GSX800

Well we're finding a mixed bag.  Elevation counts.  Rode St Raymond to Tadoussac yesterday.  Then Tadoussac to Chicoutimi today.  85% of what we've rode has been awesome.  Up at elevation things are still mid-season.  As you get lower they get hard (or soft depending on time of day).  Borderline needing scratchers.  We rode into Baie St Paul yesterday for lunch.  It was down to mud.  Same thing coming up out of Tadoussac.  Last spot that was terrible was crossing the river and working to get away from Saguenay.  If you can avoid the towns and low elevation there is weeks of riding left.  Trails should be listed as limited at best (arguably closed) in these three areas though.  Ate up a set of carbides for sure.  But hey were riding.   No complaints.  Better than a good day at work by a long shot.  Looking forward to TQ23 again tomorrow.  

And we’re back!  M&M Tours are on the move again, trailered to La Bannik at Ville Marie. Restaurant was closed due renovations, local restaurants will deliver most days but Mondays…..good thing we always have trails snacks; snacks took a beating. 
 
Woke to -10 and sunny, headed south  on 63 to 43 and spent the night at Dumoine des Valley Guides. Lunch stop at Temiscaming, food great especially  the poutine! Back out to Kipawa for gas ( there’s a restaurant that we did know about)  hopped on the lake and ran it down to meet trail 43 and then onto Valley Guides…we were 1st tracks for over 100km.  Good scenery on the trail, amazing waterfalls/rapids. 
Etienne at Valley Guide, is fluently bilingual and “provides warm meals and comfortable beds to weary travellers”. Individual cabins and homemade (really  good) food delivered hot to the cabin, dinner and breakfast!
Late start, to the town of Swisha for gas where we were the true definition of being a Canadians was defined: we love winter but others are anxious for summer to start.  Up to Pourvoire Pavillon La Vérendry for the night.  Trails have been perfect, 11 out of 10, hard to find a bump; actually meet 2 groomers today. Spoke to Gilbert, 1 of the groomer drivers, he groomes 180 km stretch of trail 43. He did tell us that they are only allow to groom during the day; the reason for this is because there is no longer support for groomers during the night if something happens. He actually has a nice construction trailer, with satellite tv, mid way up the trail where he spends the nights.
Getting ready for a big ride to Rouyn-Noranda tomorrow, we have an appointment at BRP for 9 a.m. For Jazz’s sled as it has been having fuel problems.
 






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Four of the six of our regular riding group have had air ride suspension sleds since 2010. What the dealer said is very true.  Drop that air ride to 1 and get that snow flap closer to the ground when conditions are hard will make a big difference.  Add scratchers too, big help with cooling and hyfax lubrication.  One other thing that our group did is replace the stock hyfax with vespel hyfax. End of melting your sliders. They are expensive, but I have moved mine from sled to sled since 2016. 

Quick story - My wife has a 2016 900 Enduro.  In those hard conditions she would overheat all the time with the air ride on one. Let it cool for 10 minutes, ride another few miles.  Repeat.  My wife weighs about 115 lbs.  I would change sleds with her, no more problems with the Enduro, but she would overheat my sled. I only weigh 165 lbs, but that little bit of weight made a difference in the snow flap height.  I ended up replacing the torsion springs in her sled with a lighter set. End of problem.
 

Awesome trip for you and your wife.  As much fun as we have on our annual “boys” trip, nothing beats riding with your wife.  

I don’t post offen usually for help planning trips.  I have been reading Quebec Rider forever and riding Quebec longer,  since 1987 to be exact,  and it’s hard to think of a trail or area I haven’t rode.  This years final trip was to do the complete figure 8 of the Gaspe,  which I have done many times.  The weather was warm but overall conditions were good,  a little snow starve around Carleton.  For this trip my grandson, Hunter was able to go over college break with over crew,  which at my age this was very special to me.  My riding crew, Dennis, Chuck and Tommy all have known Hunter before and we had a great time.  Chucks sled 900 turbo ski doo started acting up 30 miles before our stay at the Caribou hotel, but he was able to limp in with.  So this is where the other special part of this trip gets me to post.  At the Caribou we meet several Quebec rider members I have read over the years.  First we met Linda sled girl and her husband Joel and have a visit and she sends a pic to our old friend Saguenay Bill who I haven’t seen now in a few years.  Onto the restaurant after settling in and we met Iceman and NH Moose and Snohorse.  These guys were very friendly and most helpful with our sled problem.  Turns out to be exactly what NH moose though it might be,  the sock filter in the fuel pump.  Great visit with Ice and crew at dinner and breakfast then off to BRP dealer in Gaspe.  Great service here folks, took Chucks sled right in and had the fuel tank off and pump out within 45 minutes replacing a nasty looking fuel sock and very dirty in line fuel filter as well.  Probably got some bad fuel somewhere.  Price was reasonable and the folks at EM ski doo Gaspe were top shelf.  Then onto Murdochville for the night, but not before meeting Iceman and crew again on the trail,  another meeting with them the next day on local 150 north of New Richmond.   I have always had great responses to questions I have asked on Quebec rider in the past as I plan my next adventure,  but I must say it was special finally meeting some of the folks that have helped me on the site in the past.   Just when you think you have rode every trail along comes Icemans private trail the 150 which was perfect and that brings me and our crew to the end of another season.  To all have a great summer and stay healthy and safe,  Fred

Awesome trip for you and your wife.  As much fun as we have on our annual “boys” trip, nothing beats riding with your wife.  

Awesome trip for you and your wife.  As much fun as we have on our annual “boys” trip, nothing beats riding with your wife.  

Awesome trip for you and your wife.  As much fun as we have on our annual “boys” trip, nothing beats riding with your wife.  

Awesome trip for you and your wife.  As much fun as we have on our annual “boys” trip, nothing beats riding with your wife.  

3-16  Day 30 Back to the Delta.  The 355 trail was perfect except for one terrible section of plowed, sun dried sand and gravel that went on for too long. Not so long as having to stop to cool sleds but still too long. Nice lunch as usual at Auberge Eva. Where we were first introduced to by no other than Saguenay Bill. Thanks for everything Bill. Along the lake the snow was very thin. Around the frog to the Delta, trails are mostly good. Of course road crossings are mid March road crossings. Wheels around the Delta make life easy. We rolled in mid afternoon, and only sleds in the compound. After dark there were almost 30 between the compound and sleds out front. 
   I hope you've enjoyed my "wordy" read. And hopefully someone will be able to use something from my info. I know I've always gotten a lot of my info from you guys.
   Enjoy your summer, 
       Jeff and Sandy
 
 

Four of the six of our regular riding group have had air ride suspension sleds since 2010. What the dealer said is very true.  Drop that air ride to 1 and get that snow flap closer to the ground when conditions are hard will make a big difference.  Add scratchers too, big help with cooling and hyfax lubrication.  One other thing that our group did is replace the stock hyfax with vespel hyfax. End of melting your sliders. They are expensive, but I have moved mine from sled to sled since 2016. 

Quick story - My wife has a 2016 900 Enduro.  In those hard conditions she would overheat all the time with the air ride on one. Let it cool for 10 minutes, ride another few miles.  Repeat.  My wife weighs about 115 lbs.  I would change sleds with her, no more problems with the Enduro, but she would overheat my sled. I only weigh 165 lbs, but that little bit of weight made a difference in the snow flap height.  I ended up replacing the torsion springs in her sled with a lighter set. End of problem.
 

Are you taking the CAT from Bar Harbor? I realize time is always a factor, but Personally, I would skip the 600 mile trailer drive to Bar Harbor. Trailers are for snowmobiles and boats..😀😎I would ride from N.Y and enjoy the ride through Northern Vermont, NH, and Maine and on into New Brunswick, all the Way to North Sydney, Nova Scotia where you get the ferry. Newfoundland ( The Rock) is absolutely beautiful. I have been several times, and plan to go again. The Newfies are a great friendly group of folks. I am personally fascinated by the Icebergs. They start floating down from the glaciers in Greenland in April (Titanic). However it is still snowmobile season in April. You will likely see more bergs in early June, vs. late June.  But bring good rain gear and heated gear. You can encounter cold and wet weather any time of year there. My wife will never go again on Motorcycle. There is an app to track the bergs. Also speak to as many locals as you can. There are a lot of interesting characters, and most are very friendly.I spoke to one fellow that told me the previous year a berg floated into the cove near his home. He tied an anchor line to it, and enjoyed Ten Thousand year old ice in his drinks all summer. Below are some pictures from my solo 2019 Motorcycle Trip. Enjoy your trip! I hope you will post some details and pictures.
2019 Newfoundland Motorcycle Trip

Day 4 - This was to be a positioning day, and we accomplished it. Left Matane early this morning and made it to Thetford Mines which will give us an easy run back to Vermont in the morning.  Will post pics and summary after we pour some beers down. 409 miles
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It ain’t where ya go its how you get there….and who you are with  !

I am beginning to think the sport of snowmobiling is really just a fun way to go out to lunch.

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We took a ride to get my bag. It was where I left it. The scenery along the way was super. A nice 92 mile ride. We pulled over to take a few pictures of the ice in water. I noticed the snow covered mountains (Chic Chocs) in the background. 
 
Well that’s a wrap for us. It’s back to work for us. Have a great summer everyone.

I rest my case !
thank you 

She was at school teaching today, she is not in the Gaspe this week. LOL

No snow at home so 5 of us back in Quebec again. 6 Day Loop in the Abitibi region. Couple pics from first few days. Trails have all been perfect. My rating 9-10. Started in New Liskeard, then La Sarre, now in Amos at Rodeway. Thanks Linda for the suggestion. Nice rooms.

Awesome place  , We were there just last week  
 
Enjoy  ! 

We are following tracks and I am trying not to get stuck again. I can see two machines ahead at a street crossing. We pulled up and the guys tell me we missed a turn. I turned around and I see the trail signs. No one has been through yet. I try to line myself up and get stuck again. The two guys pulled up and said they would break trail. They helped me get going. I had to backtrack and find a place to turn around. When we got back the trail was broken so we made our way to the lake and got gas. We traveled 70 miles and it was after 1:00.
My gps showed 199 miles to go. I scraped my original plans and navigated the fastest way to Montmagny. When we reached the rail bed there was no more powder. The trail was in very nice shape. We were able to make good time. We stayed on 35 until the orange local east of Montmagny. We made our way to trail 5. It was not in the best shape but ok. We rolled in at 4:15.
I wouldn’t want to get here a week from now.  There’s not much snow in town.

WOW!