Fozzy

Weekend yes it’s like that, but not so bad during the week.

I’m riding tomorrow, not Quebec but pretty dam close to it as I will be only a river away the whole time. Riding from Deep River to Mattawa and back for the day. Forth time out on the new to me sled. I have always been a true blue fan from riding a 96 Vmax, 98 SRX, 04 Viper, 06 Apex, 09 Nytro. Nytro has 37,000km and the thing still runs strong. Took it grass dragging and it did well coming 2nd in it’s class with a crap load of km on it lol. This year my group had planned to do Gaspe so I figured I would get a new sled and went with a Yamacat Sidewinder SRX. I was holding out on hopes of Yamaha coming out with a true blue sled but doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Looks like Yamaha is stuck with Arctic Cat like Canada is stuck with Trudeau ( what???... I had to put my political spin on this somewhere). Anyway, so far I love the power and it’s set up very well so it handles like it’s on rails. Save your breath on the weight argument. I’m 50 now and stopped doing backflips years ago on a sled. Plus for all you BRP loyalists, with all the gas and extra parts I see you guys carry we are probably the same weight 😜.

In this pic, Graham who is 5’6” stepped off the trail to help Jon get his Sidewinder upright. He was up to his helmet in snow.

The search for snow and open trails for the first ride was very limited this year. Then all the problems with the Pandemic didn’t make it any easier. We live in Ottawa which is considered a orange zone so if we want to stay together in a condo or cabin it will have to be in a orange zone. Lucky to see Sacre-Lecour is yellow zone and with the new restrictions put in place two days earlier it will be considered a orange zone and the trails are groomed and marked green. Bam book a cabin at 5 Ferm Etoiles for Friday to Monday. We leave Ottawa all loaded and ready for our eight hour drive at 5am. Great ride up all the way, 640 to bypass mtl, through Quebec City and up to meet the Ferry at Tadoussac. As we pull up to wait for the Ferry we are stopped by the QPF. Asking us what our intentions are and where did we come from. We are a orange zone traveling to a orange zone. It’s discouraged to travel but can’t stop us, on we go. As we pull up to Sacre-Lecour there is now a road block. Same procedure and questions as before. We arrive at our cabin around 2pm, unpack, get sleds ready and off for a short 100km ride before coming back for dinner. Leaving the small trial out of Le Ferm 5 is a bit thin but as soon as we get a little farther up the 93, it was snow heaven. We took the Tq3 to Relais Escoumins, had a snack and beverage and then back to the cabin. Saturday morning up and adam we are on the snow for 9am, plan is to ride up the 93 to La Chappell, get gas, take the 267 to the Bras Louie and lunch at the out door smoke cookers at Destination Mont Valin. As we were on the 267 we stopped for a break halfway there and some other guys coming from there said the Bras Louie is down to dirt due to logging. We turn around head back to the 93 and head to Des. Mont Valin. Lunch was friggen awesome, sun was out and lots of people. As we are coming to the ski hill the Fcmq had a trail stop checking for compliance. After lunch it was back to La Chappell for fuel taking the secondary trail to get there. From there we took the long loop up towards Les Escoumins and back to the cabin. Back to the cabin late, 8pm with just over 380km for the day. Sunday was going to be a easier day of riding as we were all a bit sore. Sunday we rode to Les Escoumins, a small loop out of there, then Relais Escoumins for a drink and back to the cabin for a total of 220 km. It was a great trip. Left Monday morning for Ottawa. Hoping for Val-Dor towards the end of January since we still have no snow back home.

We arrived at 2pm and were stopped twice by QPF, asking what we were thinking. We’re going sledding, staying in an orange zone, leaving from an orange zone. Tabernac! The snow here is amazing and we’re on the St. Lawrence.

Unfortunately yes but I bought a new sled this year and right now there is nowhere really to go but north of Sag. If I only get to ride 100km back and forth, IMO it’s better than nothing. It is looking good up there, found a couple of 400km loops to do.

No isolation on return is required. I live in Ottawa and we are in a orange zone and our cases are really not that bad. Three of us are leaving early tomorrow morning and traveling/staying in a orange zone in Quebec. It was yellow but now was changed to orange after Tuesday’s announcement. Not sure how sledding will be affected from Dec 25 to Jan 10, but pretty sure it won’t be good.

Heading that way Friday morning.

As of right now there is nothing open. I was planning on Mont Valin in two weeks and that’s not looking like it will be possible.

This one is easy, it’s Gaspé 😜

I suspect they won't open the borders till after Labour Day. This will greatly reduce the amount of people traveling between borders. If it carries on longer than that, I wouldn't recommend any of you Americans buying the Early Quebec Pass because they won't open till there is a Vaccine.

I’m hearing rumours that the border will Re-open on May 17.

Where is there a safe place to park my truck and trailer? I hear the theft is crazy and the cops are in on it.

Quebec has closed its provincial border with Ontario. Living here in Ottawa it’s crazy to see the QPF stopping all Ontarian's from entering into Quebec. I also heard a couple of guys who snuck into Quebec and went for a day of riding last Tuesday.