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2017 RDL Conditions


snowdogs
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Happy report that trails here are still awesome. 240 miles of pretty much awesomeness today

Headed east on 5 from the universal this am. Blazed straight to Rimouski. Pancake flat the whole way. Ran 35 / 545 to Squatec. Tanked there then continued on 545 to stl du ha ha and back down 85 to RDL. All in all very good. Did venture up 569 out of Squatec for a few miles but bailed as it clearly hadn't been groomed in some time. Going to headed east then north tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

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On 3/4/2017 at 6:05 PM, revct1 said:

Last night we are eating in the restaurant and see the groomer making a pass.  This is a good sign!

This morning  its overcast, -20C and very windy.  The calendar says March 4th but the conditions say February 4th.  The groomers were out in force last night.  A lot of green on the map.  We decide to take 5 east and then circle back on 35 to 85.

Sandi and I head out and the trail is nice.  We get to trail 5 and turn left.  The open fields are pretty windy.  Its trying to blow us right off the trail.  No drifting, just a lot of wind.  We get into the woods and its much better.  The trail is really good.  We book along and get to Relais Trois Pistoles.  It must be race day here.  The lot is full, there is an excavator out on the drag strip and a lot of people and sleds around.  No time to stop here.  We keep on running.  A few sleds coming towards us.  Maybe going to the races.  The power lines weren't groomed last night but the trail is still good.  Just a little character in the trail, no big bumps.  Time to warm up at Relais L'Etang.  Only a few sleds here.  We like to take a stop here even if it is just to have a coffee / chocolate.  A few sleds pull in while we are here.  A couple of guys grabbing beers at the bar.  Its 10:00 AM?  No beer for us.  That can wait until we are back in the hotel.

Back on the sleds and keep heading east.  We get to 35 and this looks good too.  Now we are away from the St Lawrence and more in the woods.  The wind only kicks up a little when we get into a field.  No drifts.  The snow is quite a bit fluffier here than it was back in RDL.  This area looks like they got 8-10 inches where RDL was more like 4-6.  We haven't come across too many sleds today.  This 35 is such a nice trail.  We are running along the section that parallels the little river.  Nice rolling hills and gentle curves.  Good trail.

Heading towards Squatec and we get to where 546 goes straight and 35 goes left.  Last trip we took 35, this time its 546.  A few twisties in the woods and then the trail opens up and its a nice trail.  I haven't been on this in a long time.  A very pleasant surprise.  We get to Squatec and have lunch at the small diner in town.  Two two-uppers here.  We have lunch and warm up a bit.  Its a nice little lunch stop.

We are back on the sleds and still on 35 heading west.  This is still in good shape.  As we get up in elevation, the wind picks up again.  Still in the woods so its not too bad.  We cruise on into St Louis du Ha! Ha!  What a name for a town.  We turn right on 85 and start the final leg back to the Universal.  As always this is nice.  Not fresh groomed but smooth with a bunch of tracks on it.  We go by Relais Adventurer and notice a lot of sleds here.  The drag strip was just manicured today.  I'll bet they are having a big event tomorrow.

Back home at the Universal.  Another nice ride in RDL land.  Hoping to meet a few other QuebecRider folks tonight.  Have a great night and we hope you can get one more trip in.  The riding is still great here, Gaspe and up at Lac St Jean.

Jack & Sandi

 

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13 hours ago, mikerider said:

Jack, you are amazing in your ability to remember names of businesses and clubhouses, etc., and trail numbers.

Eastmark,    I think you and your wife absorbed more of the area in three days than most of us do in weeks.

mike

That red wine could be affecting your memory skills Mike.  Time to move over to Jack or Vodka I think!

 

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I find myself checking the groomer map every morning even though Im not even there now....along with having vivid dreams in green and gold.  What I wondered is this something I should discuss with my psychotherapist ?  Should I be concerned ?

 

The map sure looks especially colorful today BTW. LOL. Damn.

Trail 5 East doesnt seem to get the grooming most others do...or could that be just the last few weeks since Ive started stalking the map ?

Is that because it generally stays pretty flat and requires less ? It was good except some spotty drifting when we were up.

 

 

 

Edited by EastMark
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13 hours ago, mikerider said:

 

Eastmark,    I think you and your wife absorbed more of the area in three days than most of us do in weeks.

mike

It like putting a fish in water Mike. We really enjoyed it.

Im already starting to scheme a Gaspe Loop trip sometime....  :-)

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Normally 5 east is smooth. I am guessing so many people headed to the Gaspe the past couple weeks that the trail was used and

abused. Plus it does get the drifts.  But I agree, it was not groomed as often as usual the past couple weeks.

And Tom, I agree my memory is fading, but as long as the truck remembers the way to RDL, and the bartender remembers what I drink, I'm good for a couple more years.

mike

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1 hour ago, EastMark said:

The map sure looks especially colorful today BTW. LOL. Damn.

Trail 5 East doesnt seem to get the grooming most others do...or could that be just the last few weeks since Ive started stalking the map ?

Is that because it generally stays pretty flat and requires less ? It was good except some spotty drifting when we were up.

 

 

 

The map is so green because the Canadians are honoring the Irish this week! :drinks:   And after St Paddy's Day   :bad:

I've noticed some trails don't show groomed but actually have been.  I've seen this up at Lac St Jean and also around RDL.  My understanding is the groomers have beacons that are picked up by the FCMQ and that is how it is determined what trails are groomed and hence color the map.  If that is the case, maybe the signal from the beacon from the groomer isn't always received by the FCMQ.  I've seen trails on the map that show white in the morning and we have been on them a few hours later and they were recently groomed.  Just a thought.

Trails that are wide and gentle tend to stand up better to traffic than trails that are narrow and have a lot of turns and elevation changes.  The off and on the throttle creates the bumps.

Jack & Sandi

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5 east was amazing all the way to Rimouski yesterday. Colder than you know what today😳. Found the secret tumnels and lit out on 559 this am. Beauty all the way to the 5. Quick hit to the club house on 557. Quick coffee / warm up and back on 5 we go. Man its cold but hey were tough...right. St Bruno Mt Carmrl all good. No traffic.. go figure brrr. Starting to re -think our goal of making it montnagny and back. Pull the pin and crabk left on 553. All good to 35. 35 who knew.... way too cold to take advantage of that highway....belt blower on a warmer day for sure. No way we can ride this back to the universal today with freezing. Grin and bear it back to 557. Hook that north and can't wait to get back to the club house where we stopped earlier Club Belle Pistes du Rocher  Blanc... as just voted by us as ....Home of the best club poutine coleslaw lunch ever. Peal out of there and jump back on the 5 to the 559 again. I swear our tracks from this am are the only ones there. Smooth as a baby's you know what back to the secret tunnels. Mad dash to the spa and splish splash we go. Deluxe. Feet up with a bevie now. Diner next. Hope its as good as last night.

Cheers

Gowser

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Sadly, we are now back home. Had a wonderful stay at the Universal.....didn't get into any of the Sexy Red referenced by others in this thread earlier but did put a pretty good dent in the EXP Syrah stock over our 3 dinners at the Universal. Speaking of that they serve the holy grail of breakfasts in the morning there as well....eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, yogurt, fruit, crepe, tourtiere, beans, toast and the ever mysterious creton. All delicious!

Was our first time riding on that side of the river. Trails were awesome all 3 days. Will definitely be back. Still some good riding out there if your looking for somewhere to go.

Cheers

Gowser.

  

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18 hours ago, revct1 said:

At the breakfast buffet don't forget to try the meat pie.  Yea it is a bad name to us U.S. folks but is is mild sausage in a pie shell.  Yummy!

Jack & Sandi

Spelt it wrong in my post....Tourtiere is the proper spelling for the meat pie. We couldn't decide what we liked best. The crepe with the crispy edges, the tourtiere or the baked beans!

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On 2017-03-11 at 7:55 AM, mikerider said:

Normally 5 east is smooth. I am guessing so many people headed to the Gaspe the past couple weeks that the trail was used and

abused. Plus it does get the drifts.  But I agree, it was not groomed as often as usual the past couple weeks.

And Tom, I agree my memory is fading, but as long as the truck remembers the way to RDL, and the bartender remembers what I drink, I'm good for a couple more years.

mike

Thank god nobody knows your shortcut along the hwg.......ooops!!  Mama mia!

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One last ride.  We are at Motel Bernieres tonight, Friday.  Sandi, myself and two of the Gutz brothers will be arriving at Universal RDL tomorrow night, Saturday, for two nights.  Anyone else going to be there?  Plenty of snow here.  The last storm dropped 50-60 cm.  We will post what we find.

Jack & Sandi

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25 minutes ago, revct1 said:

One last ride.  We are at Motel Bernieres tonight, Friday.  Sandi, myself and two of the Gutz brothers will be arriving at Universal RDL tomorrow night, Saturday, for two nights.  Anyone else going to be there?  Plenty of snow here.  The last storm dropped 50-60 cm.  We will post what we find.

Jack & Sandi

I knew you would get another rip in Jack & Sandi!  Conditions thruout PQ are too sweet to leave alone!

I just arrived home to NJ an hour ago. 2 hours on sled & 7.5 in truck.  

Enjoy!

Tom

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5 minutes ago, Phil 1 said:

We will be in RDL Saturday to begin a week loop. ETA 3 - 4 PM last time we met was at RDL. Dinner drinks giddie up. 

Hi Phil.  We have supper reservations in the big room for 7 PM.  Maybe in the bar before that if we get settled in early enough.  Lets try to meet up.

Jack & Sandi

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11 minutes ago, revct1 said:

Hi Phil.  We have supper reservations in the big room for 7 PM.  Maybe in the bar before that if we get settled in early enough.  Lets try to meet up.

Jack & Sandi

We will be 6 strong just listen and you will find us. 🗣🗣🗣

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Hi Jack & Sandi

Keep me posted on the trail conditions. That's great you are getting another trip in. That's Mint. My self and two others are going to do a 4 day trip arriving either at the Universal or the Four Points in Quebec on Tuesday night 03/21/2017. Not sure if I want to go on the north shore or run out to the gaspe. Any info from either side of the river from anyone over the the next 3-4 days would be helpful. The way it looks , I think either one would be good.

Thanks

Oilman

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Ok thank you. Looks like the weather will be ok right now. Another cool down Wed and Thur. Looks good through Friday. Maybe warm up last day on Saturday.  Still long way out. Look forward to posts.  Thanks

Oilman

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On 3/11/2017 at 7:33 AM, EastMark said:

I find myself checking the groomer map every morning even though Im not even there now....along with having vivid dreams in green and gold.  What I wondered is this something I should discuss with my psychotherapist ?  Should I be concerned ?

The map sure looks especially colorful today BTW. LOL. Damn.

Trail 5 East doesnt seem to get the grooming most others do...or could that be just the last few weeks since Ive started stalking the map ?

Is that because it generally stays pretty flat and requires less ? It was good except some spotty drifting when we were up.

 

"If you should have a groomer update map session lasting more than 4 hours"...  LEAVE A NOTE AND GET IN YOUR TRUCK!

 

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