Tourism Trains

I travel often for work and have great opportunities to visit some very interesting places. Most recently, I was in Waterloo, Ontario Canada, for the Ontario Bike Summit.

This pleasant town is home to two universities and about 40,000 students. When I had a chance to exit the conference hotel, I was pleasingly greeted by cyclists and pedestrians at every turn; possibly due to the number of students using bikes as their main means of transportation. It gave the city a great vibe -- a bit groovy, and very welcoming.

I've found this to be true of all southern Ontario. My experience cycling the in 2007, from Niagara Falls to Owen Sound, proved the province is very hospitable to cyclists.

Along with the hospitable people and beautiful landscapes, there's even more reason to bike tour in southern Ontario. Did you know about the Bike Train that takes cyclists between Toronto, Niagara, and now a host of other destinations across Ontario? During my visit to Waterloo, I met project founder Justin Lafontaine, who shared that pilot projects are the way to go when trying to convince rail agencies, in this case VIA Rail Canada, to cater to touring cyclists.

The Bike Train connects cyclists with “wine, culinary regions, northern lakes and forests, off-the-beaten-path towns and villages, world-renowned natural and historical sites, and thousands of kilometers of recreational trails and on-road cycling routes.” Maybe a visit to southern Ontario lies in your future?

For those of you interested in traveling with your bike in the U.S., visit Amtrak's bicycle information page.

--

CONNECTIONS is posted twice a month by Ginny Sullivan, Adventure Cycling's special projects director and features the cultural, historical, geographical, and human connections created through bike travel. Find out about our award-winning Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.