mikerider

Happy birthday, Stan. See you this winter. Mike

Happy birthday Rob. Hope to see you this winter. Mike

Happy birthday, buddy. There's a beer with your name on it somewhere in Quebec! Mike

The smoke from the Quebec forest fires made its way down to the Maine coast about 1:00 AM this morning. It is very thick, almost like a fog. Mike

Happy birthday my friend! Mike

Thanks again everyone. I think I'm close enought to 60 to be considered an old fart! Dinner last night was a feast, and this morning I got a smoking deal trading for a 2011 MXZ Sport 600 carb. Great birthday present!! Mike

Thank you everyone. Great to have such good friends! Wife is taking me to a really nice restaurant tonight. Then hopefully tomorrow its off to see if I can make a deal on a new sled. Mike

The Customs Agents were very nice. Although a little worried at the time this was going on, I found great humor in it afterwards and being on my way. The whole thing is actually a very good memory, as looking back on it I find it so funny, all this for dog biscuits. I am sure Bill, Juledele and I will laugh loudly over this at our next beer tasting session. mike

Bill, Clear sailing, back home in Maine. We should have rode this morning, mountains through the Park looked like lots of snow and much colder than at the hotel. Tell Juledele thanks for the dog biscuits, Emma will like them even if Greta did not. 'A gift is cherished, and the memory of the gift will last forever'. In this case, I will never forget the dog biscuits. At Customs I got the usual questions, alcohol? tobacco? firearms. Question 6 is always what do I do for work, show an ID, and on my way in about 60 seconds. Today the number 6 question was instead, 'What gifts are you bringing back from Canada'? I sheepishly held up the eight dog biscuits neatly wrapped in the clear plastic baggie. At that point the Customs Agent directed me to the 'special parking spot'. He then walked over, demanded my truck keys, told me to exit the truck, and sent me through the 'special door'. Inside were four Customs' Agents waiting. Two started grilling me about everything under the sun, but never mentioned the dog biscuits in the clear baggie or who gave them to me. I assumed my truck was being searched while I was inside. Next I was handed a form to fill out. Lots of questions about me. Then yes and no questions about the gift I was trying to bring into the US. Question #4, 'Is the gift an animal, animal related or an animal byproduct. I answered yes' At the bottom of the page it told me if I answered yes to any of the questions, to fill out the reverse side of the form. The reverse side said to list all gifts and their values. 8 dog biscuits $2.00. They then compared the answers on the form about myself to my passport and their computer. I almost detected a smile from the agent when he saw what I listed on the back of the form. I was handed my keys and passport and sent on my way. I will say the agents were nice while I was a prisoner of the U.S. I drove away thinking I am now red flagged by Homeland Security. Half mile down the road I passed a Border Patrol Agent sitting in his cruiser. He sees me and pulls right out and follows me all the way to Jackman until I pulled into the sled dealer. But I am home safe! Bill and Juledele, thank you for so much; the snowmobiling, the food, and most of all the good friendships. And now a lifelong memory about dog biscuits! mike

Andy, Great pictures! Sure got a good laugh seeing your sled in front of that restaurant, then see you coming out the door. Glad you had a good trip. «mike

Bob, You won't be disapointed in the Vallins. Conditions are awesome. Mike

ON THE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE! Couple weeks ago while riding from the HI towards the Casino/Castle, 182Ray, Farmerold and I ran into Snowtrails TV out of Michigan. They were doing a story on sledding in Quebec. We met the crew at an intersection and they did a long interview with us. The episide is now on-line for viewing. We got our 15 minutes of fame, but when the film hit the cutting room, 15 minutes became about 3 seconds. You can see us about 5 or so minutes into the episode. This episode is currently available to view on their website. Sounds like next season they may have more footage. Boulanais Relais waitress got more airtime than us, go figure?? (I know, very bad spelling). Mike

Home safely this afternoon, great travelling weather. Already back to work. Thanks to Bill and Juledele for always making me feel welcome and 'at home' at the HI. Trip of a lifetime with 182Ray. Great riding with so many of you before and after our saddlebag trip, old friends and new. Hope to see you all again soon. Mike

Generally we can make the St. Lawrence to the «holiday inn in about 6 or 7 hours. We have done from Jackman Maine to the HI in a day, including the transport across the St. Lawrence. Mike

Yes, the wife is from «ontario and the husband, Shawn, is from Newfoundland. We also ran into Andyman and Mike in Parent at a restaurant. Mike

Ray and I are back at the Holiday Inn tonight after about 2,000 miles of a great saddlebag ride. Thanks for all the trail info re Trail 83. We stayed at Balbuzzard and loved it, best gourmet meal in Quebec and the wine from France they served was tops. The next night stayed at Chatuvert Lac outfitters after finding Kanawata was booked. Chaveuvert was great! Husband and wife were entertaining with great stories and could speak perfect English. Good food and a giant bottle of wine for $25. We had a great evening at the restaurantébar. I am sure Ray at some point will ^post some pics. Thanks again for all the info. Mike

curvy trails today in Ontario slowed us down, then hit 93 in Quebec and great going. Now in Noranda Royan (spelling???) at the Governor Hotel. Homeless person tried to hit us up for a night's stay while we were parking our sleds in the unsecure alley in the middle of downtown. Yesterday we noticed our BRP emblems missing from our hoods of both sleds. Looking at our pictures on our cameras we know they were stolen in Mattagami. Mike

Thank you both very much. Going to spend a couple days in Ontario and then come back that route. So far its been a great trip! Mike

This would be trail 83 in the Clova/Parent area, going east from Ontario towards Lac St John. Looks like a long stretch through that area, wondering if it is fast riding and enough gas stops. Mike

A few people were inquiring about the Mattagami area. First, conditions from Jonquiere up to Chibougamou were excellent. From Chibig west on 93 was excellent. We then hit 396 going west up to Mattagami. About 25 or 30 miles of this section was bad, not bumpy but rutted up from sleds probably during the rain. The drag had been through but only dragged certain sections. The rest was good. Lots of cut off sticks sticking up through the snow. Today we left Mattagami and continued west on 396. About 3 miles out of town we hit pure dirt for about a mile and a half of the trail. It is frozen dirt, no snow. But no rocks either. About a mile of this had a tiny amount of snow, just small, small patches. Then a 1/2 mile of pure frozen dirt and no snow whatsoever on the trail. We stopped and could hear heavy machinery on the trail ahead. There was a very large excavator on the trail doing drainage ditch work and putting the dirt he dug onto the trail. Surprisingly we never overheated. After that the trail was fine, good snow cover and freshly groomed. We hit the power line and that was great, very fast. When we got to the Amos turn off we continued on 396. This is often a narrow trail, very curvy, but recently groomed and smooth. But, there is miles and miles of bush hanging into the trail and growing up from the trail. We both agreed we will not come back this way on our return trip. Once we arrived near the first town the trails got wider and were perfect. We should have gone the secondary trail to Amos and then west. At the first town we came to (after leaving Mattagami, the restraunt and gas were closed so we went to the next small town. We then went on to Dupuy and across to Ontario and were in Cochrane by 3:30. It was excellent conditions all the way across. About 250 miles today. Tomorrow its off to the canyon and maybe stay in another town. Mike

Arrived 3:30 in Mattagami, conditions were perfect ten from Chibougamou across. When we left trail 93 and got on 396 to go north to Matagami, about 35 miles just so so, ruts mostly, and other 60 miles very nice. After arrival we explored around for awile, trails going out of town headed west look awesome. 270 miles today. Hi Jak, miss seeing you on the trail,. Haven;t seen Rob this year, not much last year. Don t know what he s up to, Time for you to get another sled and go riding! Mike

Riding a 2010 TNT 600. 10,000 miles on my last TNT and no problems at all. 2,400 on new one. Goes great. Trail to Chib was fantastic. Arrived around 5 pm. Trails awesome. Gas at the mill and lunch at Barrie Nord. All trails from «HI to Chib were groomed. Little ice for 3 miles north of the mill then good again. New 10 miles stretch, looked like bulldozed last fall so a little rough.< Tomorrow head west. Hi to Bill. Mike (and Ray)

1,400 miles in 6 days. Trails and conditions are great, typical midwinter with packed powder. Ray and I leave for Chibougamou in the morning and then points west. Special thanks to Bill for being the great host and trail guide. Mike

Hi Gary, We are leaving theHI in the next couple days to do a saddlebag trip toards >Ontario. Will Be back to the HI to get out trucks and will probably see you then. Riding is awesome. Mike

Today was almost 300 miles and every inch groomed to perfection. Very cold out. We went around the lake, then did an extra loop around Girardsville. Ate lunch at a new place, new to us, called Relais Club Pacheur outside Girardsvile. Awesome meal and priced cheap. New favorite place, nice building and on a lake. Had dinner at Skippy Doo and back to the HI.