OVERVIEW

(The plans for this trip have gone through several iterations.  This description is current as of 6/1/19)

Our 10-day bicycle tour around Lake Champlain is based on the Lake Champlain Bikeway (click here). It originated from friends and members of Dave Shumaker who have both ridden portions of it and/or shared newspaper articles extolling it.  The daily routes are pulled from the afore-noted Bikeway Map with the following exceptions:

• A route has been added between Lake George and Lake Champlain

• A route has been added to/from Montreal

• The route into Burlington from Vermont Islands uses the Causeway

The bike ride will be SAG supported by participants taking turns driving the SAG vehicle.  Lodging is at motels on or near the bikeway. Daily distances are dictated by availability of lodging and typically in the neighborhood of 60 miles.

This bike ride is intended to be a tour with emphasis on visiting points of interest along the route. Specifically, we are adding the following:

• A half-day to tour Fort Ticonderoga and surrounds.

• One day to tour Montreal

• A half-day to tour Burlington.

Other points of interest will be added to the plan as participants identify them.  Initially, this tour included side visits to Quebec City and Stowe Vermont.  This plan added nearly a week to the schedule, making it a three week excursion.  That length of time discouraged too many potential participants; so we cut those side trips.

Also, our initial plan invited significant others of the bicyclists to join the tour at the locations most likely to be of interest to them. We considered flying them into Montreal, having them drive the SAG vehicle(s) to Burlington, and then after the local tour, fly home. They would have participated in the off-bike tours of Montreal, Quebec City, and Burlington.  However, the logistics of this plan got to be just too complicated and made the duration of the trip too long.  We chose to make this trip just for bicyclists.

The bicyclists will drive to, meet, and leave from Ticonderoga NY over two days.

Lastly, we have kept the expense of this trip reasonable by sharing acceptable low-priced lodging.  Refer to the BUDGET for projected cost estimates.

Examine the daily plans and identify points of interest along the way. Share ideas by POSTING to this blog what you would like to see, road issues, and lodging concerns or alternatives.

BIKE ROUTES

The bike ride begins and terminates in Ticonderoga NY and goes to Montreal QC.  The daily distances are about 60 miles and supported by SAG vehicle.  Each participants drives a portion of the daily distance.  One day is spent riding around Montreal using a route recommended by Malcolm McRae of the Montreal Bike Club.

The routes shown on the daily plan identify a SAG schedule with Cue Sheet. We like having everyone drive a few miles each day, rather than rotating drivers on a daily basis. This way everyone gets to enjoy the majority of the route every day. Most of this route is on roads so the SAG vehicle should never be too far away and at the same time appreciate what thee bicyclists are seeing.

We drafted the routes based on Lake Champlain Bikeway publications, a daily ride distance of 60 miles, and inn-to-inn destinations.  We finalized the exact trails based on RideWithGPS Bike routes and OSM Cycle routes.  RideWithGPS maps, cue lists, and GPX downloads are available on the Daily Plan by clicking on the appropriate links.