mikerider

A very beautiful area for sure. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. mike

Scranton, Good luck with the recovery. Next winter will only be better. mike

Andy, when I drove south out of RDL on Sunday morning, snow pack was still good for the first 75 miles or more, then was bad thru New Brunswick. But even in RDL, biggest problem might be trails that go down logging roads that are plowed. They are a sheer sheet of smooth ice now. Lakes are sheer ice with water on top. There appeared to be no flooding around RDL in fields etc. Hopefully a week makes a difference. Nine days and I am back on vacation so I hear your pain. Right now I doubt you could connect the dots to do a saddlebag trip. mike

Thanks Viper, only your Visa card could keep me here longer. A lot can happen in a week to change things. Don't give up yet. If the trails get icy, it will take something to cover up the ice that isn't blown away by spinning tracks. mike

Spectre, what did you decide? It is supposed to rain til around 8 AM tomorrow but it has stopped raining now. Very foggy. I had to say don't come and then it turns out good. Just doesn't look promising. Good luck. mike

Spectre, Don't want to steer you wrong, so just my opinion from what I see outside. Rain mist for hours, last two hours were/are steady rain. Plenty of snow but the trail top layer already being hard, once this rain turns to cold, the trail will be hard as a rock or ice. Only sleet and snow at the end of the storm could save things. Depending how much rain, might be flooding also. Even if just a setback, and groomers could fix it, will take a few days for them to get to all the trails. Hope that helps, mike

About an hour ago started as rain sprinkles, 25 f, turned to snow, now sleet that is almost rain. Forecasts all seem to vary for today and tomorrow but seem to be leaning towards rain. mike

Bill, So happy to see you are back doing what you love. Hope I get up for a ride and visit. Have a great winter, drink lots of Caribou. Mike

Just went out and did the Cat demo, several miles out and back. Top layer of snow had been spun to death so like riding in 2 inches of powder. Mostly smooth with very small soft bumps, just a couple bumps that were bigger. Drove a 600 Sno Pro short track and then a 7000 (Yami motor) XF LXR with 137 coupled suspension. Both sleds pushed bad in corners but no doubt that could be corrected. New seat since my '12 Cat. Taller and softer, and same complaint I had with my '12, the seat is too long. At 6 ft, I can't get my butt to the back lip of the seat. My TNT the seat feels higher, softer, better shaped and I am back at the lip so I feel locked in. The new 600 engine was very nice, fairly quiet, very livable noise level for trail riding. Seemed to have a lot of snap throughout. Rode very nice. A sled I could have and be happy. The 7000 ZR had a somewhat different feel to the rear suspsion. A hair stiffer, and a bit more kickback over bigger bumps, enough to kick my butt off the seat. Also the engine noise and what sounds like high revving all the time was obnoxious. The engine sounded much louder than the 600, and it was a sound I could definitely not listen to all day. Far louder than any four stroke and maybe more than some two strokes. The 600 'felt' like it had more snort. The Cat handlebars feel much bigger than the SkiDoo, they are fine but very much like the SkiDoo bars better. Set up properly, I could easily live with the 600, but not the ZR 7000, not even close. mike

Further north may be your good plan B if this area gets the rain. Maybe Saguenay area will get snow. Especially if you are already committed on your vacation. Day rides from Jonquiere are pretty sweet. mike

I'm guessing none of you are near RDL right now, but if you are, just mentioning Arctic Cat has about a dozen new sleds to try out today and tomorrow, location Universal Hotel. So far looks like very few people, no waiting lines, good selection of models. mike

Will update. Staying til Sunday morning, mike

I'm in RDL right now. Trails are awesome. 325 mile ride yesterday However, trails are slightly harder right now, only way to describe it as trails being groomed over and over for weeks with no new snow. Air and moisture leaves the snow and base of trail doesn't loosen up as much. Only in this case it came from the rain last Monday. THUS, I think if it rains hard tonight and tomorrow, trails will be solid ice. There is no fluffy snow underneath to absorb the water, nor any soft snow underneath for the groomers to bring to the surface after the rain and subsequent freeze up. Just my best guess. mike

Actually, that is a very good idea about the carbide sharpener. Feeling fine this morning, other than a bruised ego. mike

No studs. I have found in this situation that with studs, AND new carbides I would have been fine. But carbides don't stay sharp long and duller carbides with studs I think would not have made it through the curve and gone straight into the trees. IE, studs and dull carbides wouldn't have made the curve and hit trees instead of rolling it when it caught on snow. Who knows? MIke

As of tonight I have about 725 miles on the TNT ACE. Still saying best of the my 60 or so sleds,,,,,by far. Conditions are fast and usually get 90 to 95 on the big RR beds. Getting 20 to 21 mpg US, but again, conditions are hard and fast right now. Seems strange not to be looking for gas at 125 or so miles. In my opinion there is absolutely no telling this is a four stroke weight wise in the handling department, it drives like a two stroke always. Wasn't sure I would like the lack of engine noise, now I love the quietness. I almost always get a bigger windshield than the medium that comes with it. Not this time. Today got very cold as the morning wore on and I was chilled a bit all day, was wearing what I usually wear for 20 below with no problems. GET the higher windshield. Was frozen last 75 miles. Did bend the right handlebar this afternoon in St. Parmphille. Haven't seen a patch of ice anywhere on the trails this week. Came thru a blind tight corner immediately onto a 40 foot long patch of ice. Got sideways, hit snow, and rolled it hard. Slammed me to the ground on my back like a gorilla threw me down. A might sore tonight. Sled still drivable but one handlebar has a good bend. No problem driving it back to RDL. My only other mention is again, I would guess the Renegade will be slower on top end. The TNT's acceleration to 60 or 70 is incredible. Very hard hit coming out of the corners. Very, very fun sled. mike

Ray, hurray up and get here. The Hotel wants you to pay your bar bill.

Don't worry, Crazy, I know who made you do it, I recognize a strand of his wife's red hair floating in the water! mike

That's too funny! Robert Redford's face and my body, right?

Well, looks like I took quite a beating on QR today! However, there was no beating on the sled. Finally can give a ride report that occurred outside the hotel walls. Trails were nothing less than awesome. 200 miles, just perfection. Some areas had up to a couple inches of new snow, some areas still had trees caked in snow. No bumps except a few small drift ridges in a couple places. Only met a few sleds all day. Basically headed west on trail 5, dropped down to 35 making my way southerly, then up 85, and hit a few other trails in between. Brutally cold and windy all day. A great day of sledding. Very serious, just totally awesome riding. Couldn't believe it could be this good. mike

Ray, If you are going to take this long to get here, at least call the bar and give them your credit card number. Thanx in advance. Got to get the cheerleaders tanked before we get into the hot tub! Like that 50's kid song Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda Here I am, in Riviere with lots of ta ta the cheerleaders, are entertaining they get sloshed and think an old man can sustain em

Said the mafia guy from New Jersey!

Jackstraw, great picture. More exciting than my life today! Weather reports are all over the place for the weekend. Cold thru Friday, then depending on who you listen to, a general warm up over the weekend with either flurries, snow, sleet or rain. mike

Uh oh, hope none of you really believed the cheerleader bit ('cancel the QR gathering in RDL, cheerleaders booked the place'). I knew Ray would believe it and be half way here by now, but that was okay, he would buy me a good bottle of Vin Rouge. But Iceman's cheer is great, he makes the team!

Cold this morning, parking lot is a sheet of ice, and not as wintry looking with no snow clung to the trees. Things look hopeful, the 3 inches of new snow, along with the sleet, absorbed the light rain very well. I walked over to the trail by the old SkiDoo dealer where the trail goes into the woods. There is a light crust on top with good powder underneath. Two sleds had gone through in the rain and under their footprints it is very hard. As of right now there zero lubrication for the slides. My best guess at this point is there will be good riding after the groomers get out. The clerk at the desk at the hotel says the groomers are supposed to go out today and tonight. Also I don't know how things are even ten miles from here, whether they got more rain, got the few inches of snow etc. mike