Trailblazer

Surgery complete, she's been revived and she's real tight! As tight as they can get, she's even got sass too. Just a simple twitch and she's at 10Gs on the rpm, pinch me please. Brap brap......
Need a new battery to turn that tight witch over then she'll be out for a test run.


 
 

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now

Cash is good, fill what you need and pay.
I remember one year (2006 perhaps) we had to buy lots of 20 litres, we were 4 sleds some good on fuel some not. Ended up buying 3 lots of 20 litres, 2 sleds took the 20 the other 2 split the 20. Memories of Scerie 54.

Well it's like this Tom, Don is right, we all need a mistress. I love my Quebecois grunt and endurance but I sure do miss my Japanese $$$ich between my legs.
She's on the operating table as we speak, hoping to revive her.

hi artsled !!!
roughly in miles ....
tq 5 ..........................28 miles
l t ..ste florence.........6 miles
lake ..........................15 miles
st alex..lac saumon...14 miles
lt ste marguerite.........12 miles
one way ....x 2 !!!
l t ..for local trail
very-very light drizzle this morning for a short while...fogggy....clouds flying very low !!!
went to clubhouse...about  30 sleds around 11 hrs 30am .....28 from nb !!!
 
 
jean-guy
 

How are you enjoying your new sled JG?
 

Oh boy, that must've beeen a Friday afternooner on the production line.

What a great run Tom, thanks for sharing with all of us.
Safe travels home

hi jg !!!
not my department !!!! hahhaha...seriously , i think i saw that 1x...yaaa...look easy to use !!!
back from grooming tq 5 + local trail...then received a phone call from secretary ...they wanted my machine in downtown albertville...br was in trouble since a few days...
 
they had to groom subito presto !!!....br should fixed by now....
about 40 sleds today ...many from nb !!!
still mild temps !!!
 
jean-guy
 
 

Rock'n Rohlin Tom
Keep burning up those trails.
Last day around the corner., more adventures a head.

Cash is good, fill what you need and pay.
I remember one year (2006 perhaps) we had to buy lots of 20 litres, we were 4 sleds some good on fuel some not. Ended up buying 3 lots of 20 litres, 2 sleds took the 20 the other 2 split the 20. Memories of Scerie 54.

hi eddie !!!
hahha...sure...but , i was too tired !!!
temps still at - 8c !!!
grooming tq 5 for the free weekend...expecting many bumps late sunday night !!!
broke the little pole for the light on the drag while cutting branches...i ll fix it tomorrow...guys were too busy at gas station to weld it !!!
pics from last monday night !!!
 
jean-guy
 

1850 miles with no issues.
We road 228 miles today from Forestville to the Delta and I NEVER took fuel......The MPG conditions were variable all day but I found that range to be quite impressive.  (9.5 Gallons) plus 4 Gallon Jerry
The low fuel light was on in Jonquire but I did have a gallon left in the tank.  We were also carrying all the gear for our 8 day adventure.
Range translates to safety in QC when saddlebagging.
Realizing a two stroke isn't for everyone....myself included if this thing grenades.
If it doesn't and Doo engineers got this correct.  It's something to really consider in the future.
Sled is such a blast to ride.
My 2 Cents #NOTBRANDLOYAL
BJ
 
 

I usually have a big group with me. One year I had 14 (we didn't backpack until we were down to 5), last year 4 came as a surprise making us nine and that was worse because I already preplanned a whole trip for five.  And I can tell you unquestionably it is a pain in the ass. Everything you do takes longer. Getting trail passes getting gas paying for your meals checking in and checking out of the hotel. And the poor sucker who rides in the back never gets to take a piss because as soon as he shows up everybody else is ready to go. Then you have nine possible missed corners nine possible blown belts and so on. I read all the time about guys doing 200 300 miles, hell 400 miles in a day. I got guys bitching when we crack 180.  It's all part of the fun.
Your plan looks good to me. your last two days will be short if you divide them up to Quebec city and to Shawinigan.  That's OK some of the guys might appreciate it. I would stay at the four points in Quebec City. There's a few others too such as the Quebec inn I've never been there. 
As long as you are resourceful you will be able to find anything you need almost anywhere when you are not in the bush. If you have some people who like specific oils or other things you should probably carry that. Otherwise a lot of places carry two-stroke oil, iso for gas, spark plugs and even belts but not hotels. Some places you will be  getting gas are servicing cars as well so you might be in a town where you might be able to hit a mechanic shop or at Canadian tire or another kind of box store. 
In a breakdown situation use your heads and get the sled to a town or nearest road and figure out from there. Depends on where you are and what's closest.  It's very common for locals to help even when there is a language barrier. It's also common to pay for a roll back or pickup ride.  RIP Bernard. 
 You should pre-plan where you're going to get your trail passes by calling ahead. Make sure everyone has all of the information they need and the proof of ownership for their trail passes otherwise some group of you will have them and some won't. That's no fun but can be exciting. 
There's already another recent thread about packing for bag trips and you should look into the GPS and security precautions threads. 
Have a great trip. 

Funny stuff mike, memories!
No more racing Yamahas down the lake for you.

They are staking a trail through the reservoir again! 
That's terrific, I'll have to do it once more.

I agree....just kidding, kind of.
Seriously, I did a trip to Val d'Or with a group of 8, we were all experienced sledders and knew the consequence's riding in a big group so it was decided off the bat before hitting the trail to divide up the group in 2. Agree on a lunch location then meet up there and regroup at the hotel. During the day we would keep to the same route and we hop scotch each once'n while and at times take breaks together. It was smooth sailing through out the trip. HPARaptor can chime in on this, he was on that ride.

They are staking a trail through the reservoir again! 
That's terrific, I'll have to do it once more.

Beautiful early morning rises, you're hardcore Tom.

I don't think he did this weekend Jim, he started in Champlain and he lives in St.Thomas, trailered there is my guess.
Trails close to the St.Lawrence near Montreal are not very rideable since the rain and thaw. We need more snow down here.

Nice report and pics Alain, how does KriKri do it? Taking pics on the back with her mitts on. She's a super star.

Friday drove up with the trailer and 2 sleds, from Chenneville and on the snow banks on the side of the road was telling stories. They got a ton of snow here and according to the clubs website they have been grooming. 

After unloading our gear I went to start up the water system and got a little surprise, heater in the well is kaputt, reservoir tank showing 0 lbs of pressure, try the pump and got a humming noise. Oh boy it's frozen so I check for cracks/split and didn't see or feel any, grab a spare heater get her going and after an hour pressure gauge is beginning to show pressure and not wet spots anywhere. Let her go for the night and start up the system in the morning with no troubles. Lucky!! Heater must've crapped out during the week when the temps were fairly mild, positive in the day and very minimal negatives in the evening. Friday night fell to -24°c pump would've split in two for sure. Saturday morning off to the hardware store for a replacement. 
On the trails by 12:30 to meet CNC in town, couldn't find CNC oh this week end is going great. So decide to go for a little run, check out the local stuff. 43 to the 323 then took the local back to the 43 back to town, 2 hours. Met a few guys and talked trail conditions and they said everything around there was groomed. All the trails I rode on was hard as nails and flat, Koodos to the groomers for saving the trails.
Jan. 15
My ride today up the trail by the lake showed just a small spot in the middle not frozen yet. Later in the afternoon we saw 2 sleds running up the lake starting from my end and I was in awe!!! Where they were riding was open water just 2 weeks ago and all of last week was positive temps in the day so I figure maybe 2 inch at the most, hope they made it. Crazy!!


Didn't get much riding in and the some I did phone froze on me, so sorry no more pics. Had the stove stoked Saturday night.

 
 
 

WOW!!!
That's a pretty scary experience to go through, let me tell you that when you're put in a situation like that the wheels start turning and all kind of variables are considered. I'm so glad to hear that you did not consider following Jims tracks and risk yourself down'n out for the count even though he was not far off the trail so it seems but you didn't know that. You made a smart call.
Coming from my own experience I faced a similar situation in that area back in 2001. We were two, I on a ZR800 and my buddy on a SRX both short tracks, Bernard was busting trail in 2 feet of snow that had been accumulating since we left Clova late in the afternoon, It's starting to get dark and he runs out of gas, now the variables are turning wheels. We knew we weren't far from Balbuzard and the best option was to double up and ride in for gas to bring back but it was snowing so hard and getting darker by the minute, we weren't sure if we would make it back, by then the sled could be buried and he feared the groomer would crush it the next day. We had no GPSs back then. We decide to double up and tow his sled, not long after we arrive at Balbuzzard with a litre or two to spare in my tank, we fuel up and push on. We were on a mission to make it to Senneterre as we left from Pincourt real early that morning. At this point we decide to not take the trail and take the road, we were told it passes right by Lac Fallion and on into Senneterre and that it had just been recently plowed but not sanded and had a little snow accumulation so it would be safe to ride on. Well off we go blasting down the road side by side with the high beams on and everything is a sweet as ever until I lose Bernard's light, I wait. I minute or two later he's pulling up slowly and says to me can you go back and get my ski. What? I say looking over to the side noticing one of his skis was missing, it seams there must have been a bit of gravel/sand beneath the snow on his side and eventually burned down the carbide, runner then the plastic. So much for the mission. Fetch the ski, place it under the ski post and he can ride. We were not far from Lac Fallion, we could see the lights in the distance. Next day he gets a pick up truck ride to LSQ and I'm on my own for the morning riding up to meet him.
Not trying to steel your thread here Tom just wanted to share an experience I had in the same area once upon a time. keep pushing forward.

Only in Quebec do we hear of men having these problems.