TQ93

[longriderss]

We rode out of La Saguaneenne today. Headed up over the river from the hotel. TQ 93 is groomed and good from Amqui all the way to Vallin. Did the run from Vallin to Tadoussac two weeks ago and it was great. The season is here.

[crazysnow]

We rode out of La Saguaneenne today. Headed up over the river from the hotel. TQ 93 is groomed and good from Amqui all the way to Vallin. Did the run from Vallin to Tadoussac two weeks ago and it was great. The season is here.

Hi longriders

How far "miles" is the run from Mt.valin

to tadoussac going to take the ferry for the

first time. Anything I should know? Thanks

[revct1]

Hi Crazysnow,

Check the schedule, make reservations and arrive one hour early. We haven't had any problems in the past but I always make reservations. Enjoy the ride.

Jack :)

[revct1]

We rode up to Scooby Raid yesterday from the Sagueneenne. The trails were OK. We went across both dams and then up 367. A little rough but not too bad for December. The base is thin in some of the turns and hills but that is to be expected this time of year.

The groomers didn't go out because of the warm weather. The snow was too soft for them. William at Scooby Raid said they were going to start grooming last night and would be grooming for the next 24 hours. They should be able to do mnost of the trails in their area.

We are heading up 93 today to Mount Valin.

Jack

[longriderss]

its 80 miles to tadoussac from the ski area at vallinouett. Did that run two weeks ago and it was great. «it had been groomed all the way to the gas station in tadoussac. The ferry runs every 20 - 30 minutes during the day. They have two going back and forth.

«we did the scooby raid run yesterday. Trails are shaping up. They could use another 8 inches or so of snow, but all are passable. «just need to fill in some of the dips.

[crazysnow]

Hi Crazysnow,

Check the schedule, make reservations and arrive one hour early. We haven't had any problems in the past but I always make reservations. Enjoy the ride.

Jack :)

Jack

thanks for the info.

[crazysnow]

its 80 miles to tadoussac from the ski area at vallinouett. Did that run two weeks ago and it was great. «it had been groomed all the way to the gas station in tadoussac. The ferry runs every 20 - 30 minutes during the day. They have two going back and forth.

«we did the scooby raid run yesterday. Trails are shaping up. They could use another 8 inches or so of snow, but all are passable. «just need to fill in some of the dips.

Thanks longriders

Will be the first time on 93 going to todoussac can't wait.

[revct1]

Hi Crazysnow,

My mistake. I thought you were referring to the ferry to Matane. :wacko: Longriderss is paying more attention than I am. The ferry you are referring to is no charge and does run continuously.

Jack

[revct1]

We rode 93, a short piece of 367, 328 and some local trails today, Tues Dec 29th. We went east past St Honore and all the way to the intersection with 328 at the base of Mt Valin. The groomer turned around at the intersection of 328 and 93. We didn't ride past this point but another couple did. The trail was not groomed from this intersection up to the next groomer's garage, about 10 miles up 93. After that it was groomed.

We turned around and headed west on 93 to 367 north and then headed west on 328 above St Ambroise thru Begin. This was just groomed and had very little traffic. There is a 5 mile stretch just before Relais des Lacs in Labreque that is not open yet. We had to take the quad trail for the 5 miles. The quad trail joins back with the snowmobile trail at Relais des Lacs. After the relais still heading west, 328 was groomed again. We then took the local trail down to 93. This was also groomed. We went as far as the intersection of 23 and 93 at Alma. It was groomed to there and still looked very good past there but we turned around to head back.

We went down to St Charles de Bourget. This was groomed right to the Saguenay River. The river is frozen. We crossed the river but the trail was not groomed on the south shore towards 383 and had very little traffic so we turned around and took the local trail heading east back to 367 in Shipshaw. We crossed the dams and went back to the Sagueneenne.

The trails are starting to shape up. They could still use a little more snow but for December it is looking good.

Jack

[revct1]

A quick update. We are staying in Chicoutimi, Sagueneenne.

Dec 30th, 2009 Wed, we rode to Scoobyraid via 93, 367, 328, local out of Begin to 367 to Scoobyraid. Some of the trails have been groomed recently but it is early season riding. After a good lunch at Scoobyraid, we headed west on 367 (backtracking the last 5 miles before lunch) towards St Monique. Just north of L'Acension, 367 was staked closed. There were tracks thru the stakes but we headed south in the direction the detour sign pointed. We picked up 328 and ran it until we hit 93 in Alma. All of this was recently groomed and made it very good riding. We took 93 east back to St Ambroise. Again it was recently groomed and was very good. We then headed south back to the hotel. Over all it was a good day of riding.

Dec 31st, 2009 Thu, we rode north across the dams and picked up 93 east heading toward La Chapelle for lunch. 93 from St Ambroise to the 328 intersection after St Honore was fantastic. Some of the best flat riding so far.

The trail to the summit of Mount Valin where the radio tower is, is no longer open to snowmobiles. 93 is still open and unchanged. Only the local trail over the mountain that was signed Tour La Hutte is closed. In place of this scenic outlook, there are at least 4 new outlooks. We tried the first new outlook which is just before Valinouet where the Bras Louis trail joins 93. This is a 2 mile climb to the top of a peak. The trail has been cut and a groomer attempted to groom it. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the groomer didn't make it to the top until we got to where he stopped. Our four sleds and 2 other small groups are parked on the side of the peak trying to turn around and head back down. Difficult to say the least but everyone made it with no casualties. The view is breath taking. Hopefully the trail will improve with snow.

The rest of the day was fine. 93 is still in decent shape. Not table top smooth but still good.

With this being New Year's Eve, there probably won't be much grooming until Jan 2, 2010. There is snow coming over the next few days so it is looking great for the new year.

Happy New Year to all.

Jack

[Snobeeler]

Jack, we all thank you for the great reports!

A quick update. We are staying in Chicoutimi, Sagueneenne.

Dec 30th, 2009 Wed, we rode to Scoobyraid via 93, 367, 328, local out of Begin to 367 to Scoobyraid. Some of the trails have been groomed recently but it is early season riding. After a good lunch at Scoobyraid, we headed west on 367 (backtracking the last 5 miles before lunch) towards St Monique. Just north of L'Acension, 367 was staked closed. There were tracks thru the stakes but we headed south in the direction the detour sign pointed. We picked up 328 and ran it until we hit 93 in Alma. All of this was recently groomed and made it very good riding. We took 93 east back to St Ambroise. Again it was recently groomed and was very good. We then headed south back to the hotel. Over all it was a good day of riding.

Dec 31st, 2009 Thu, we rode north across the dams and picked up 93 east heading toward La Chapelle for lunch. 93 from St Ambroise to the 328 intersection after St Honore was fantastic. Some of the best flat riding so far.

The trail to the summit of Mount Valin where the radio tower is, is no longer open to snowmobiles. 93 is still open and unchanged. Only the local trail over the mountain that was signed Tour La Hutte is closed. In place of this scenic outlook, there are at least 4 new outlooks. We tried the first new outlook which is just before Valinouet where the Bras Louis trail joins 93. This is a 2 mile climb to the top of a peak. The trail has been cut and a groomer attempted to groom it. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the groomer didn't make it to the top until we got to where he stopped. Our four sleds and 2 other small groups are parked on the side of the peak trying to turn around and head back down. Difficult to say the least but everyone made it with no casualties. The view is breath taking. Hopefully the trail will improve with snow.

The rest of the day was fine. 93 is still in decent shape. Not table top smooth but still good.

With this being New Year's Eve, there probably won't be much grooming until Jan 2, 2010. There is snow coming over the next few days so it is looking great for the new year.

Happy New Year to all.

Jack

[revct1]

I posted last night but it didn't take or maybe I clicked wrong. Here goes again.

Jan 1, 2010 Friday. We rode from Chicutimi to La Chapelle and back. 367 across the dams was rough but when we got to the north side, SURPRISE, trail 93 was groomed. I don't know who was out grooming New Year's Eve but THANK YOU - THANK YOU. 93 from St Ambroise thru St Honore to the 383 junction was perfect! This was probably the best trail so far this week.

After the 383 junction, 93 was poor and even that is a stretch. All the way to La Chapelle was rough, some spots worse than others but nothing good. 93 had really taken a beating.

The next surpise was at La Chapelle. Yvonne, Andrea and Sonia were there working. Please excuse me if I spelt their names wrong. I didn't ask if they were back permanently or if it was a temp thing. It was great to see them. :D Sonia said the the Valinuet groomer was scheduled to groom 93 but didn't. She didn't know why. She said that they take care of 93 past La Chapelle at that is in good shape.

After a good lunch, we headed back down 93 to the Bras Louis connector. The connector was rough but not as bad as 93. Bras Louis was not perfect but it was OK compared to what we had been riding. At the bottom of the mountain we got back on the groomed part of 93 and it felt great again.

Jan 2, 2010 Saturday. I had talked to a couple that rode south on 83 and 383 on Friday and they said that it was rough so we decided to do Scoobyraid again. We rode 93 and 367 to Scoobyraid. Both of these were quite good. 367 near Scoobyraid had been groomed recently.

We had an early lunch at Scoobyraid and then continued west on 367, 328 and then 93 to St Amboise and 367 to the dams. This part of the trip is very similar to what we did Dec 30th Wednesday. The trails weren't as good as they were Wed but still better than 93 on Mount Valin.

When we crossed back over the dams we were early so we decided to loop around Jonquiere. We took 383 past Spence Ski Doo and then dropped down to 83 heading east back to Chicoutimi. 383 was rough but 83 was good especially in the open fields.

Overall yesterday and today had a variety of trail conditions from exceptional to what am I doing here!

Jack

[revct1]

We are home in CT. The end of 6 days of riding. Saturday, Jan 2 was our last day on the trail for this trip. We averaged ±150 miles per day. As said in previous posts, overall the trails were typical of early season riding.

Note: We were checked 3 times by security for trail permits. This is very unusual this early in the season. Make sure you have all of your paperwork with you and in order. We were just waved on once security saw the trial passes on the machines.

There were 3 new 1200 4-tec machines in our group. I have an 09 800R Gade. Yea I’m the smelly one. :sad:

General consensus from the riders of the 1200's is that they were very happy. I’m not saying this to start a brand discussion but just to give out some real world info.

On this last trip we met Longriderss and Iceman. Hope you had a safe drive back home.

We hope to see other QuebecRider.com sledders on the trail next trip.

Jack & Sandi

[viper2]

We are home in CT. The end of 6 days of riding. Saturday, Jan 2 was our last day on the trail for this trip. We averaged ±150 miles per day. As said in previous posts, overall the trails were typical of early season riding.

Note: We were checked 3 times by security for trail permits. This is very unusual this early in the season. Make sure you have all of your paperwork with you and in order. We were just waved on once security saw the trial passes on the machines.

There were 3 new 1200 4-tec machines in our group. I have an 09 800R Gade. Yea I’m the smelly one. :sad:

General consensus from the riders of the 1200's is that they were very happy. I’m not saying this to start a brand discussion but just to give out some real world info.

On this last trip we met Longriderss and Iceman. Hope you had a safe drive back home.

We hope to see other QuebecRider.com sledders on the trail next trip.

Jack & Sandi

Thanks for your report,I don't know if I will be heading up that way this year,my first trip is in a few weeks to St. Zenon and after that we are not sure for the next trip. By the way what kind of fuel mileage did the guys with the 1200 4-Tec's get?

[Snowbound]

Came home Sat. Evening after riding the trails since the 27th. Put on a little over 1000 miles in 5 1/2 days. Definately not paradise yet but still a good trip overall, the worst was from the groomer barn north on 93 heading up to Mont Valin, in fact we never went much past the ski resort as the trails were rocky and just plain beat. Riding in the fields were excellent around Alma and most places near the lake except for the wind blown drifting but that is normal. Heading east towards Laterriere was also pretty good, Mont Apica is not open they are inside working on it and have a lot of work ahead of them. Would be suprised if it opens much before the end of Jan. The new Doo 1200s worked outstanding!! What amazing throttle response they have...Running a Cudney clutch kit and header etc..what fun!

[revct1]

Hi Viper,

The 1200's were brand new. Initial mileage was 12-14 mpg. After the break-in, the mileage went up to 15-16 mpg. My 09 800R Gade was very close in mileage to the 1200's. The 1200's run on regular gas where the 800R prefers super.

As far as acceleration, we put the 800R Gade against one of the 1200's and they were very, very close. It was informal but there isn't a lot of difference in speed between them. The machines are dead stock other than studs down the middle of the track.

Oh by the way, the "guys" consisted one male and two females.

Jack

[longriderss]

I am also on a new leftover 09 1200 renegade. I now have 1200 miles on it and am getting 15.6 mpg as of lately.

Thanks for the updates Jack.

[bob_o27]

Hey guys we are looking at heading up from St. Ray to the Saguenay this coming weekend Jan 9-10th how are the trails looking?

I have over 3k miles on my 09 4tec gade its is a great ride.