PLAYHARD

You KNOW you'll have no regrets gents! If it gets sloppy just think about how you'll be wishing for it in the hot months! Send pictures! Post stickers!

I think this is the trail-head from the 5... Uh oh. Hoping you're OK with luck.

Nice! And the wives just say we're on another relaxing vacation! Tabernacle! We had a pickle of a time with that Ferme orange on the way up to Groomer two weeks ago. You know you had a "full treatment" Gaspesie rip when afterward your seat cushion is in the shape of a shark fin! (And it looks the same for your truck seat?)

The Legend...

Perce?

Dude! Vous êtes complètement fou! We get all butt-puckered about stucking a sled in the fluff, AND WE HAVE A BUNCH OF BUDDIES RIGHT THERE TO UNSTUCK US!

Park the trail sleds!... http://aventurechicchocs.com/en/customer http://www.gaspe-snowmobile-adventures.com/ http://motochicchocs.com/en/about/1-journee-decouverte-de-la-poudreuse/

Jacques @ Copper likes his toys...

Hey! Well done! (It sounds like you got your money's worth out of that shock) And good timing getting into the sweet spot on the weather. Those blue-sky days last week just don't get much better. Too bad we zigged when you guys zagged, but we'll cross paths one of these times for sure.

It sure was sketchy at times, didn't go "as planned", but sledding in Gapsesie (or anywhere else) hardly ever does, still we managed to get the loop done. Via says just about 1,000 miles, the odo said 1,230 and there was a hell of a lot more track spin than I've ever encountered!... http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=&unit=km&lat=48.263315&lng=-67.115088&zoom=7&force=1&ewaypoints=4781996,-6956011,103179,204962,35335,135099,-24444,66757,5222,102314,-49439,30872,-19212,-55026,4615,-250746,6372,-20475,17912,-35967,-79837,-178597&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000

Laissez le bon temps rouler! Hey, where's the Monker pics?! He was kinda blue yesterday at the border crossing...

JG! You're our hero! Some were still a little shook up after that 18 mile deep pow low visibility shortcut up the orange "Sentier Ferme" from Le Club Sportif Mont Arctique clubhouse back up to the 5 on the way to you. Funny, it was groomed deliciousness 10 days earlier. Oh what a difference 3' of fresh makes! http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=mi&lat=48.169008&lng=-66.822352&zoom=11&force=1&ewaypoints=4814039,-6669789,4815,-23477&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000 Anyway, you should have heard the (hung-over) conversation at breakfast! Some were pretty seriously wondering about either riding the roads or hailing flatbeds & taxis. Of course we had to try. So we got to it and right over the road heading north out of town, you'd laid out 18 miles of white carpet to start the day off right. Merci beaucoup! And yes, we're missing Gaspesie bad. Especially since there SO MUCH SNOW calling us back. But we have great miles & memories in the books to help us thru the other 3 seasons... (I wonder if I could open a St Hubert franchise in NY to ease the pain?)

Dude, much respect. That trail makes one's butt pucker when it's perfectly groomed. I want no part of that when it's drifty! Especially not on a big-girl highway-model like an Apex XTX.

It's ridiculous the amount of snow out here, with more on the way! And in the past 2 days we've seen more groomers on the trails than sleds. Around so many corners seeing beautiful trails of all shapes & sizes the voices in my helmet keep saying: "OH BOY THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!" (I may be in "the zone")

Holy smokes. I guess those drifts are more than a one pass deal. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH...

"Can't see much" is the understatement of the day! We headed out from RDL this morning toward St Anne and WOWZA big snow & wind. Hats/helmets off to Iceman for not leading his 5 ducklings astray. We made decent time 200mi to just past Matane before a sled malfunction so here we stay tonight. Retooling for the tour for this week. For a photo of today's ride, just hold a sheet of white paper up to your face... See the red sticks across the drifted out fields?... NOPE! US NEITHER! (The whited-out road crossings were the most unnerving) Hey Groomer! We're thinking Causapscal bacon pizza Tuesday night! Hopefully you can make it?! Hey, nice angles on the trail shots this week!

BOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! = Tabarnak! It's good to hear there were no injuries. That could have gotten worse quickly. It's even better to hear that you're getting to enjoy some sled-time! Bon randannee!

The Mont Carmel gent left quite a legacy: http://www.academielesestacades.ca/visite-360 This kind of news makes this decision feel right: My ride partner last week races quads cross-country (GNCC) flat-out-full-throttle on closed-courses with everyone going in one direction, but for his first Gaspesie tour I figured we'd both ride Vectors instead of bringing the Apex XTX. So, as expected, setting a sane pace and taking in the sights a bit are never something to regret. Peace to all who've suffered senseless losses...

We rode into there a couple of days ago just for sightseeing and their trail was (as was all the rest of Gaspésie) groomed perfectly: It looked like they had a mix of families (no sleds), as well as trail and off-trail riders staying there. http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?attraits=&unit=km&lat=48.966648&lng=-66.625807&zoom=11&force=1&ewaypoints=4906052,-6660255,-6258,4531&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000

Hey hey hey! Ice is nice! Looking good! And Groomer, you were SO right when you said to watch for "many" bambis on the way south from you in the morning. WOW! It was like a convention! They were pretty mellow too, like: "Hey, you're in MY house and I'll move at my own pace"

And YES! There's tons of snow all around. As Alain says some ice on the plowed logging roads may suffer from a warm up, but a new pair of carbides would be a fair price for such a great ride IMHO. Six days of perfection: http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=mi&lat=48.539389&lng=-66.926652&zoom=8&force=1&ewaypoints=4780724,-6955685,38509,112027,17593,120712,-25656,38589,-9728,-10162,-2941,-34607,33715,-3571,-18113,118927,4184,0,-2656,-3433,-5500,5631,14744,274,-13368,3846,11814,-1374,46378,-13183,29644,70587,-46895,130737,25222,-42572,5759,14488,17011,9373,7786,-113674,4315,-98740,-12778,-3845,-15521,-100422,-53487,-132419,-51070,-68322&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000 Then a bonus loop on day seven: http://www.viaexplora.com/snowmobile/index.html?unit=km&lat=47.726361&lng=-69.163444&zoom=9&force=1&ewaypoints=4780054,-6956955,-4706,19775,-21527,-1510,-5317,13321,6399,61661,43844,8239,-5242,-14007,2667,-28839,-17501,-60013&cst=1.0,1.01,1.05&csts=1.0&cstr=1.01&spd=50000,50000,50000

Towing!! I hate myself!! I'm sorry I didn't hunt you down!! Two of us just did the Gaspesie loop and we were in Perce for lunch one day and I saw a Vector/Venture and I said: "Hey, I know a guy who has a sled like that with the bubble trunk box and the spot/GPS bracket on the handlebars, but doesn't ride out this way". Then we got sidetracked when we pulled out to the gas next door to Auberge Roland and the pumps were wrapped in plastic and the station was closed up tight. Good thing for Jean-Pierre and his above ground tank (and hot chocolate & soup)! Then we went to the end of town by the fire station to see where we could drop onto the ice for the photo "under" the rock, but we didn't see any tracks. And when the tourism guy said that the ice that was on the south side had gone back out to sea (and the rescue guys wouldn't like to get cold & wet pulling us out of the water) we just settled for the Team Iceman shot from the end of the Rue du Quai pier.

Wow! Beautiful pics this week! I don't care too much about seeing footprints, but it looks like you're walking miles away from the machine to get the shots?! I'm getting tired just looking.

Is it true that they call you Tom Road-man?

Ditto! That Rhockin's got a million dollar smile!