Burlington to Niagara Falls - Rural Ontario Bike Tour - Day 1 of 9
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This video summarizes day 1 of my 9 day solo bicycle trip through South-Western Ontario, Canada. All of the clips in the video were filmed on Saturday, May 19, 2018.
Starting in Downtown Toronto I rode to Union Station where I then caught a GO Train to Burlington. From there I joined the Waterfront Trail and followed in through Hamilton and Grimsby before heading south to pass through the Niagara Region's farmland. I then passed through Lincoln, Vineland, and Jordan, before reaching the City of St Catherines. I climbed up the Niagara Escarpment through the City of Thorold, and passed under the Welland Canal via the Thorold Tunnel which I really enjoyed! From there I followed country roads until I reach the Niagara Falls KOA on Lundys Lane which was my campground for the night.
Strava for Day 1: / strava
The bike I used for this trip is a New York made Linear Recumbent Bike which I believe is from around 2004. I carried my gear in 2 Giant Waterproof Panniers, and mounted my tent and sleeping pad on the top of the rack.
I hope you enjoyed this video. Please COMMENT and subscribe!
Thanks for watching.
I'm watching this right now, and I've cycled to parts of Niagara region from Toronto many times this past summer. Watching this right now makes me miss Niagara region so much now that I am back in school.
Enjoyed it! Thumbs up to you.
That was very eye opening .
Thanks, I really appreciate it!
Great video, can't wait for the rest.
Pug1 sent me. I'm glad I came, that was a really well put together video, and I'm excited to see more!
Thanks, I appreciate it. Meeting Pug1 was a cool experience and I'm looking forward to posting my video from that day of the trip.
@@cjhoyle NO WAY you know Pug1!!
Brilliant! Can’t wait for the rest of the series.
Thanks!
I did this ride from Toronto and back this weekend. The Thorold Tunnel had two lanes closed so there was no sidewalk to ride on like in your video. Riding in the lane was one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had on a bike lol
Waterfront Trail on Day 1, Hwy 81 and 8 on Day 2
Was happy I watched this video first and had an idea what was coming! Thanks CJ!
Wow awesome, sounds like a great weekend! Yikes, I can't imagine riding in the vehicle lanes through the tunnel. For me that part was one of the highlights of my trip.
I am excited to watch the rest of the series!
Thanks!
I love your videos cj thank you for sharing this beautiful adventure ride with us. Stay safe and keep traveling !!!!! love and greetings from Greece :)
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed following along!
Love this! Can’t wait for the rest of the series. Keep up the great work!
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Grimsby to St. Paul Street in St. Catharines is my old bike commute! Great video!
Awesome. Thanks!
Nice one! Interesting ride, I enjoyed it.
Thank you!
The thing we enjoy most I think is the way he makes the videos! It is in his blood!
That was by far the most interestingthing thing to see today!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Really enjoyed your video! Very well put together and inspiring me to go on my first bike trip too :) Thanks!
Awesome, I'm really glad to hear! Bike touring is a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy your trip as much as I enjoy mine!
Thank you! This is giving me some great ideas of where I might like to bike pack.
Thanks! This trip really opened my eyes to how beautiful a province Ontario is.
Cj, I subscribed your channel a long time ago and I love your videos, man. It's really nice get to know Canada through bike trips and through your eyes. I wish to be able to bike some of these lanes by myself someday.
Thank you, I appreciate your kind words!
Its a real challenge to balance brevity and detail. You my friend, did an awesome job!
This video got me real inspired to pull-off something similar!
Thanks
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I do my best to keep these videos digestible, but at the same time packing them full of interesting facts and showing enough of the route so that the viewer feels like they've come along for the ride. Bike touring is a really fun way to spend a vacation and I highly recommend it!
Great video, looking forward to the rest of the adventure. Glad you made it home safely.
Thanks for taking the time to video your trip. I started watching them out of sequence then though “get with it” so I ‘m watching day 1 now, lol. I also like the fast pace at which you explain things and you do explain a lot which is great. Thumbs up!
Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the series. I tried to pack as much interesting information into each video as I could, but still keep the videos a digestible length.
I love these Ontario tours that you do! I hope you do one in the summer of 2021!
Thanks, so do I!
I've done this ride before, in the other direction. Awesome ride!
Definitely! Thanks.
Really enjoyed your bike trip, having done a many self contained bike trips myself , your videoing and commentary makes me feel like I am right there with you. As a side note my longest SC trip was also on a recumbent, So thanks again for sharing.
Thanks for the Tour. I will be doing Niagara - Oakville, then heading to Montreal.
Nice, enjoy.
Great video, wish I had something similar for my bike trips.
Thanks Ken!
Cool videos! ... i lived in Ontario for 15 years, now I ride in Europe ... mainly around Prague. Keep those vids coming.
Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the series!
Looks like a great start to your trip! I'm actually related to William Hamilton Merritt who originally came up with the idea for the Welland Canal! He did a lot of other great things as well, including being involved with the Underground Railroad. Merritt Street, which you rode along, is named after him.
Wow, that's so cool! In 2019 when I rode my bike in a loop around Lake Erie I ate dinner at the Queens Merritt Room in Dunnville, which is also named after him. On that trip I also rode my bike along the full length of the Welland Canal, and learned a lot about the history of it while I was putting together my video.
@@cjhoyle Oh neat! I haven't watched that video yet but I plan to soon. I actually haven't been down to the area around the Welland Canal ever before, so I hope to visit there someday, especially since I have the family connection to the canal and the area.
...an interesting bike trip...an excellent video. hope to ride in ON one day...
Thanks!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
thanks for posting- well done
No problem, thanks for watching!
Well done.
Thanks!
Excellent channel. Subscribed!
Great video. Like your bike too. Any detail about it?
Thank you. It's a Linear Recumbent bike, built in Alfred Station NY. I have more details in the video description.
Hi, I found this video series this evening and watched day 4 and 1 in that order. I appreciate the time and effort you’ve put into documenting your ride and all the contexts about the areas you rode through. My wife and I have done a few tandem tours. Our last one was on a recumbent last year from Ottawa to Fredericton NB which I documented on the “Crazy Guy on a bike” website. Our website is tandemride.ca .
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying my series. That sounds like a great ride and must be very nice on a recumbent tandem. Thanks for watching.
On city streets, you must project your presence to the rear as much as possible. Double flag poles with spiral kite tails or wind socks are more preferable to flags which can't be seen until a motorist is almost on you. A bright flashing light can project backwards too. The tragic death of James Dobson in Mississippi recently is a strong indication we must put ample safety measures in place.
I’ve enjoyed your videos. I’m considering parts of the Great Trail in Ontario next year. Have you ever rode east from Sault Ste. Marie towards North Bay?
Thank you. Nope, I haven't ridden up there.
Was this ride physically demanding? How was it up the escarpment? Great video!
I usually find the first day of a tour like this seems pretty demanding, since my body isn't used to riding that far. But it gets easier each day.
As you mentioned, you have done a bike tour like this before your May 2018 southwestern trip. Where did that previous trip take place? Is there a video series for that?
I was referring to was my 6 day trip from Toronto to Tobermory and back, which I did in 2014. I referenced it a few times in my July 2018 bike trip, because I passed through a few of the same sites. I didn't take any video of that 2014 trip, but I do have a slideshow of photos and captions on my website: cjhoyle.com/bikes/tobermory2014/
cjhoyle oh yes that’s right, now I remember, thanks for the heads up! I’m normally a single-day touring cyclist, I travel from Toronto to different parts of Ontario and all the way back. If you’d like to check some of my own trips out, you can follow me on Strava at Anthony Armata.
Grimsby and Lincoln!
CJ, How did you manage to keep all of the batteries for your electronics charged (GPS, phone, camera, lights) during the trip?
My GPS runs on AA batteries, and those last for about 3 days before needing replacement. I kept my phone in maximum power savings mode for the majority of the trip, so it rarely needed to be charged. My camera uses a removable battery and charger, and whenever I had access to an outlet (restaurants, campground restroom, etc) I had charged them.
Thanks! Great video series.Really enjoying them!
I don't understand? Why not ride the Waterfront Trail from Toronto to Burlington?
1:11
@@cjhoyle are you referring to the dead zone between Port Credit and Burlington? I agree that it is a bit uneventful, but it does pass through a few nice spots, not to mention all of the lovely homes.
I get why you skipped it.....but to folks new or unfamiliar with the area, I wouldn't call it simply suburbs. In any case, really enjoying your videos. So nostalgic to see trails that I know on film.....and I really thank you for not filling in the quiet with terrible music like most bike touring videos.
@@DejanOfRadic I hear what you're saying, not all routes through the suburbs are as bad as others, but for me a day of riding through quiet roads of rural farmland is far more enjoyable than even the nicest parts of the suburban waterfront trail. On a trip like this, I only have a limited number of days to travel and would rather spend as much of it as possible doing the types of riding that I enjoy most. The GO Train is a very convenient tool for helping me maximize the types of riding I enjoy the most on my vacation.
Hey cj, could you tell me pls the camera brand you are using for this video? Thx!
The camera used to film this is a Canon ELPH 110HS. I've had it for more than 6 years.
cool route
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
great video! what camera do u use on your bike?
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! All of the footage from this video was filmed using my old Canon ELPH 110 HS camera.
ok nice. I want to buy a small affordable camera for my bike.
It's just a handheld point-and-shoot digital camera which I keep in my pocket and take out to film clips with.
Where did you shower?
The campground has a washroom building which has showers.