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After the teaser video, here a more complete version from the first half of our last week ride 9 february between Joliette and Marineau. Best viewed in 1080p with the sound on! Alain

Awesome video as usual! Funny story, about 15 years ago my buddy from Vermont and I got on the river by Grand mere and we saw open water to the left by the dam which we have seen before but going under that big bridge there was the Shadow from the bridge on the River Plus the dirt from the roadway that was plowed and sprayed on to the river ice and we thought we saw Open Water. We both looked at each other doing about 50 miles an hour thinking we can't stop now not enough time and hit the gas up to about 70 thinking that we were crossing water but it was just a shadow and the dirt from the snow plow spray coming off the bridge LOL

Snow globe day. Snowfall warning at the Roquemont this am. Lit out on 23 at 9. Into Le Tape for fuel and the obligatory Coq Roi at 11:30 Met maybe 4 sleds. Swimming a bit with all the pow but trial was decent. As usual tons of sleds at tape. Traffic a bit heavier heading to Apacia but still not bad Wind blowing like a mo, flat light and snow so Vision on hydro lines and open spaces sketchy but trail is cherry. Blow by Apacia and groomer has been out..lots of traffic heading south so just putting.... for cris sake tabernak and all that stay right people😳 10min out things die down so off we go. Real good until we hit the fields outside Sag. Holy hurricane .... she’s blowing! limited visibility and serious drifts. Time to decel... wind is literally trying to blow us off the trail and can’t see shite. No prob just slow down and keep an eye on the Gps. Only 20k to the delta. No prob ... right? TBC..😳

Today is our last day of riding for this trip. Almost all the trails were groomed last night. We have some light snow in the forecast and big wind for today. I think we will stay in the woods. The open fields in Alma would not be our choice. We cross the two bridges one more time. 367 is fine as shown on the groomer map. In St Ambroise we turn left on 93 and again this is fine. We are on our way to Mont Vilain. Cruising along on 93 we turn right onto local 554. Hmm? I thought the sign at the beginning of the trail said 553 but the map says 554. The picture I took yesterday doesn't show the sign. We will call it 554 for now. Buzzing along and we slow down at Relais des Lac. Only a few sleds here and that one is Bill's. I can tell by the parking lights on it. That one is MichRev's. We weren't going to stop but we have to go in and see where they are going. Hi Bill and Dave. Just finishing up a coffee and water. Where are you going? Up to Mont Vilain. We are too. Sandi and I sit and have a hot chocolate. This is a short day so we can get back to the hotel and get the truck hooked to the trailer and do a few things to prep for tomorrow's ride home. Relax and chat about how good of a week of riding it has been. The four of us leave and go on 328 around the lake. Right on 553. The fields are drifted in some fields even though they were groomed last night. This time we take the local trail thru Lamarche and get on 373 to finish the ride to Mont Vilain. Not too busy during the week here. We order lunch and relax. It is snowing pretty good now. The wind is still strong. Over lunch we decide the best route back is the way we came up. Only a few fields. Most of the trails are in the woods. We get back on the sleds and u-turn. 367 to the local thru Lamarche and then 553 to 328. Around the lac and pass Relais des Lacs. No need to stop today. The temp is mild and we keep on riding. Left on 93, a right on 367 and cross the two bridges one last time. These are as bumpy as ever but after the bridges the trail is good. No need to gas up tonight and we pull into the Delta. Time to hook up the trailer and get a few things ready for the ride home tomorrow. It was great seeing so many QuebecRiders and riding with who we had the blessing to ride with. It was a great trip this past week. Thanks for reading along with us. We hope you got a few chuckles and enjoyment out of our posts. Is there one more trip this season for us? Home for a week and then we will decide. Thanks. Jack & Sandi

Wanted to share a few pictures of the big snow we encountered Thursday. We started the day at KM 31 headed to the Delta via 93 and the 383 south of the river. Only 50 miles of our 217 mile day was groomed. The snow was near 2ft for a lot of the ride. We broke trail for 50+ miles, then a group of 5 guys led. Never would have made it without them. It was one of rose days you never forget. It was Epic!

GKW and I have rode yesterday and today, the first two days after the storm, and I don't remember the groomers getting the trails back to normal so quick after a big storm. Both days we saw most everything freshly groomed and riding has been fantastic, not to mention all the trees laden thick with snow mike

We put together a couple GPS systems this year and it is great to know when a trail is coming up. Made a few decisions much easier. Ours are old garmin's with the trak map program. First day mine kept stopping and restarting. Next day on a full charge It lasted a couple hours. Anyway I bought some toe warmers for my feet in case they got cold. Well 1 toe warmer on the back of the unit seem to solve the problem. At the end of the day the battery still had over a half a charge in it and the toe warmer was still warm.

LOL

That's a great idea, who cares about turn by turn directions anyways... you can't even hear them when you're moving at speed anyways. Not to mention the phone screen is almost twice the size of my 3.5" Garmin Nuvi 550 And you'll notice your notifications faster when you go through areas that actually have reception. Thanks again 👍

Great job Alain! Thanks for sharing!

Looks like up to 16" and neige for the whole province Tue.-excellent hiver!

He took it on the chin big time, and didn't quit smiling, not even once! He even smiles all summer, just thinking about the next winter!

Have a reservation for 3 sleds crossing on this Tuesday the 19th. Made them like 3 days ago when I talked to the guy and he said the Godbout to Matane wasn’t starting up until Wednesday the 20th. But on Tuesday the 19th 5 pm was running Baie Comeau to Matane. now I’m not so sure after reading this. Their number above is answered 9-5 7 days a week. Call them. Guy speaks good English and will give you whatever new updates they have. Seems like today and the next two days are their first runs with the new boat. The docks had to be modified and Godbout’s will be last. I’m sure this was no easy feat considering the time of year it is. We are leaving bright and early tomorrow to start our trip so I’m going to call and get an update on the way. If you type in “Matane ferry” on google their website is the first thing that pops up and they update it regularly. Here is their latest: February 14, 2019 3:58 p.m. Matane–Baie-Comeau–Godbout The management of the Matane–Baie-Comeau–Godbout ferry wishes to inform its customers of the official schedule that will be in effect with the MV Apollofrom Friday, February 15 to Sunday, February 17, 2019. This schedule is based on infrastructure and tides, to allow the loading and unloading of vehicles on the vessel. For this reason, we can only validate for the moment the schedule for the next three days. The schedule in effect until Sunday inclusive will be as follows: Matane to Baie-Comeau: departure at 8 am Baie-Comeau to Matane: departure at 6 pm Due to the varying impact of the tides on the vessel's loading operations and the fact that there is a familiarization period with the vessel and the newly adapted loading docks, some departures may have up to 45 minutes of delay. We ask our customers the best understanding, especially during the first days of operation of the MV Apollo, and our staff will do everything possible to respect the schedules as much as possible. We will be able to send to our customers in the following days an official schedule with which the ferry will be comfortable to operate, given the current infrastructures and conditions. The management of the ferry thanked its customers for their great patience and understanding during this period.

Not possible, you or someone must have reset the hour meter at some point over 17k miles.

One last pointer if you’re using your phone. Put it airplane mode to conserve the battery. When you lose cell service or it is very weak, your phone will go to full power to try and maintain connectivity. This will use up the battery pretty fast. The app will work just fine to tell you where you are with no connectivity. You will have a black cloud in the lower right meaning you are not connected to the internet, so things like grooming delay, or gas/lodging functions will not work. Keep your phone warm to further conserve battery, either next to your body, or in a heated handlebar bag. If in the bag, keep it right next to the heating element.

I didn't get a chance to post last night. We returned a little later than normal. So I'll wind the clock back. It is Thursday. The snow has stopped and the blue sky has returned. It is going to be fluffy out there today. A few trails were groomed but not all interconnected. Let's go on the north side of the lake. That had a little grooming. Today Sandi and I have MichRev as followup. The three of us head out and cross the bridges. Good 367 had been groomed. Soft on top. We had about 10-15 cm of snow. Quite different than the hard pack we have been riding on for the past week. We pass Le Geant Trailer and turn left on 93. Same here, groomed with fluff. The dust is kicking up in the air. We won't have any cooling or lube problems for the slides today. A few sled marks ahead of Sandi. Just before the St Charles cutoff, the groomer turned around. This is where the clubs change. The trail is still broke but not as nice. We knock off some more miles and get to the turn off for Relais des Lacs. The groomer has been here. Yea! The grooming was short lived. We are on the other side of Alma and the groomer has disappeared again. There has been traffic so the trail is broke and wide enough. The snow is a little deeper here. You can still feel the hard pack underneath though. We go thru St Henri and St Monique. The power lines are the same, traffic but not groomed. We turn left on 367 toward Peribonka. Now the trail is getting skinny. We are down to one sled wide. Six miles in and the trail crosses a river. Ah! On the other side of the river, this groomer has been out. Sandi is back up to speed. We get to Relais Vauvert. It's 11:15 AM. Should we eat or continue on. Let's see if we can make Relais des Buttes over in St Felicien. It's about another hour. We run 367 to 93 and turn left. 93 has been groomed but we notice that the snow is still getting deeper. We turn left onto local 901. Six miles in and the clubs must change here. Our groomer has u-turned on us. The trail is skinny and the snow is getting deeper. You can see up ahead that the trail is one sled wide. A little conversation and we vote to continue on. It turns out to be twenty miles to Relais des Buttes and all of the trail was one sled wide except for the last mile on 373 to the relais. Luckily we didn't meet any sleds in the skinny part of the trails. A few sleds here. Our hour from Vauvert to here turned into more like an hour and a half. Over lunch we decide to return the same way we came up. It is going to be a late day getting back but we know what the trails are like. We could continue on with a Tour de Lac but the groomer map didn't show much activity below the lac. On our sleds and we are on the return. Not so lucky on trail 715 with oncoming sleds. Everyone is out this afternoon. Two, three sometimes more sleds coming at us. You got to get off in the puff Sandi. I know she isn't thrilled and the snow is a lot deeper here. Snow flying up over the hoods. We turn on 701 and have burnt up a lot of gas. We stop at the little depaneur is St Methode. The gentleman pumping our gas speaks a little English. He is laughing and says they got the brunt of the storm. He measured 60 cm this morning. It definitely looks like it. We finally get back on trails that are wide enough for two sleds to pass. The sun is going down now. No breaks this afternoon. Sandi likes to get in before dark and we aren't going to make it today. As we get closer to Jonquiere, the trail is getting better. Maybe the groomer went back out or just more traffic packed the fluff down. The last hour in is a nice ride. A longer day than normal but it was fun. No one fell off the trail and there was a lot off dust flying. Jack & Sandi

good morning !!! back at 3 40 am grooming tq 5 ...and taking time to use the '' razor ''.... heavy traffic i guess...trail was bumpy ....with that fresh snow mild temps when i left ...a bit better on my way back ...i just remember ....-18c at city hall jean-guy

Bernard told us years ago, don't believe those effen signs.

My favourite is a sign at a junction that says 40 km to...., and 15 minutes later it is 53 km to the same place. Dam I didn’t realize the sled was in reverse!😬

Awesome pictures Playhard. We did the same thing coming out of St Come, no pictures unfortunately.

At least you have a riding partner, although he might not be able to go get help, better than being alone LOL

Agree, that monkey picture is a classic. George (my monkey) and I think a sled monkee calendar might be a good idea

That poor monkey on the front bumper...he was hanging on for dear life....lol

The first pic is one sharp picture deserves to be blown up and hung up on a wall.

There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning, having a little breakfast, loading your saddlebags on the sled and having to break trail to get out of town.

Big storm came. Well over a foot. Broke trail across 63 over the top of Tremblant most of the way thru. I’m thankful for GPS technology today. Had a blast !

hi Jack, I just checked the numbers on my old machine with 15,000 miles. 27.6 average. Pictures put me bellow avg. Thanks for the great reports.

Your way more than an average riders Jack .. lol 😁😁

Wine-ing about the snow!👌

Time for a side note: How fast do you ride or what is your average speed? Comes up occasionally. The typical answer is around 30 mph. Which of course sounds slow. Everybody rides faster than that. I thought we rode faster too. Over the years Sandi and I will comment on a particular day or someone else's trip and it does seem to be around 30 mph. Yesterday the old 850 hit 400 hours on the meter. Now is a good time to check. 400 hours times the 30 mph should equal 12,000 miles. I took a look at the total miles and it read 12,018 miles. I couldn't believe how close it was to the 30 mph theory. I guess we are just a couple of average riders! Jack & Sandi

I booked everything 2 weeks ago, we prefer to stay at really nice places with great food, hot tub/sauna/pool, and spa for a message if possible . Here is our itinerary: Day 1 Le Village Windigo to Pourvoirie Windigo(13 North to 83 East) Day 2 Pourvoirie Windigo to Auberge Du Lac Taureau(73 South to 355 South to 360 West to M20 to 345 South to 360 West to 33 South) Day 3 Auberge Du Lac Taureau to Pourvoirie Meekos(33 North/West to 100 Lacs to orange feeder trail South to Meekos) Day 4 Pourvoirie Meekos to Le Village Windigo(319 West to 13 South to Devils Mountain Lookout and then back to the truck/trailer and drive home)

It seems I thought EddieSkiDoo and SkiDoo 420 had other plans to 'stuff the monkey', not the devious one they went through with. I asked George about his weekend with these two riders and their trip together, he starts screaming 'best ride ever!'.

good morning !!! after 2 years ....great to meet you again dave and eddie !!! great time sure !!! btw, first 2 qr members i meet this season thx jean-guy