Crossing Canada-U.S. border: by bike, hiking, etc.

[shootingstar]

Standing on the Canada U.S. border at Alberta and Montana:

About some of my experiences with photos, crossing the international border and different locations over the years.

[Crankin]

I crossed the US-Canada border by bike once, during a group ride which started in Vermont. We were spending the long weekend in NH, with a group and this was the second day ride. We stopped and ate lunch in park just short of the border and a few of us rode over the border and back, maybe 5 miles. This was in 2005 and there was no passport required. I really don't remember the names of the border towns, but it was fun. On the way back, the US border patrol agent asked me all kinds of questions about where I lived, even though he had clearly seen me and the others ride over the border into Canada, just 10 minutes earlier.
Riding over the border from the Czech Republic to Austria was quite fun and took about 5 minutes. They are used to people crossing on bikes. It felt like you were going from the 1950s to the present time in a second.

[Irulan]

Some friends of ours used to have a cabin on the Idaho/BC border, about 1 mile from one of the teeny tiny crossing stations. Up there it's really easy to ride right up to the clearcut that marks the international border, on a mountain bike. Late 90's DH was biking solo and somehow ended up on the Canadian side and came back on the road. Shirt off, no ID, not even a camel back..... boy did the US guard give him the third degree. The US guys are always assholes anyway, but he was being ridiculous. You can practically see the cabin from the guard station!

[smilingcat]

They are just doing their job
And what job would that be Bob??

[Bike Writer]

I like the photo shootingstar.

Whereabouts I live the boarder crossing was always a "no big deal" thing. With a bridge and tunnel from Detroit to Windsor we often shot across for dinner or shopping and the guards would simply ask, "Citizenship?" and there was no need to produce a document for either side of the border. Over the years they started to ask for id occasionally. Then some stupid fool terrorists messed it up for everybody and now we have all this "stand on your head and read the alphabet backwards stuff" to deal with.

What a pain, I need a passport for dinner across the river...sigh.

[shootingstar]

I've passed through the border crossing by Windsor when we were going to Ann Arbour, Michigan, BikeWriter. Didn't know you were that close to the border.

Another time, I was Sarnia, Ontario where there is another border crossing. A friend who lived in another Ontario city about 30 km. away, pointed out the U.S., just across a 10 metre part of the St. Clair River!

[Bike Writer]

I've passed through the border crossing by Windsor when we were going to Ann Arbour, Michigan, BikeWriter. Didn't know you were that close to the border.

Another time, I was Sarnia, Ontario where there is another border crossing. A friend who lived in another Ontario city about 30 km. away, pointed out the U.S., just across a 10 metre part of the St. Clair River!

The town I live is is just north of Ann Arbor. I can be in downtown A2 in about 10-15 minutes by car.

[DebW]

I hiked the Long Trail in Vermont in 2003 and you walked up to the US-Canadian border in the woods and could stand with one foot on either side of the line. I believe there were planes patrolling the border. Around 1977, I paddled the St. Croix River, with forms the US-Canadian border in Maine, for several days. One night we camped on the Canadian side, in a mosquito-infested swamp, and no one was around who cared.

[OakLeaf]

I haven't, but a friend of mine has done a couple of point-to-point marathons that start on one side of the border and finish on the other. Apparently they check your passports and put you on a bus, then your race bib is enough to get you back across. Course control must just be insane.

[mzone]

At least one annual tour in Michigan crosses over into Canada, the Blue Water Ramble, by way of a ferry crossing of the St. Clair river.

http://www.lmb.org/crr/bwr2012.html

There are other events, like the Detroit Marathon, which crosses between Detroit and Windsor. The runners have to be cleared the day before with all of their documents.

[missjean]

A few years back I was on a supported bike tour of upper VT and we spent one night in Canada. The Canadian border guard was really nice, asking us all about the tour & wishing us a good day. He didn't look in the sag-wagon, we just showed him out passports and we were on our way. And, like DebW, we spent the night beating off those Canadian mosquitos!
The next day we roll up to the US border and what a difference. The guard was a big fat guy, all gruff & impatient (it was not a busy day, just a few cars & us) looking at our passports, at us, at our panniers, and looking inside the sag-wagon. Someone mentioned the difference in attitude and the guard said "That's why the Canadians have all the terrorists!" I totally understand the need for vigilance, but not the bad attitude.

[shootingstar]

Interesting about marathons that take joggers in and out between U.S. and Canada.

When we cycled 90 km. one way from Germany to Basel, Switzerland, we stopped by the Rhine where in Germany, we could see France across a short river distance..and to our left just 100 metres..was Switzerland.