Carman
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Posts posted by Carman
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9 hours ago, iceman said:
Day 5 Monday
We have our breakfast and then at 8am Playhard is starting to make his calls to try to round up a track and etc. to get fixed up. He calls to Gaspe and things seem to be going great. I hear him answering this guy with yes my slides are dupont and they are OK. Thought it a strange question but i was letting him do his thing as he was getting on fine and did not seem to need me to talk to the guy. Jacques from Copper had offered up his pickup truck for a sled swap this was plan B if we found no dealer to replace the track. Playhard would take Jacques truck go to RDL drop Apex and get a spare bullet (vector) and rejoin us in Rivere a Renard at Caribou. Jacques is a super guy and was willing to do anything we needed to help us. So Playhard now is set guy from Yamaha in Gaspe says he has all the pieces to replace track. Great. So we suit up as Yamaha is sending their truck for Playhard. We leave out of Copper bidding farewell to Jacques and David for now. I got to admit I'm gun shy now as Playhard's track had20k miles on it. Pretty impressive huh? Well I'm nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs as my Iceripper has close to 24k miles on it so I am on borrowed time. This I know.Out of Murdochville 597 south. Big rollers to get out of town. Get going from town it gets better but not up to my specs for sure. Definately a big disappointment. The NH boys are like what do you mean it's not bad at all. Hmmmm. I am spoiled i know it. Not far from the Orange Local off 597 to Gaspe we stop. We are taking a break and looking over my track. It's surprisingly not looking like it has almost 24k miles on it but we find one small tear near a window on one side. No big deal just need to watch it. I look on my left floor board near my footwell and I see a small black plastic piece. Huh? What is this? Well Mark and John knew right away it was a "button" from my clutch. One of three apparently. I ride them (sleds) not build em or fix them. I know stuff don't get me wrong but I learn things every day. What are the odds of this tiny piece getting flung out and making it onto my floorboard for me to find? We look at clutch yup 1 missing still got two others. Well so it shall be. Decision is made we ride to Gadpe to join playhard at Yamaha. If i loose another "button" it could be a problem, the guys say. Sled runs fine, of course i did not ride it like I normally would, but felt like normal.Onto orange local and it's much better than 597. No problems down and to TQ 5, we get to turn off for the Yamaha and it's not gonna be easy. For me anyway. Plowed road to get there. Screw it. I see the place I am getting there. NH boys put the landing gear down and roll on behind me. We cruise in.I go in front door and David is on phone with our Guru Pierre from our Dealer he is acting as a translator as there has been a serious breakdown in communication. They got no track. They got not much here. Now I am not bashing here so please don't take it that way. However before I grew up I used to ride Polaris and let's just say I know where pretty much every Polaris Dealer is throughout QC. I been to way too many. I was not picky as long as they could get me back going, hey do it up. Now a days is a whole different story. it's not just me as Playhard is very similar. I am very picky about who can put their hands on my lady. My misstress is not to be fooled with by just anyone. This shop here may have had the best intentions but no no no.We finished with Pierre on the phone as now with me there I was able to take over and talk to these guys. No track they want to order it, be here tmmrw at noon, no bueno. Just not feeling it here. They aint touching my sled. David looks at me I am already 2 steps ahead. He says we need to get out of here like now. I ask where is the U-haul rental. David finds it on his phone. I call. I french it up and get the ball rolling. The dealer here agrees since transport was already paid to put both our sleds in their trailer and drop us at U-haul. Get to U-haul is really no good snowbank to use to load sleds. Driver from dealer says he will wait so we can use ramp from his trailer to load rental truck. Takes a while but we finally get it worked out as they tell us u-haul has no dealer in RDL to drop truck. Ok where is closest to RDL? Guys says let me check.....He says ok all set you can drop it in St Simeon or Clermont only 23 miles to either one. Huh? I said can i look at what you got on that computer. Nice guy but not sure he has ever left Gaspe town. I look and just as David said and we both knew. St Simeon and Clermont are 23 miles from RDL. As the Crow Flies or swims over the river to the other side. Again no Bueno. Finally we find La Pocatiere, fine as rental is for 3 days same price as one day. So we drop rental on way by headed back to Trois Riveres on Thursday morning. Sleds loaded and now we leave there about 1:30 not exactly sure. Stop for lunch and get out of Gaspe about 2pm. Blacktrail.Had to stop to visit Pierre at Mt st Pierre. We could spend hours talking with him we are there well over 30 minutes. Back in the truck and hammer down. Gas stop in St Anne des Monts and now this truck and I are aquatinted so i push it. Into Universel at 8:30pm. Tomorrow we will play locally on the spare bullets (vectors) the Apex's are very happy to be back here they know where they are going and who will tickle them in all the right places.We could have pushed our luck. David's track was certainly not gonna go much further. Kind of silly to try to run the whole north shore back to RDL with it. Just not smart. My sled same thing it was running fine when put in truck. I chose to go with David rather than chance it and put the other guys in a position of having to tow one or both of us through the mountains on the North Shore.Been an outstanding season, not a record KM wise for me but damn close. Lots of KM ridden fir sure.Gonna be a welcome change to day trip for these last two days out of RDL.Great report as always ice. Good choice not to push your luck, enjoy the day loops on the bullets!
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On 3/23/2017 at 0:27 PM, dooOver said:
Me and two buddies are leaving Sunday to head to either Gaspie or Saguenay Qubec to ride for 3 days. We were originally planning on going to Gaspie but not sure how the trails are. It seems like Saguenat might have more snow? Better trails? We'd rather do the Gaspie if its good. We are coming from Maine, planning on doing another 3 days riding in the county on the way back, but it the riding is awesome we might just ride more in Quebec.
Any recommendations?
Thanks!
I would go with Gaspe, they seem to have the most amount of snow and long range forecast looks great!
Check out the link below to see snow depth in both areas:
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Day 4
350km day with a lake run to the Ski-doo dealer to get replace parts for my saddle bag, front carbide adjuster and topped up my oil. Rained the last hour of riding but trails were wide and fast all day, looking forward to a 5 course meal at Lac Taureau.
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Day 3
500 km for the day navi shut off for a bit due to the cold. Perfect fast trails all day and the final destination is the beautiful and rustic Pourvoirie Windigo totally solar powered and in the middle of nowhere. Gas at the saw mill where we met some guys from the forum and saw a team iceman sticker and again in La Dore and Relais 22.
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Very sad, I know that trail well, very fast, very windy and very steep imbancments on both sides of the trail.
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On 2017-02-21 at 0:05 PM, NSHM said:
Did you find out what it was?
Loose screw on the back of the speedo bearing.
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21 hours ago, iceman said:
73 to Relais 22
i'm leading my apex is the twin to yours.
Sorry I missed you, we rerouted and shortened our day to avoid the rain. I ride the XRS, my buddy Roger has the apex.
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19 minutes ago, iceman said:
Left Real Masse at 8:30am.
Fresh groomed and white asphalt. Today was gonna be much different than yesterday. The clubs have had time to catch up from the weekend onslaught. They are catching up on the grooming and things are shaping up.
We head up and take a perfect 350 east its love. And then to 349 just as sweet. And to 23 again just great. This is awesome. 23 is great all the way to the River in Shawinigan. We cross the River and continue on 23 up and into St. Tite. All good. We cruise on into Lac Aux Sables and stop for a quick top off of gas. We continue on and after Lac Aux Sables 23 is rerouted this year and thus part is bad. Really rough, not groomed in a long time. We soldier on to join the 302/23. It is much better now. We run the 302/23 to 353. 353 is just dreamy. Really nice. We run it up and then right turn down 23 and surprise its perfect. Down to join 3 and go 3 east. Its also in great shape. Been awhile since i been on 3 this far east. Near here. Its looking good and we go. We continue on and take 73 up and to St Raymond. This 73 is in need of some love. Not too great compared to what we saw elsewhere. Up to Gas on 23 next to Roquemont. It's 4:30 too early to stop now. Up 23 and this trail is good too. We go to the Relais and take the Local Orange trail back up toward Rivere a Pierre. This is a real gem. Fresh groomed. I'm thinking the groomer is up here he has to be in front of me. Sure enough just over halfway up he is here taking a break. We sneak on by. Thus trail is in great shape. He is grooming a perfect trail. Hey no problem. We head on up and join 73 then down to Rivere a Pierre. At the road crossing is some action. Flashing lights....SQ and Tansport Quebec directing traffic. Uh oh...
on closer inspection we got a bad accident here. At the road crossing to go to Rivere a Pierre. Car vs Sled. Mazda 3 vs an Apex or Venture, hard to tell from what was left. Car smashed and into the snowbank, sled mangled and in the right lane several hundred feet from crossing, this was some impact. I have learned there were 2 on the sled a man 75 years old has survived, his wife i believe was 80 years old and did not survive. RIP. The SQ were doing the accident reconstruction. We took this opportunity to show Nick the consequences of what can happen. Sad.
Onward we take a fast 73 railbed back and into Roquemont at 6:15.
No 300 for the boy again he needs to settle for 260.
Windigo Tomorrow.
We are at Windigo right now enjoying some beverages and a great meal. Trail from 22 here was great a little rough coming in to Windigo but not that bad. What trails are you taking tomorrow? We may cross paths, we are heading south to Le Tuque before cutting across to Saint-Michelle.
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1 hour ago, timberman said:
An update on conditions: trails were essentially awesome and FAST all day under cloudless skies. Lunch at Relais 22 was delicious and punctual: cheeseburgers and club sandwiches. Tonight at Hotel du Jardin it's the sledders package at $89 per night plus taxes. Nice room, just leaving for supper now.
Heading to Relais 22 tomorrow, how were the trails? Premium fuel available?
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Bluebird skies and cheese cake trails all day.
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Day 2 was an adventure; 462km from Lebel-Sur-Quevillon to Mistissini then back to Chibougamau with a 2 hour stop at the Yamaha dealer in Chibougamau at lunch trying to locate a mystery noise with the mechanic. We were first tracks on freshly groomed trails the entire day.
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7 minutes ago, Fuse6 said:
That looks like it was worth the drive.
Great pics, are you posting from an iPhone?
Yes I am, any tips on how I can get all the pics together in one post?
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First day is a wrap, Val-d'Or, Amos, Matagami, Lebel-Sur-Quevillon 440km of perfectly groomed trails. We drove up from the GTA last night and stayed at Le Forestel. We left 15C and rainy weather behind for -4C and blue bird skies.
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3 hours ago, Js12ren said:
We are a group of 4 and we are planning a trip Feb 27 - March 4 (six days of riding). So far we are thinking Temiscaming to La Sarre to Matagami To Val D'or. From there we aren't sure what to do. We will still have three days to get back to Temiscaming and we are looking for ideas to maybe complete a loop. Possibly heading down 386 to 63 and staying maybe at the Motel Le Classic and from there heading towards 43 and staying another night somewhere and then back to Temiscaming. Any ideas or suggestions would be great as the map I'm sure doesn't show many of the nice places to stay. Thanks in advance!
La Forestel in Val-d'Or is a great place to stay.
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1 hour ago, Trailblazer said:
You must be thinking of Windigo, reports say fox has been MIA for some time now.
La Domaine a must gas stop, fuel up there cuz the Indian reserve is 200 k away, La Verendrye is on the way but you must take a 15 k detour down to his place for 2$+\ litre gas, great necessity should you need it but f your early enough to buzz through you'll need to make a judgement call pending on trail status a sled fuel consumptions. Definitely possible to make the 200 k run if you're prepared.
We are riding from village Windigo to Val-d'Or next week is this the best place for fuel? 200km range is not an issue for our sleds.
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2 hours ago, Phil 1 said:
Baie Comeau to Godbout is one of the best trails.
Looks like it was groomed in the past 24 hrs
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I am planning a saddle bag trip at the end of the month and I was just curious how easy it will be to find synthetic 2-stroke BRP oil along my route or if I should pack 4 - 8 liters just in case. Below is my planned route:
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On 1/22/2017 at 10:26 AM, iceman said:
Mistissini is an elusive run. Depends on when you go. Often times that trail is on the map but non-existent until late in season. Could be different this year. But many years we have tried and it was just not open. I have been there once however and unless they changed the trail the last run up and onto the lake there is very fast on a summer road.
For your other Questions
1. i have never stayed in Lebel (gas and go for us) there is a Motel this one http://www.moteldulac.ca/. Dinner not sure. Probably a pizze place or something there.
2. Playhard is spot on. Your day 2 is short. Depending on what you are wanting to ride, trail from Lebel to Chapais is on an abandoned railbed and lets just say 100 miles goes by fast. But not so fast when it's-30c. There's gas in Demarisville I believe at a store there. Lunch would be Chapais i guess but then you are in Chiboug early afternoon. Me i would get to Chiboug then check to find out if Mistassini trail is really there. If so depending on time run it up, get gas then back to chiboug. Or there is a small local loop around chiboug to kill 45 minutes or 1 hr maybe.
3. Day 3 run from Chiboug to say Hotel Roberval. That positions you for a run down 83 to 73 to La tuque for the night. Again i do not know what kind of KM you are wanting per day. http://chateau-roberval.qc.ca/
4. Day 4 83 to 73 is a long day to La Tuqe compared to the railbed trail from lebel to chapais. Gas lunch at Relais 22 can't miss it 83 brings you right to gas pumps. Then 73 La Tuque and stay at https://www.hotelsmarineau.com/establishments/hotel-marineau-at-la-tuque/introduction or for a lodge experience with lodge prices http://www.clubodanak.com/
next day you are gonna need to go to St Michel de saints i guess. I will let the others give some of their ideas as well.
Iceman is there synthetic bombo oil easily available along this route or should I pack 4 to 8 litres for the trip?
2017/18 Quebec Trail Passes
in General Discussion
Posted
I have year make model and VIN# for my new sled but I won’t have plate number until after Christmas when my dealer registers it to me, can I still get a pass?