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Jackstraw

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  1. Like
  2. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from Florida Snowman in Team Iceman The Last Stand 24’   
    Isn't that the place you check in at the grocery store across the parking lot?
  3. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to iceman in Team Iceman The Last Stand 24’   
    More…..
     

     












  4. Haha
    Jackstraw reacted to iceman in Team Iceman The Last Stand 24’   
    May or may not be…wink wink
    Nothing to see here move along 
  5. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from iceman in Team Iceman The Last Stand 24’   
    Isn't that the place you check in at the grocery store across the parking lot?
  6. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to Padragon800 in Abitibi Trip   
  7. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to iceman in Team Iceman lurking in LSJ   
    Day 7 Sunday 
     
    Great night at Windigo, drinks, conversations, stories throw in the nosh on the wings and smoked meat sandwiches. Oh yes. 
    To Team Vermont….looking forward to next seasons rendezvous. After saying our goodbyes and loading up. 
    Everyone ready to go. 
    My sled loves it here so much it doesn’t fire off on the first go. Never good. This will take extra effort. Get coolant heater plugged in. Decided to hook up Daniel’s big jumpbox. Spins over real nice this go round and finally fires. Maybe 15 minutes of giving it attention, For what its worth by far not the coldest night out this week, but is the one night i did not cover my sled. Maybe nothing maybe something, 
     
    Up driveway out of  Windigo. TQ83 magic carpet ride back all the wsy to Relais 22 . 
    Bridge still unsafe for groomer straight out back of Relais 22 on TQ83. 83 west this year is just north of Relais 22 its 30 km longer then going out the old trail and over the bridge.
     
    Gas n go and quick conversation with Christine at 22, knowing full well that many sleds are bearing down on this place from up the TQ83 coming for lunch on Sunday. 
    Up we go and as expected busy trail. But all well behaved. Love the new Sena 50 really top shelf. Nice ride back up TQ83 then secret trail to 355 from TQ83 was a stunner. Said goodbye to our trail mates as they were headed to load uo and haul south today. Great guys NH Moose aka “bullwinkle” anytime anywhere goes without saying. Mark ditto do not get to see him enough. Great guy. Phil sr newest member of Team Iceman. Another rider. Gets it done solid. Loved spending time on and off trail with you all.. Until next time boys.
     
    Snohorse and I continue on TQ83 junk. And junk. Seriously not good. Big difference in conditions here. We suffer on to local orange to Saint Andre. Ok but best up. Went in another local trail tour then a retrace of our route back to 355 and Auberge Eva. Only people here tonight. Private hotel and restaurant. No one else. 
     
    We stitched it together as my partner in trails Snohorse says. Successful week stellar trails with excellent company. Some new discoveries and some new memories on long cherished sections of trails. Some of our favorites, 
     
    Is it the last ride? 
     
    Stay tuned
     
  8. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to iceman in Team Iceman lurking in LSJ   
    Day 5 Friday 
     
    Woke at Pouvoirie La Dore. I like it here. Snowing again. Not super cold as my gatorade aint frozen on porch. It’s cold thought This will hold me over until getting some coffee. Boys are stirring around looking like the warm has lost the battle this go round. Wind picking up still snowing on and off. Enjoyed talking for a long time with Stephane last night. Quite interesting as I learned alot we all did asking hunting and fishing questions trying to get an understanding on how they do it all year. Great place and super hosts. Go and stay they have one big chalet with four bedrooms 
    So 8 singje beds max, only chalet insulated for clients thus winter. Next year probably 1 more. But this will remain an intimate place. More personal to stay here. For lunch they have been doing well. Many clients. They make their living May to November. 
    Like i said before there is just something about this place. 
    Stephane met us after a great breakfast and we took a ride out and up the lake and back. He took us out the back over the bridge and showed us the way to join up with the local orange trail branche ouest. Interesting.  But not as fast as the TQ93. 
    He showed us another nine mile loop around the lake by the lodge. This has Team VT written all over it as he said no problem go and explore, their are trails everywhere. We had to say goodbye for now and bailed out the backdoor to La Dore. Still snowing on and off temps already noticeably colder, wind is biting. TQ93 to Gas n go La Dore. 
    Trail mint. Been 95% all week. Very little traffic. This being the “Tour to nowhere” we got nowhere to go to. All day to do it. Now those of you that pay attention know what is next……if you guessed trail bingo = winning. 👍
     
    Stayed in the sweet spot. All around above lake. St Felicien to Dolbeau. To 373 then back across 373 searching for red sticks with wind howling in the fields. One of those days you think about where to stop for a break and finding somewhere tucked in the trees to block that wind. Temperature has plummeted and with wind not great for the hands being out of the gloves too long. Only real rough spot few KM between middle orange trail and TQ93 up near Lac a Jim. Everything else very nice. Likey likey. 
     
    Bingo card full it’s time for early happy hour. Into Girardville. Happy campers. 
     
  9. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from Je me souviens in Quevillion-Senneterre-Clova   
    That is another one!
  10. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from PLAYHARD in Team Iceman RDL   
    March will be the time to ride. Winters seems to start in late February! and run through late march
  11. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from PLAYHARD in Smooth trails today   
    10" in Orange county NY! Useless!
  12. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from nyskidooerinnewhampshire in Smooth trails today   
    10" in Orange county NY! Useless!
  13. Haha
    Jackstraw got a reaction from NSHM in Smooth trails today   
    10" in Orange county NY! Useless!
  14. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to Mrs.Ice in Team Iceman RDL   
    Hope so, got a spring break coming up to keep me busy!!
  15. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from Mrs.Ice in Team Iceman RDL   
    March will be the time to ride. Winters seems to start in late February! and run through late march
  16. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from iceman in Team Iceman RDL   
    March will be the time to ride. Winters seems to start in late February! and run through late march
  17. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to iceman in Team Iceman RDL   
    Saturday Feb 10
    Rain and freezing rain overnight. Got up to survey situation 7:30. Not raining, radar showing worst is past so, off to breakfast then we will make a go out to check things out. Its warm though. 
     
    Dressed down best we could, first damn helmet I had that doesn’t leak air. Solid and warm. 
     
    Mrs Ice has to do class work for monday so we are going out and around back early. The plan was perfectly timed as we returned to Univerel it began to rain again an still gray and sprinkling on and off. 
     
    Left hotel and another first this trip, I neglected to mention yesterday it was the first time for Mrs to negotiate through a pack of 5 two up sleds as we passed. I will let her tell you. Nicely done. Cleanly safely and politely. As could be. 
    Today the first is over the bridge right here to the orange trail. Hey it’s the little milestones that keep me going. This is a new trail for me as was the 518 yesterday. Still nice here but we are sweating, Jackets open and snow soft. Too warm to enjoy. But not raining. 
     
    Orange local along the 20 to St Andre here to 559 boney along roads and crossings. It is what it is. Otherwise very nice. Greens and orange. Everyone touring running TQ 5 and it shows. 
    559 to TQ 5 east to 561 the to Club house for a break there. The 526 is next it was showing some use. Too warm but starting to get more cloudy and windy. One two up and a single holding us up a bit. The two up leading is one you have those dreams about. The one where you are in you lane minding your business and round next turn comes this guy keeping cemter left. Wow. 
    Caro was leading us and she said I am so afraid watching this guy. Afraid I am going to see something I don’t want to. She gets it. Very proud of her progress she soaks it all in. The force is strong in this one. 
    Finally they go left on orange to join TQ5 we continue 526 up to TQ85 railbed bike path holdind up great, after relay at TQ5/85 here its got some ugly looking spots by peat moss bogs. Bad.
    Into town not worst i seen. Asphalt all bare basically everywhere.
    back with whopping 75 miles but Wife had fun and so did we, too warm now starting to rain again. This adventure is being called. Until next time RDL
    We will return
    will it be this year?  Who knows
    Mrs Ice gets all credit for photography 

     
     






















  18. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to revct1 in 2024 Jack & Sandi's Trips   
    It's after breakfast and the decision was to make a small loop and come back up thru La Baie and see the fishing village.
    83 south it is.  A few miles out and 83 crosses autoroute 175.  Straight thru the intersection and the trail goes into the field.  A change here.  The trail keeps going straight instead of left into the woods.  It runs a good mile and then goes thru a couple more fields.  Nice and open.  We come to a stop sign and this is where the cul-de-sac for Chicoutimi joins.  A little easier running.  You don't go behind the houses any more.  That is part of the  cul-de-sac now.  Then we are back on the old 83.
    Good running along and we turn right onto 368.  The trail has been a little bumpy but enough snow.  No trouble with dirt.  A few miles in and the groomer for Laterriere made a pass from here last night.  We turn left on 383 still following the groomer's path.  We are first tracks now.  What a nice ride this is.  Crossing back and forth over the quad trail.  The quad trail is on the old road that went to the old Relais Boullanaise.  I know I must have missplet that.  The trail gets cranky after the old Relais.  Still groomed but tugging back and forth on the handlebars.
    We pull into Ferland for coffee break.  A few sleds and quads outside.  Sunny day and mild temps.  What a great day for riding.
    We continue south on 383.  Just after Ferland, wow has this area been logged.  Much of it has been clear cut.  A lot of nice scenic views.  The trail has been changed around here too.  It's following the access roads for the logging operation.  Nice gentle sweeping turns.  The up and downs are too big for big trucks.  Maybe its access for the smaller equipment.
    383 now cuts back up to 83 on what was the old local 22 trail.  It joins 83 near the spur to St Felix.  383 no longer goes straight south to 83 where there was a warming hut.
    83 is used but in decent shape.  We haven't seen too many sleds today.  I would have thought there would have been more traffic for such a nice Sunday.  At the little bridge for the cutoff to La Baie, Trail Security is checking sleds.  They have 3 sleds stopped and the younger riders are pulling out paperwork.  Oh oh for them but good for us.  One of the Security workers motions for us to continue on.
    Into La Baie and gas up the sleds.  We cross the road and get on the local trail that runs on the walking path.  Slow going here of course.  In town and it is narrow and bumpy.  We jump down onto the bay and see the fishing house scattered all around.  A lot of activity but as we approach the north side, we notice no fishing village!  The signs are up and the lot markers are here but no fishing huts.  The only thing I can think of is the bay was so late in freezing thick enough, the trucks and tractors used to pull the houses onto the ice weren't allowed on the ice.  I don't know.  A disappointment because it is really cool to see the village.
    We get off the ice and back on the trail.  Oh my is this bumpy.  I don't think this has been groomed this year.  The red stakes are in the ground and the stop signs are in but no grooming.  Rough is being polite.  About 8 miles of torture and we finally join back onto 83.  The rest of the ride back to the Delta is nice once again.
    We get back early enough to trailer Jason's rental back to Evasion.  Overall it was a nice weekend for them.  Tomorrow they drive back to Connecticut.  Sandi and I are here for the week.  Can't wait to see Pat and Gary.  They should be on a plane right now coming across the pond.  See you tomorrow.
    Jack & Sandi
  19. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from iceman in Lepine Road   
    Usually just 2-4 We call ahead at lunch. if booked we try another in any direction. We stay out of the populated areas anyway. Has worked for the past 15 years
  20. Like
    Jackstraw got a reaction from dooright in We roll again   
    Maybe delete some old photos? I think if not a contributing member your limited?
  21. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to Trailblazer in Duhamel and surrounding area   
    Jan 20 2024 finally got a chance to blow off the cob webs. Saw there was a few green trails on the app and couple possible loops. Out the door at 10:30 am with my new lake friend in training. 
    Rail bed into town a 10/10, 43 east to Lac des Plages 8/10, east of lac des Plages the 43 to the first fork going to St.Remi was not groomed, a single path trail for 10 klms and one open creek crossing. At the fork we head north to the local that will connect us to the 323. Did a 5 klm lake crossing in La Conception which was all staked, had a few slushy spots and a few frozen slush areas too but not a rough ride across.
    323 into Labelle for the first trail side break, this trail was first groomed that morning, surprisingly it was pretty good 6/10. 
    Up La Petit Train du Nord 325 to 63 into Nominigue for gas, all groomed to perfection 10/10. 
    Back track to the 319 for our descend down to La Minerve, 319 was a 8/10. 
    Took the shortcut to get on Lac Chapleau and cross, lake trail is staked, careful of the frozen slush parts. 319 through the parc and back on the 323 and 43 for the return, 43 got a little rough from the day. Back at le chalet for 5pm.
    226 klm loop for the first ride of the season, awesome day.
  22. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to towing in Joliette/St-Zenon/ Lac Blanc Auberge photo ride-report 20/1/2024+video   
    Finally, here's the report of our first ride of the season did yesterday January 20, 2024

    We could have ridden last Sunday but it was an after a foot snow storm day with mild weather and we knew well that the trail conditions would not hold and be hard for us 2up so we waited until yesterday and were not disappointed . The cold of the last few days has been very good for the trails and the ice... it's about time!
    We were able to start directly from home in St-Thomas near Joliette, the trails are open and there is more than 2 feets of snow and it increases over 3 feets in some spots on the route that we did. Here in the fields near St-Norbert. The sky was very gray with a little snow at times which makes the pics less attractive but it still allows you to see what it looked like.

    We strategically chose to do the wooded northern section to start the ride and to return via the fields to the south which remain nice for longer under the effect of traffic. Here north of St-Gabriel de Brandon.

    And here at #23/#63 junction in St-Damien

    5 km north of the Renard Bleu outfitter, the trail turns 90 and takes a new route to connect to #350 this year due to logging in this area.

    there are a couple of kms to go on a plowed road but it ride very well

    Then we are on the road path which is snowy for a long section it ride really great, I really appreciated this new path groomed wide

    After the #350 west junction there is 1km where the trail passes either next to the plowed road or a new path in the woods that the club is at finishing but it is very short

    then we return to the usual #350 path which was really very nice and fast

    We quickly passed in front of the Koubec

    And we went up #345 towards the north which was as nice and fast

    And we continued on #23 towards the east which was just as beautiful, just the last 2km which goes up the mountain before reaching intersection #350 which seemed to still be on the first dozer pass...
    This #23/#350 junction(Gaston's trail towards Lac Blanc) was our expected meeting point with our friend Snowcruiser who was leaving from Trois-Rivières airport to meet us with the plan to eat together at Lac Blanc. It's a bit ambitious to arrange meetings in the middle of the woods like that... especially on the first season's ride. We had 140km to go and he had around 70km to get there but we had agree that we would wait a little and at worse we would crossed each other while riding, but we were lucky with our estimates that were spot on. I was stopped for less than a minute when he showed up! After a bit of chatting we got back in the saddle to try to get at Lac Blanc before noon to beat a bit the lunch crowd.
    The #350 going back down to Lac Blanc was still very beautiful, just a little worn in its big hills and very panoramic in terms of snow, it's impressive


    We arrived at the Lac Blanc Auberge at 11:40 a.m. with 165km done from the morning. We obviously weren't the only ones who had this idea!

    Given the size of the crowd we wondered how things would go for the meal inside but I have to take my hat off to their extremely quick and efficient organization which was ready. We didn't wait a second to be seated in the dining room and we had our meals in front of us less than 15 minutes later! I was impressed.
    After this good meal break and a refueling we left under the snow a little after 1:00 p.m. towards the southeast on trail #350. The view from the lake when we left!

    This trail was starting to get pretty beaten up by traffic but was not that bad on our side of the trail heading south. We tested our suspensions up to the #63 junction where we took a break. I was able to chat a little with Jonathan Doucet from Randonnée Motoneige au Québec on Facebook, whom I had recognized and briefly meet as I left Lac Blanc auberge

    The trail condition came back nice on the #63 and we were able to ride good trail all the way back home. Snowcruiser left us to return to his trailer via St-Léon/St-Sévère and we continued on #63 and #3 for the return


    The Bayonne River is already solid and the trail passes over it without problem near Berthier

    We got back home early around 3:45 p.m. with 272 km for the ride, very happy with this season's opener which had been a long time coming.
    The trail network is pretty much open and connected in Lanaudiere and Mauricie minus some rivers that are not ready yet. The cold we just had in the last days helped alot for this and I hope that mother nature will continue to cooperate in the next days to complete the puzzle.
    Have a  great riding season!
    Alain
  23. Like
    Jackstraw reacted to mikerider in 2024 Rivière-du-Loup trail conditions   
    Important things first.  The new bar is pretty nice. It is in the new restaurant, and the bar seats about 25.  Mega big TV  and the restaurant looks pretty impressive. Open style kitchen.  I would say they spent a fortune on the re do. Food is mostly pub food with a few high end meals. My meal tonight was excellent. Whole new menu. I thought the prices were more than reasonable.   Food was slow coming out of the kitchen.
    The old bar is still open but the attached restaurant is gone, just a big pool table there now.
    It was getting dark when I went out for about a 25 mile ride.  While the snow certainly is not deep, it seems to be plenty and everything was groomed and silky smooth. And it looks wintry out with all the trees snow coated. I will know more hopefully after tomorrows ride. 
    New G5 600R 129 goes some sweet. Makes me look and feel 20 years younger. 
    mike
     
  24. Confused
    Jackstraw reacted to slimjim2525 in Roberval Club   
    Am I missing something?  How could you still be doing signage in the middle of the season??
  25. Thanks
    Jackstraw got a reaction from PLAYHARD in Funny Stuff   
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