Your Cycling Holiday

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So you are planning to Cycle in PEI.  You have probably read that the Confederation Trail is surfaced.  Be sure to understand that that means the stone/cinder packed trail bed and not a PAVED roadway.  A hybrid or mountain bike is certainly preferred to a racing bike; you need wider tires for better traction.

Now that we have that out of the way, you should get a trail guide.  This is a pocket size cerlox guide that is water resistant.  It should hold up to several days of rugged cycling.  I know it just went to print in April and the 2011 guide should be available for distribution shortly.  You can consult last year’s guide online.  For each featured section of the trail you can find information on accommodations, supplies, and attractions.  Note that only those who pay to be listed in the guide are featured – there may be many more interesting stops along the way.

Of course, you are not limited to the Confederation Trail.  Many cyclists like to go up to the national park:  Cavendish, Brackley, and Greenwich.  This involves travelling on some highway.  You can find a list of highways that have cycling lanes or paved shoulders on the government website.

See yesterday’s post about geocaching.  You can find several geocaches right on the trail although I have not found a way to list them seperately fromt he other hundreds in PEI.

Here are some other cycling resources:

• Island Trails
• Cycling PEI
• Outside Expeditions
• Canada Trails
• Atlantic Canada Cycling

trail markers

Remember to do some research.  If you are looking for accommodations close to the trail, it may be handy to know the trail exit closest to where you need to go.  It has been my experience that many operators do not know where they are in relation to the trail: exit number and distance from the trail. A bit of Google Map research may be helpful.  The trail is marked in Kilometres starting at zero in Tignish.  I have only found one establishment that knows exactly where it is and how far:  The Trailside Bed and Breakfast is located at 174.5.  I know there are no “.5″ markers on the trail so I guess they mean they are halfway between 174 and 175.

For more information on the trail, please refer to my previous posts.

tomorrow I will finish my first A to Z of PEI – what will Z be?

Granny ~oo~