Ironbutt Montreal-Sarnia and back

Hi Christian:

I agree with the suggestions that others have made above. In fact, moments ago, I just finished driving the 401 from west of Milton (on the far west side of Toronto) across Toronto to the eastern boundary of the city.

There is truly horrible construction on the 401, both directions, from about Yonge Street (middle of Toronto) to Milton (40 km west of Yonge Street). Lane restrictions, shifting lanes, scarified pavement, narrow lanes, no shoulder... every possible horror is there. So while I do support your proposal to do Montreal to Sarnia (or Montreal to Windsor) and return as your route, I very strongly recommend that on the westbound portion of your trip, you take exit 410 (mileage marker 410) to the new "Highway 412", go north on Highway 412 a short distance to the toll road Highway 407, take the 407 across the top of Toronto until it crosses the 401 at mileage marker 333, then continue on the 401. By doing this you will miss all the Toronto traffic jams and miss all the construction. Then do the same on the way back in the opposite direction.

See the picture below, it illustrates the proposed diversion. The tolls will cost you $43 in each direction, but the reduction in headache, traffic jams, traffic density, and avoidance of all construction will make it worth the $83. That diversion will probably also reduce your travel time by 30 to 45 minutes in each direction. Be aware that there are no Enroute service stations on either the 412 or the 407, so gas up before beginning this diversion.

In Ontario, as long as your speed is 119 km/h or less on the "400" series of highways, no policeman will ever stop you. Best not to go faster than that, though.

Here are two useful links for you:

1) Official Ontario Road Maps (downloadable): click here
2) Highway 407 Toll Calculator & Map: click here

Lastly, my home is quite close to your route, only 5 km away from exit 373. So if you need any assistance along your route, up to & including a motorcycle swap if you are having difficulties, let me know.

Michael

Recommended Diversion (red arrow shows continuation of travel on the 401)
407.JPG
 
Last edited:
Thanks Michael.

Good info for the alternative route and tolerated speed limit.

I'm not planning to do it before another 6 weeks.... so maybe the construction will be over by then. Maybe not. Will see.
 
Last edited:
When I saw this, I wondered if you would want some company along the way. I am not really interested in the award thing, so my part would just be for the fun of it and to offer you some company.
I'll have to figure out if I can stand being on the 401 for that long, but what do you think?
 
ChriSTian_64 said:
I'm not planning to do it before another 6 weeks.... so maybe the construction will be over by then.
Click to expand...
That construction project, which consists of widening the 401 from 4 lanes (West of Toronto) to 12 lanes, will not be finished for another couple of years. It began in 2015.

Michael
 
ChriSTian_64 said:
I'm starting to think about a first attempt on an Ironbutt, Saddlesore 1000 miles / 1600 km.
As a rookie rider, I'm listening to any wisdon sharing.
Click to expand...

Just as a thought, you don't have to do 800km then turn around and come back, you just need to get the distance in the time frame and documented.

So what I'm getting at is for your first ride you could do it a bit different. Do multiple shorter routes you are familiar with. I'll explain in a minute.
That way if you have issues, get tired or decided "enough for now" you're not committed and driving when you shouldn't be.

If you did 200km East say towards New Brunswick, then turned back to Montreal (400km running total), then went 200km West past Montreal (600km running total) and then turned back to Montreal that's 800km. Do 2 loops of that and you've got your sore butt :) You've also already ridden these roads once earlier when less tired so you have some idea of what to expect as well. You're also never more than say 2 hours from home.

Just a thought.
 
I also used the app “Waze”. This is a GPS app, it looks at your route in real time and determines an alternate route when it detects a problem with traffic congestion. On my trip home I turned the app on on the outskirts of Toronto and it got me through Toronto on the 401 choosing between collector or express lanes.
Users will also contribute to notify the app of police presence or a vehicle on the side of the road. That in turn will be broadcasted to you when you are near the same area. It does use data on your phone. I just use it when I know I might have issues….
 
I'm 5 minutes off the highway at exit 410 if any assistance is needed. A note from my one time on the 407 on the bike, some sections have that damned grooved cement which I found horrible. Funnily enough, only the left lane in those sections was smooth, unhappily you need to do 140KPH so you don't get run over..:rolleyes:
 
kiltman said:
I also used the app “Waze”. This is a GPS app, it looks at your route in real time and determines an alternate route when it detects a problem with traffic congestion.
Click to expand...
I like to use Waze for traffic routing sometimes, but just know it is a HUGE! battery suck.
Consider real- time charging, at least a backup power supply.
 
Sadlsor said:
I like to use Waze for traffic routing sometimes, but just know it is a HUGE! battery suck.
Consider real- time charging, at least a backup power supply.
Click to expand...
Good advice. I do plug my phone in, AND carry a backup power supply.

there is some fabulous suggestions here on this thread, makes me want to consider doing it myself. ;)
 
Living in downtown Toronto I agree with Michael's suggestion to do the 407. The construction can lead to all lanes but one being shut down, especially late at night and this makes a stop-and-go nightmare you do not want to experience. When I did my first Saddle Sore 1600K I passed 20 km of stop-and-go traffic heading east out of Toronto ( when they were doing the eastbound 401 expansion) at around midnight. Fortunately I was westbound. When you get back on to the 401 at Trafalgar Road you will only have about 5 klicks of road work before it is done (heading west). I also agree with tjhiggin that you should plan it so the sun is following you, not the other way around.

The only other piece of advice I haven't seen is to have some music and a way to play it in your helmet. I found it just the thing to keep me alert at the tail end of my ride, when I was getting fatigued.

Bon chance!
 
As far as suggested days, the 401 gets stupid (moreso) starting Thursday afternoon until Sunday night. Most Saturdays, it is congested 50-100 miles either side of Toronto. Early to mid week is the best bet
 
Oh and by the way, it's not the busiest highway in North America. It's the busiest highway in the WORLD.....!

www.dangerousroads.org

World's record highways

A highway is any public road or other public way on land which has two or more lanes per direction. The first highway was built 175 years ago.
www.dangerousroads.org www.dangerousroads.org
.
 
I'm sending you a PM @Andrew Shadow . Cool ! Let's see what we can do.

@Obo , could be a good idea, man. Unfortunately, the Iron Butt Rules doesn't allows you to loop many times on the same routes.

@tjhiggin , man, I like this. So simple and easy to plan.

@Highway STar , oh yeah. Good music is a must. 401 the busiest highway in the world ? Gee... We would think of other places before Toronto. But yeah, 9 millions people in the area, and one highway (well two with the 407 section, but since it is so expensive, most people still use the 401).

@Bmacleod , ah-ha : early in the week. Got you. I guess sunday morning is also a good time to go thru it, but... maybe not so much.

Nexus said:
Personally, I think I'd head east for the more scenic route, but that's me.
Click to expand...

Well, you are right @Nexus From Montreal the route would be much more scenic going toward Quebec, then around the Gaspe peninsula.
But there will be some slow traffic area, will have to go thru small villages, etc. and, there is also some parts where there is not much services at night.
Plus, my idea is to start from home, and come back home at the end of it. So I can fall dead asleep in my bed still wearing my riding gear. My wife will have to undress me. :biggrin:
But, hum... for sure, that would be a pleasant ride, very different than 18 hours of crowded speedy freeway madness.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Obo
ChriSTian_64 said:
Well, you are right @Nexus From Montreal the route would be much more scenic going toward Quebec, then around the Gaspe peninsula.
But there will be some slow traffic area, will have to go thru small villages, etc. and, there is also some parts where there is not much services at night.
Plus, my idea is to start from home, and come back home at the end of it. So I can fall dead asleep in my bed still wearing my riding gear. My wife will have to undress me. :biggrin:
But, hum... for sure, that would be a pleasant ride, very different than 18 hours of crowded speedy freeway madness.
Click to expand...

I've driven Montreal-Souris, PEI multiple times (twice on a motorcycle). I followed the T-Can (Hwy 20 - NB-2, etc...). Once you leave Montreal, there are no real slow downs as you bypass Quebec city and Riviere-du-Loup. Sure, you're still on major highway and not the funner back roads but it's still a better drive than Montreal-Windsor, which I've done multiple times (in a car only) as well. Plus, if you get that far, your reward is the ocean, not a wimpy river :p (although Windsor has a great, if not misleading, view of Detroit).

Just my 2c. Do the Trip that you're gonna do! It'll be rewarding either way!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom