Ah left in the battery, and you could tell that there wasn't gonna be anything but trees. It's hilly as can be here and that meant reeally stretching out my usage, speed in the mid-20's, and I rolled into Ignace with the battery pack showing 33.4 V, that was tight.

From here, the next named point on the map is Upsala, 107 km away. Usually in this terrain I'd only get about 85-90 km on a charge, but knowing in advance what's needed it'll be possible to scale back by just the right amount. I suspect that this 107km stretch may be the longest I'll encounter, which will be a good figure to know should anyone else be tempted to do this trip.



There've been a whole lot of questions about the route through the rest of Ontario. I'll be arriving in Thunder Bay tomorrow night, and will spend some time there to try and sort that out and contact a lot of the people in ON who've sent or posted messages. It's been sunny and beautiful here so far, and the return of trees, the curving roads, and wildlife reminds me of home.

 

[justin_le]

It's seasonal. Sometimes it comes from the north and that will freeze you buttocks never mind the extremities. In summer it's mainly west to east.

To summarize my experience so far with the wind on this trip:

BC + Western Alberta = winds from the West
Eastern Alberta = winds from the North
Saskatchewan = winds from the South
Manitoba = winds from the East

 

[Dee Jay]

Only good thing about all the rain we've had is the vegetation is abundant and so the Black Bears are less likely to view Justin as Lunch on 2 wheels.

Geezuz!

Hey Justin, in the next town, I hope you would pick up some self defense items such a cattle-prod, or two (hook 'em up to your power packs :wink: ... and a hunting knife for bear meat and fur!

Cheers & good luck!

J

 

[mikereidis]

<snip> Ha, you guys are pretty good. I didn't examine any of this stuff in advance before I left so it's been a bit lucky that it's all worked out so far.

I passed a roadsign that said 40km to the next destination when there was less than 8Ah left in the battery, and you could tell that there wasn't gonna be anything but trees. It's hilly as can be here and that meant reeally stretching out my usage, speed in the mid-20's, and I rolled into Ignace with the battery pack showing 33.4 V, that was tight.

There've been a whole lot of questions about the route through the rest of Ontario. I'll be arriving in Thunder Bay tomorrow night, and will spend some time there to try and sort that out and contact a lot of the people in ON who've sent or posted messages. It's been sunny and beautiful here so far, and the return of trees, the curving roads, and wildlife reminds me of home.

What ? You're "flying by the seat of your pants" planning wise ?? !! I thought you were a pre-calculating engineering type !

So you're running 36 volts ? At 8ah left that was 288 wh and you did that over 40 KM for 7.2 wh/km ? At best I'm getting about 9-10 wh/km running in low to mid 20s KMH.

BTW, you might get used to the beaver sightings. There everywhere here in Ottawa area.

Re: Ottawa Route: The National Capital Commission has "clarified" their position on ebikes on NCC bike paths (Most paths in Ottawa are NCC owned). See http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5787 for some info. Of course, this thread is just "hearsay" and I see no such info on their official website, so I wouldn't worry too much about getting a ticket or anything. The streets are faster and much less bumpy at least until you get to where the Ottawa River Parkway starts.

Anyway, worry about the Southern Ontario leg first. Consider swinging down to Hamilton (in middle of Golden HorseShoe) at least on your way to Toronto. There are also some very nice and scenic biking areas if you don't mind extra KMs and swing down to Niagara Falls area and through Niagara on the Lake and St. Catharines etc. I grew up in that area and biked all over. The view from the top of the Niagara Escarpment is quite nice. You can see Toronto and CN tower quite clearly on good days; about 45-50 KM or so across Lake Ontario.

Steve Bauer is still apparently doing his Niagara Wine Region etc. bike tours in this area: http://www.stevebauer.com/ourtrips/ontariogrouptours/

 

[knoxie]

Hi Justin

I totally missed this thread! just read through the whole thing from the start...wow!! how cool the rig looks great, love the xtracycle mount, looks comfy? is it? have you had any aches and pains? so you are about half way then? sounds like the next bit of the journey is going to be tough?

The new controller looks awesome as well as do the lights..you working on a BMS as well? sorry to read about the battery pack, I must admit I was a little worried when you detailed your charging plan, still it didn't fry the lipo which is the main thing and the replacement pack is a good upgrade.

How is that light for night riding? can you see well ahead enough? are you using a visor or clear goggles at night? id bet there are some midges that will go biting as well?

Be great to get some media attention and also see a few more photos along the way, are you filming any of the trip and the folks you meet? seriously? as the video diary footage of trips like this is sought after by a lot of production companies, it might help you recoup some of the costs and also pay for the next trip!!

They just aired here in the UK the story of Mark Beaumont who cycled around the world! in 180 days breaking the world record, the four part documentary is amazing and the guy has been snapped up by Orange a huge cell phone company here, they are using him as their poster kid.

Even though you are powered you are still contributing by peddling and the combination of the e-power makes your story unique in its own way, check out Marks website for peddling inspiration if your batteries run out!! and if you hit a nice open Wifi point with time to spare you can download torrents for the 4 x shows just search for the man who cycled the world in any torrent site, great viewing even though there is no "electric" motor on board.

Mark had one of those GPS trackers so you could see exactly where he was at any point, you are doing such a great job considering the lack of wires!!

Good luck with the rest of your trip, I will be checking this post regularly to see how you are getting on.

Here is the link to Marks site

http://www.pedallingaround.com/start/

Knoxie

 

[Joshua Goldberg]

Justin

This may be very slightly off your route and I guess the timing is going to be close but there is a Velomobile Group Ride weekend in Niagara on the Lake September 20 & 21. It is the 2nd largest Velomobile event in North America and a lot of us use hub motors and so you won't be out of place---there are a few DF and 2 wheel bents each year.

As an earlier poster suggested take a ride through Niagara to Hamilton and up the Lakeshore Bike Route. I live on that Lakeshore route---close enough I can spit into Lake Ontario LOL

Once you pass Sudbury the route SE will be faster

 

[Bill Best]

Justin

This may be very slightly off your route and I guess the timing is going to be close but there is a Velomobile Group Ride weekend in Niagara on the Lake September 20 & 21. It is the 2nd largest Velomobile event in North America and a lot of us use hub motors and so you won't be out of place---there are a few DF and 2 wheel bents each year.

As an earlier poster suggested take a ride through Niagara to Hamilton and up the Lakeshore Bike Route. I live on that Lakeshore route---close enough I can spit into Lake Ontario LOL

Once you pass Sudbury the route SE will be faster

..although there is always the route through Manitoulin Island if he turned south at Espanola. Then he could take the ferry to Tobermory and down through Owen Sound/Collingwood, but the ride from Tobermory to Wiarton might bore him to tears.

 

[philf]

I'd made a similar recommendation to Justin in a personal note to him, but the decision is his as to whether the fossil fuel-burning ferry ride would undermine what he's demonstrating to be possible by sticking to the road. My argument is that the trip to the east straight through Ottawa would be the shortest for him to make his goal, so perhaps the ferry ride wouldn't be considered "cheating" - more part of a mere "diversion" to pass through (and hopefully inspire) the most populous part of the country. There's no doubt he'll get plenty of attention down here, I'm sure.

(disclaimer: Don't read the latter part of the preceding paragraph as an example of Center-Of-The-Universe Ontario "attitude" or hyperbole. I love where I live, but I'm originally from B.C. )

I don't think anyone will challenge my assertion that the approach to southern Ontario via Tobermory is MUCH nicer than the alternative route around Georgian Bay (think about this as a cyclist). He'd see passage on friendlier roads, with fewer MAJOR urban centres to slow him down (or to have to circumvent). Looking at passage through the GTA, in general, there is NO question that going through along the shore of Lake Ontario is WAY preferable to coming directly into Toronto from the north.

I'm not trying to oversell the Tobermory approach, but I feel compelled to add one more thing... Given Justin's penchant for riding in the wee hours of the morning, the Bruce Peninsula is considered by many astronomers to be one of the top "dark sky" places in the northern hemisphere (being surrounded by the Great Lakes) to really SEE the stars. We're expecting clear skies for most of the next 10 days or so, to boot.

The journey can't be ALL about the journey

Can't wait to hear what Justin decides...

 

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, ferry to tobermory, that's the route I took to get here, awesome!
That whole peninsula south of tobermory is beautiful territory.

 

[Toshi]

Hi Justin

I totally missed this thread! just read through the whole thing from the start...wow!!

Ditto on both parts. I am amazed on many levels.

 

[Bill Best]

Ah yes, ferry to tobermory, that's the route I took to get here, awesome!
That whole peninsula south of tobermory is beautiful territory.

Now I feel bad for saying the ride from Tobermory to Wiarton would be boring.
I feel that driving highway 6 is dull, but I've never taken the routes along the shoreline.

It's true that you can see some incredible stars out there on the Bruce Peninsula .

 

[Fredo]

This is AWESOME !!!

I know what it means because I have been riding by electric bike (408 Crystalyte, 13Ah Li-Ion) for 2.5 years now and I have only 8700km on the odometer and seems that you are going to be quite close in a couple of weeks...

I have been relocated to Canada recently from France and WOW so much wind in Ontario. If you have the opportunity to cross Kitchener-Waterloo on the 401, I would love to join for a ride but if so, you will have to slow down as I barely exceed 32km/h

Congratulation and do not give up, we are all with you to support your accomplishment.

All the best.

 

[justin_le]

Broken spokes, 8 of them!

I mentioned that Manitoba has bad roads, there was one pothole in particular that really threw my rear wheel out of true, but with it so covered by all the Xtracycle baggage I never really inspected it, just loosened my brakes a little so they wouldn't rub. Merrily riding along last night and then thwump! the seat felt like it dropped 2 inches and the rear wheel was binding against the frame. It was too late to really think about repairs so I pulled over for the night.



So this morning I had a good look, there were 5 spokes that were broken at the head. By playing around with the tension on the remaining spokes I was able to at least get the wheel to turn without rubbing anything. I'm about 70km from the next city at this point, and there's no way that the wheel will take me that distance with me sitting right over it, so I reconfigure the bike with a regular seat back where the 2nd handlebar was, and then I try riding the rest of the way with my weight shifted as far forwards as possible, avoiding every possible bump in the road. That lasted about 25 km, then a 'twang', a few minutes later another 'twang', and then THUD THUD THUD the wheel is a total taco.

Sooo, I AM in Thunderbay, Ontario, after hitchiking out here, but my bike is out on the highway some 40km back waiting for me to return with a new wheel in hand.

I think everyone has their moment of learning what a touring bike takes and this was mine.
-Justin

 

[Ypedal]

Ironic ( but a good thing ) that it's the non-hub motor wheel that failed ! hehe..

Are you hauling camping gear ? or stargazing it ?

Hang in there man !!!! We are all rooting for ya !

Gaston.

 

[justin_le]

In the days after leaving Vancouver, I couldn't figure out why it kept getting dark sooner and sooner in the evening. After the first week the sun was setting 45 minutes earlier than when I left, and I'm thinking there was no way summer could be coming to and end this fast. And then I saw a sign on the road that said "Entering Mountain Time Zone", ahh right.

Of all the various things to cross these have been my favorite for sure. Provincial borders, national parks, yeah yeah, but when you cross a time zone it really puts in perspective just how far on the surface of this planet you have traveled.

So I had a bit of celebration last night (before the spokes broke) when I came upon this:


That's the 3rd time zone I've crossed, the only one remaining is the Altantic Time Zone and that is quite a ways away. So folks in the Eastern Time Zone all over Ontario and Quebec, I'm with ya now.

Justin

 

[justin_le]

Ironic ( but a good thing ) that it's the non-hub motor wheel that failed ! hehe..

What's also a bit Ironic is that I brought with me a bunch of spare spokes... for the front hub-motor wheel.

Are you hauling camping gear ? or stargazing it ?

A bit of both. In this case, I stretched a hammock between a power pole and the guy-wire beside the train tracks. So I shouldn't have been too surprised when in the morning there was a CP train idling right beside me. The conductor and engineer came down and checked out my ebike, for real, gave me a bottle of water and then took off.

 

[Ypedal]

Ha ! wow.. i am truly impressed !!! ( how bout them mosquito's !! lol)

You sir.. are a real man of action ! :wink:

 

[Zoot Katz]

A bit of both. In this case, I stretched a hammock between a power pole and the guy-wire beside the train tracks. So I shouldn't have been too surprised when in the morning there was a CP train idling right beside me. The conductor and engineer came down and checked out my ebike, for real, gave me a bottle of water and then took off.

They'd have probably given you a charge too if you'd needed one. They've got the juice on board and get paid for sitting around. An idling locomotive will give you 120 AC any time you want it.

You know time zones are a Canadian invention, Sir Sanford Fleming had to keep the trains running without smacking into each other. He was way ahead of his time though (1850) having designed inline skates too.

Xtracycle riders are also keeping track of your odyssey.

Think about growing your company.

I'd not realised until yesterday talking with Coffee Luke that the Cycle Analyst is built, one at a time, in Canada. Thanks to you matching Gordo's rebate I got mine basically for free with a charger thrown in for good measure.

If possible to acquire in Thunder Bay, think about more spokes.
Forty wouldn't be over kill. Forty-eight means forgetting about it..

 

[knoxie]

Hi Justin

Sorry to see you broke so many spokes! I am amazed you got as far as you did with 8 broken and a re-tension, I lost just 2 spokes and a mild low speed corner with a bit of power tacoed the wheel (it was rear wheel USPD at the time) and yes I loosened the brakes and limped back.

Loving the hammock! it must get cold at night though? you got a sleeping bag as well? bet you sleep well after all that exercise? I appreciate time is short and the miles are many...keep pushing on we are all gunning for you!!

Knoxie

 

[Bill Best]

Looks like Justin's journey made in onto TreeHugger...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/crossing-canada-electric-bike-bicycle-justin.php

 

[E-Ride]

Hi Justin & co,

I'm following your trip from Europe, Sweden.

Good luck with everything. When will the fantastic journey end?

Best regerds.

 

[PaulD]

Good job Justin! That bike is even better than the self-balancing unicycle!

Paul in Connecticut (formerly from Vancouver)

 

[mace1934]

Marvellous, Justin!

I covered, or paralleled, a small part of the beginning of your trip in 1982: Anacortes, San Juans, Vancouver Island, Vancouver, Harrison Hot Springs, Anacortes. Wish I'd had electric then!

I plan to get a 5304 for my next bike. Apparently, you've had no problems with it riding in heavy rain?

Best wishes,

Larry