Flyin Brian

I'd do 3 to 93. You can get gas just short of Clermont at the Polaris Dealer, then make it Sacre Couer/Hotel Coronet and gas up there and be good to KM 31. Even though this mileage is longer than going through L'Etape I believe it will be just as quick because the trails is faster especially on 3 about the Sagueney River.

we rode mostly the western part of Mont Valin. The farthest east we got was Relais La Chappell

Jan 18th--Left Quebec City with my buddy around 12:45 after picking up our rental sleds at SM Sport. Went up trail 3 toward Cleremont. Couldn't see any change to the trail even though there were talks about the trail being rerouted somewhat. Went up 83, Clermont Express, and pulled into the Delta at 6:00. 235 miles Jan 19th--headed out over the dams up 367 toward Scooby Raid. Across the lake we hit the local Orange Trail toward St. Ludger de Milot. Got on 93 to 367 to 328 and ate lunch at Relais des Lacs. Turned back on 328 west down the orange trail to 93. Went over the river in St Charles and back to the Delta on 83. 220 miles. Jan 20th--Headed to Mont Valins over the dams and took the orange trail (Saguenay Bill calls it pickle park). Headed north on the 93 detour to 328 east. Got on 93 East toward the ski area. Plenty of snow up in the mountains. In fact about 5 miles up from the ski area there was at least 6 inches of new snow and in some cases up to a foot. Went down to Relais Chappel and cruised back on the lake to Auberge 31 to eat lunch. After leaving lunch we headed back toward the ski area and turned up the 267 orange trail. I was pretty much breaking most of the trail when about 10 miles in we hit the groomer. Smooth sailing from there down Bras Louis. Gased up in St. Ambroise. Kept going 93 east and came over the river again in St. Charles to add a few extra miles before heading back to the Delta. 221 miles. Jan 21st--Headed out of the Delta out 83 and over the St Charles River. Headed 93 west, cut up the orange trail to 328 west and then 367 west. Gased up in St Monique (the power line) on our way to Relais Vauvert. Got to Vauvert around 11:30 and we were the only two people in there the whole hour we were there. Headed out of Vauvert to the orange trail that goes to 93. Hit 93 and went east back to the power line. Stayed on 328 and hit a couple of the orange trails around Labreque and Begin. The gas station in Begin is closed. Kept heading 328 east to 367 south to 93 and gased up again in St. Ambroise. Went back over the dams to the Delta. 229 miles. Jan 22nd--headed up to Relais Onachiway before heading back over to Auberge 31. Over the dams, pickle park, orange trail off of 328 to Onachiway. Got some coffee before heading out of Onachiway to La Cache to 267 where we met the groomer a couple of days ago. From Auberge 31 we headed down Bras de l'enfer to 328 west. Miscalculated our gas since we were playing around in the powder up in the mountains. My gas light on my Apex was on for about 35 kilometers. Made it to St. Honore and then back to the Delta. 213 miles. Jan 23rd--had to return our sleds in Quebec City and get to the airport so I could fly back home to Georgia. From the Delta we went 383 over La Barrage to 368 west. Got on 23 south toward L'Tape and gased up there. From L'Tape we hit the 304 south. We did the orange cut through trail that brings you back to 3. Headed 3 south all the way back. Around Lac Beauport the trails could use more snow but still very passable. Left the Delta at 7:30 and pulled into the rental spot at 12:45 with a stop for lunch at the relais on the powerline. 190 miles. All in all we did about 1300 miles over 6 days. Left the hotel no later that 9 every day and were in by 4:30. There is plenty of snow whereever you ride. This is my one trip for the year and hope to make it back next year. Flyin Brian

Trail was perfect, was on it last Thursday. In fact 368 has been widened in a lot of sections especially as you cross over route 175 (the road) going towards 23. We came from the Holiday Inn/Delta heading back toward Quebec City.

I should clarify. The sleds were model 2013 and supposedly had little mileage on them although my speedometer showed about 10,000kms on it. Only thing I can guess is they change speedometers because the sled no where near looked like it had that much mileage. After the second belt was blown I put my spare belt on his sled. He rode about 600 miles on that with no problem. They were genuine Yamaha 8DN belts. I checked the metal bracket at the bottom when I changed the first belt and I could visually see no issues. First belt was ripped apart doing no more than 40mph. The second belt was still intact but was missing teeth on the underside. My 07 Apex I sold after last season had almost 13,000 miles on it with the original belt.

Just got back early this morning from flying back to Georgia. My buddy and I do 1, maybe 2 trips a year since it's tough with families and therefore decided to sell our sleds last year because of this. We've had others in our group rent from SM Sport in the past with no hitches which is why it's tough for me to write this. We got an Yamaha Apex (my old sled) and an Apex XTX. Let me say that I've put well over 25000 miles on all my sleds and I have never personally blown a belt. In fact out of all the trips I've ever been on I can only remember it happening once on the trail with another rider in our group. In any case my buddy blew a belt on the second in on a 6 day trip. Ok maybe it was an old belt so we replaced it with the extra belt. About 300 miles later it happened again. This day we were headed up the Auberge KM 31 and had just passed by the ski area and Passion Quebec. We turned around and the gas station guy had a belt. Now at least we have one extra at a cost of $139. When we returned the sled to SM Sport we told him about our issue. Francis, the so called owner, tried to tell us that it had to be his driving that caused both belts to blow. I don't speak much french but in a nice sort of way I told him he was crazy. We thought my buddy might get reimbursed for the belt he should not have had to buy but instead was forced to pay $90 to replace the belt. If I didn't have a flight to catch I might be in a Quebec jail right now. We were also told that both belts were supposedly new. I've been driving sleds for many years and I'll say as I've gotten older I no where near ride as aggressive as I used to so I laughed when Francis said it was his driving. I definitely ride more aggressive than him and had no issues. I asked a couple of the employees if they've been busy this year and they both said no, actually been slow. The moral of this story is I guess desperate times cause for desperate measures.

Besides SM Sport in Loretteville, any other places to rent from around that area? St. Raymond would probably be ok as well. All makes considered. My buddy and I are flying into Quebec and my brother and buddy are meeting us. Would like to start here and head north before we have to come back to fly out. Flyin Brian

Thanks for the reminder as to why I won't ever ride over that way again. Over the years I've heard way to many stories and this is just another confirmation.

Left the DS this morning, actually a day early. Conditions north of the river should hold up. In and out of the DS are very poor. It was 44 degrees this morning when we left. There were 7 guys at the hotel yesterday that put their sleds on 2 flat beds to get back to their truck somewhere south. We ended up doing about 1000 miles in 4 1/2 days of which we rode with Sagueny Bill for 3 of them.

I'll get straight to the point. They need a blizzard. We left the DS this morning a day early and are still on the road. We were the only jackasses that road yesterday in the rain. Still managed 180 miles so we would know first hand of the conditions. Amazingly we had the trails to ourselves. In and around the DS is shot. Didn't ride today as we are headed home but it was 44 degrees when we left. North of St. Ambroise isn't bad and the further north and west still has good snow. We went over the St Charles River yesterday as well as the lake/river coming from Milot to Scoobyraid and it was about 2-5 inches of water. My suggestion is to wait for more snow or be prepared to trailer north. What sucks is this upcoming cold weather is going to make the trails feel like concrete. Sorry for the bad news.

looks like one of the private room keys from JR's

I use Skiwheelz. I really like them. You have to put them down manually and when you want them up you lift the ski while still moving to pop them up. When I bought them they were the only spring loaded retractable wheel. I was driving partially on a dirt parking lot and I broke the interior spring. They did replace it for shipping costs only. They were a little pricey but sure are convenient driving through the parking lot at the Holiday Inn to get gas.

Rode today from the HS to Ltape. 23 north of Ltape is real good. Came out 368 this morning and back 83 this afternoon. 23 is good the whole way. My brother and some buddies came in tonight and said the hit a whiteout around Ltape.

Whereabouts did you cross the Ferry to get over to Gaspe? Looks like a great trip and see you had a lot of snow.

Team Buttpaste on Monday left for the Casino down the Clermont Express. Once down 83 we turned up 3 north to St. Simeon for some gas and food. As expected 83 out of HS is rough in spots until you get down toward La Baie. 83 from there to 3 was flat and fast. 3 North was groomed. From St. Simeon we headed south on the powerline, local trail 94. We proceeded down 378 south and did some hot dogging on the powerline in a few feet of snow. There has been a change of trail where 377 used to go north to get to 3. There is no signage for 377 on the trail. You do come out on the powerline and have to turn back a little to the right. About 3 miles in there was a sign that let you know you were on 377. We then took a right on 3 back up to local 54 and headed down to the casino. Trails were very good and 240 miles went by fast. On Tuesday we headed north out of the casino back on the Clermont Express and at the fork we took trail 383 to the first local trail. Since my buddy's Apex SE was due for it's first oil change we headed to the dealer in Laterierre on 368 and after about an hour we were back on the trail. We kept heading west on 368 and caught 383 down to La Boulinaire. 383 is pretty rough. It had exposed rocks and many corners were icey. When we left Boulinaire we hit the quad trail for a few miles which saved my suspension. We then went back to the HS to check back in and left again heading back out 83 to the local trail heading north, then took a right on 383 and did a loop. Other than 383 around La Boulinaire trails were pretty good. We left yesterday from HS to drive back to Connecticut. When we left at about 6:45am there was about 4 inches on the ground. They were expecting between 5 to 8 inches and it was VERY windy out. Glad I wasn't riding in the fields. All in all we did about 760 miles in 3 1/2 days.