TheBigLake

Good afternoon,
Our last day today, home tomorrow. Rode around 200 today I think. Left the Universel, dipped between 85 and a couple greens to get down to the rail yard at 35. Put the boot to it, landed at the Roche Blanc intersection where one of our crew noticed some shredded bogeys. Return ticket for him. Two of us snagged a great lunch and some fuel at Hiboux, ran into Mikerider and his crew headed for St Pam. Ran 5 to 55 to 35, set the cruise control and didn’t stop until the railyard. 
 
A lot of clubs aren’t open Monday and Tuesday. Same with many local restaurants in town RDL. Typical chains open as usual. The restaurant here is all revamped, looks great. Exact same breakfast menu as always. Dinner menu options aren’t plentiful, but the food is much better than it ever was. 
Spoke with the spa attendant tonight, she said this place was full all of December and the first half of January. Feels really empty to us, but they’re glad to see it slow for a moment. Worth the drive for some great trail time here. Some snow pack can be a little light in spots but typical RDL experience prevails!

Good afternoon,
Our last day today, home tomorrow. Rode around 200 today I think. Left the Universel, dipped between 85 and a couple greens to get down to the rail yard at 35. Put the boot to it, landed at the Roche Blanc intersection where one of our crew noticed some shredded bogeys. Return ticket for him. Two of us snagged a great lunch and some fuel at Hiboux, ran into Mikerider and his crew headed for St Pam. Ran 5 to 55 to 35, set the cruise control and didn’t stop until the railyard. 
 
A lot of clubs aren’t open Monday and Tuesday. Same with many local restaurants in town RDL. Typical chains open as usual. The restaurant here is all revamped, looks great. Exact same breakfast menu as always. Dinner menu options aren’t plentiful, but the food is much better than it ever was. 
Spoke with the spa attendant tonight, she said this place was full all of December and the first half of January. Feels really empty to us, but they’re glad to see it slow for a moment. Worth the drive for some great trail time here. Some snow pack can be a little light in spots but typical RDL experience prevails!

Good afternoon,
Our last day today, home tomorrow. Rode around 200 today I think. Left the Universel, dipped between 85 and a couple greens to get down to the rail yard at 35. Put the boot to it, landed at the Roche Blanc intersection where one of our crew noticed some shredded bogeys. Return ticket for him. Two of us snagged a great lunch and some fuel at Hiboux, ran into Mikerider and his crew headed for St Pam. Ran 5 to 55 to 35, set the cruise control and didn’t stop until the railyard. 
 
A lot of clubs aren’t open Monday and Tuesday. Same with many local restaurants in town RDL. Typical chains open as usual. The restaurant here is all revamped, looks great. Exact same breakfast menu as always. Dinner menu options aren’t plentiful, but the food is much better than it ever was. 
Spoke with the spa attendant tonight, she said this place was full all of December and the first half of January. Feels really empty to us, but they’re glad to see it slow for a moment. Worth the drive for some great trail time here. Some snow pack can be a little light in spots but typical RDL experience prevails!

Sorry for the double post here, but just saw this on FB which tells you where that rough section of 35 is. And by rough, it’s brutal.

Jasmin is Tourville. We were going to go that way until we found out that baby is closed on Tuesdays as well. We will take a long cut and end up at Hiboux tomorrow for lunch. Their FB page says they’re open seven days a week now. 

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Good evening,
We landed back about 4PM as a run to the dealer was needed for one of our crew. New Klim gear courtesy of some cash spent at Jean Morneau in RDL. Always great folks.
Ran through Cabano down to Temiscouata this morning. 85 was aces. 563 has some whippets but is quite nice otherwise. Clicking once in a while but again, no issues. You could see the snowpack decreasing slightly in there. Hooked up with 35 headed toward Sully, there’s a spot of probably 4-5 miles of ungroomed material halfway between Sully and the 563/35 intersection. It’s very rough. 1.4-2’ wumps with the occasional rogue wave thrown in. The SmartShox are a complete game changer. That XRS ate it up at 60+ kmh without breaking a sweat. The sled just doesn’t move. You see one coming you think is going to hurt, and it just glides over?
Anyway, got gas at the Irving on the way down to the village of Pohenegamook. That guy keeps a great store. Had lunch at Auberge de Frontieres. They were just finishing up staking the lake when we finished our lunch. There are some slushy spots for sure, and the staked route is further west on the lake than last year. Good crossing. Made it up to the cross overlook. 526 was great, orange trail 40 is stellar, 546 to 85 to the hotel. Nice day. Highly recommend. Headed for Jasmin tomorrow.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey folks,
Boots on the ground in RDL. Got checked in and all parked, took a 50 mile burn to stretch the legs this afternoon. Snow cover is low-ish, but extremely enjoyable. You’ll click the skis a few times getting out of town, but once past the Adventurers you’re pretty well set. Ran down 85, up 544 to 44 back to 85. Tomorrow we will run down through Cabano and over to Pohenegamook. 
The Universel is a ghost town. There’s nobody here. Now’s the time to make the run if you can. Saw mikerider a few moments ago, I think he’s had the whole place to himself…the hotel and the trails!
On another side, two of us are running the new CKX Mission helmets now. Both of us came out of Oxygens after hearing rave reviews from others we know. This helmet is all that! It’s not as quiet as the Oxygen, but it’s so much lighter, no fogging issues at all and I can turn my head without turning my body while it’s on!
New to me this year is a 2023 Renegade XRS 900R with SmartShox. Another game changer. Came off a 2021 XRS 900T with QAS that is still a fantastic ride. I’m pretty well sold after our short run, but we will put some saddle time in tomorrow and see how things pan out.

Hey all,
Four of us inbound for the Universel tomorrow dark thirty AM. Thanks for starting this thread! Very helpful.

Evening,
Rolled into the Universel tonight. Parked in St Sabine and rode up. The conditions are getting thin in a few spots where you have to run roads before you hit St Pamphille. Once on the outbound side, plenty of base and excellent riding.
You can tell the days are getting longer. Any spot the sun can cast a decent swath of light, you’ll find a dip in the trail. 35 was a little lumpy but still great cruising and smiles all around from my wife and two other couples with us. Sunny, warm and ideal spring riding. 526 got plowed, but good base. Some nasty rises close together, something to watch out for and it’s not for long before you’re back on track. BUT, 40 is flat and perfect after being plowed for a while this year. Finest seven miles around and it’s crazy wide right now, and 544 was stellar from that point to 85.
Headed down to Sully tomorrow for lunch. Back to the trucks Sunday.
Hearing big storm next week?

Boat show season has ended for us! Looking forward to loading up for another ride this week.
Inbound to RDL Friday evening for two nights. Dropping in St Pamphille Friday AM. Only a 1.5hr drive from home to there, and it cuts off a bunch of mileage that my wife or the other couples would prefer not to run. 287mi from home to RDL I believe. So 140-180mi days of fantastic riding in our future. My wife’s first ride of the season…just received a promotion so she’s been busy, but what a great time for her to kick it off either way. Two couples joining us. Heading up the typical Universel/L’Estaminet experience, one couple has been up with us a few times, for the other it’ll be an introduction to the epitome of fine trail riding.
Hoping you all are well - Jack, I was hoping to connect with you and Sandi again. Great meeting you both a while back.

Get it in now while you can!
Riding is exceptional, really. 85 to Temiscouata yesterday was a great burn. Over to Sully for lunch, that burger was worth the wait. More traffic than I’ve ever seen out here but good stuff all around. Didn’t hit a bad trail yet. 
It’s that time of year and unless another storm hits, the in-town material will fade quickly. I lost the turbo on my new Expedition SE Turbo R (blew the cooling line) so my ‘21 XRS 900T has been seeing some use (fantastic sled). Thinking this may be the last ride in QC for us this year. Back to St Sabine today to load up/head home. 
Signing off ‘til December. You all stay well!
 

Get it in now while you can!
Riding is exceptional, really. 85 to Temiscouata yesterday was a great burn. Over to Sully for lunch, that burger was worth the wait. More traffic than I’ve ever seen out here but good stuff all around. Didn’t hit a bad trail yet. 
It’s that time of year and unless another storm hits, the in-town material will fade quickly. I lost the turbo on my new Expedition SE Turbo R (blew the cooling line) so my ‘21 XRS 900T has been seeing some use (fantastic sled). Thinking this may be the last ride in QC for us this year. Back to St Sabine today to load up/head home. 
Signing off ‘til December. You all stay well!
 

Get it in now while you can!
Riding is exceptional, really. 85 to Temiscouata yesterday was a great burn. Over to Sully for lunch, that burger was worth the wait. More traffic than I’ve ever seen out here but good stuff all around. Didn’t hit a bad trail yet. 
It’s that time of year and unless another storm hits, the in-town material will fade quickly. I lost the turbo on my new Expedition SE Turbo R (blew the cooling line) so my ‘21 XRS 900T has been seeing some use (fantastic sled). Thinking this may be the last ride in QC for us this year. Back to St Sabine today to load up/head home. 
Signing off ‘til December. You all stay well!
 

Get it in now while you can!
Riding is exceptional, really. 85 to Temiscouata yesterday was a great burn. Over to Sully for lunch, that burger was worth the wait. More traffic than I’ve ever seen out here but good stuff all around. Didn’t hit a bad trail yet. 
It’s that time of year and unless another storm hits, the in-town material will fade quickly. I lost the turbo on my new Expedition SE Turbo R (blew the cooling line) so my ‘21 XRS 900T has been seeing some use (fantastic sled). Thinking this may be the last ride in QC for us this year. Back to St Sabine today to load up/head home. 
Signing off ‘til December. You all stay well!