With a push to promote cycle tourism in North Bay, you can now take the Bike Train there with a pilot starting August 7-10. It could be that the area is actually quite nice for some cycle touring, I don't know. The best person to ask is Justin Lafontaine who helped get the original Bike Train running to Niagara Falls (with over 1000 passengers so far). The North Bay-bound train will start in Toronto and take the Ontario Northland's Northlander rail service, winding through the scenic back country of Muskoka and the Algonquin Highlands.
- Adults $153 return; capacity 56
- 1 weekend: August 7-10
- Bike Train welcome event, group rides and cocktail party
- Special hotel packages starting at $120 including breakfasts and boxed lunches
- Partnership with Toronto Bike Union offers 15% off Green Travel Rewards for members
And there's more:
Through the journey to North Bay, passengers can win great prizes via an onboard trivia twitter competition. The Bike Train Twitter account will be awash with tips from passengers and locals alike on great cycling routes, refreshing swimming spots, fun attractions, and delicious dinner locales. Upon arrival in North Bay, the Honourable Monique Smith, Minister of Tourism and MPP for Nippissing will be on hand to personally greet the Bike Train in North Bay.
I'm not sure what their Twitter account is, perhaps you'll find out when you sign up. When I find out more I'll update this post.
The video is from the Bike Train website and explains how it started to Niagara Falls.
Comments
Antony (not verified)
Good cycle-touring in the
Fri, 07/17/2009 - 13:32Good cycle-touring in the Muskoka cottage country area. This train would be a great way to get to Huntsville or Gravenhurst.
Kevin Love
GO is effective competition for the Niagara bike train
Sat, 07/18/2009 - 21:41The weekend GO trains to Niagara Falls are, in my opinion, much better than the VIA rail bike train. They are cheaper, more frequent and I get to ride with my bike.
Given this, it is only natural to expand the bike train concept to other parts of Ontario. I sincerely pray that this venture is successful, as it would be quite excellent to have a bike train every weekend going to a different part of Ontario.
jamesmallon (not verified)
Bike Trains need to run on time
Mon, 07/20/2009 - 08:51I took the GO train to Niagara to cycle on Saturday, and it was more than an hour late returning, after we'd all been coralled upstairs without explanation (broken doors?).
I used to train and bike in Japan, and besides having more scenery closer to Tokyo, more train lines and more service on them, train schedules have a faithful relationship to reality. There's also the fact that two GO tickets to Niagara at $32 are the same cost as getting a car from Autoshare. 'Fool me once...'
I will be renting a car next time I go out of town to ride.
Seymore Bikes
Promo
Wed, 07/22/2009 - 08:53Given that there are so many options for recreational cyclists in & around Southern Ontario, I'm surprized there aren't more people supporting rail + bike travel.