Trans Canada Highway weather and road condition advice!

Rustyplough

Rustyplough

Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
10
Location
Yorkshire, England
Bike
03 ST1300 Pan E
Hi all Canadian members from Sunny England!

I'm planning to finish the TCH Eastern leg from Montreal to St Johns in May ( I did the Vancouver - Ottawa leg 10 years ago on my own St1300)... and admit I'm getting slightly anxious as I see some photos posted on the TCH Facebook site.

Anyone out there who I can contact to check nearer my departure date of 7th May.

Rest assured I'm not looking for accommodation, just reassurance!

J
 
Rustyplough said:
I'm getting slightly anxious as I see some photos posted on the TCH Facebook site.
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What are your concerns? Weather? Road conditions? Ferry crossing? I lived in Montreal for over 30 years and all of my family is from the Maritimes, so I've spent a fair amount of time on the TCH going back and forth.

I certainly would not recommend a motorcycle trip in early May, unless you like a lot of cold rainy days. I'd target mid June, weather is better and kids are still in school.
 
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Sticking to the TCH should be fine in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia. I can't speak to Quebec or Newfoundland, or to the ferry crossing to Nfld. I agree with @ReSTored that May 7th isn't prime motorcycle weather. Make sure you bring some layers, decent gloves and a neck gaiter as it can still be cold in the mornings (and possibly thru the days too.) Rain gear as well as it's Spring. What will you be riding?
 
In 2018 we went to Newfoundland by staying on on Route 138 and then catching a ship (BELLA DESGAGNÉS) to the border of Quebec and Labrador. The ship is part ferry, cruise ship and supply ship to the outports it visits which are mainly inaccessible by road. Then stayed a couple of days in Labrador and took a ferry across to Newfoundland, the ferry at the time was the Apollo and seemed to have reached it’s best before date a decade or two earlier but 2019 it was replaced by a new ferry. It is a short crossing and you are 1/2 way up the Northern Peninsula just north of Gross Mourne and south of the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. Generally the roads where goods (remember you will be traveling during construction season) and so are the ferry crossings (depending on weather).

This is a video of part of the journey
 
Obo said:
Sticking to the TCH should be fine in New Brunswick & Nova Scotia. I can't speak to Quebec or Newfoundland, or to the ferry crossing to Nfld. I agree with @ReSTored that May 7th isn't prime motorcycle weather. Make sure you bring some layers, decent gloves and a neck gaiter as it can still be cold in the mornings (and possibly thru the days too.) Rain gear as well as it's Spring. What will you be riding?
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Thanks all @ReSTored @Gerhard @Bmacleod @Obo @Willsmotorcycle It is Snow and Ice that bother me...I'm happy, ok confident in rain and cold who wouldn't be coming from England and I've done Scandinavia a lot but I don't like ice.... I will be on a 2005 ST1300 I've borrowed - I did the western leg on my own 2003 ST1300 in 2013 and now ride a 1300 First registered in 2017.... and yes I know they stopped manufacturing around 2014/15 but 5 were found in cases at a dealers.
 
I’ve done the run twice in May. In 1995 around May 20th I encountered a snow storm in New Brunswick on my way to PEI, was gone in a couple of days. The next time was May 17 2017 and it was clear sailing driving from Ontario to PEI
 
It's always possible to get snow in May and even sometimes June around here. The thing to watch would be early mornings when if it's around freezing there could be black ice if the roads had been wet. As you likely have a set reservation for the ferry to Nfld, you may end up starting a bit later in the morning and pushing through a bit later in the evening to get to your destination. Not sure how many days you've allotted for your trip.

Hopefully though you'll have decent weather.
 
Willsmotorcycle said:
Is this necessary?
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No, but if you get there and for some reason it was full or a sailing cancelled then there could be a backlog.

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And if you wanted a berth to sleep in those are even more limited from what I understand.
 
On our 2018 trip we had to take different sailing because the night crossing was full, in the height of holiday season it fills up to the point where they won’t even take an extra motorcycle. The reserved seating on the Port aux Basque ferry is worth the extra cost in my opinion because it gives you a place to store your coat and helmet.
 
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