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First Ride with Team Iceman


iceman
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The Team is proud to welcome aboard. Nick "the Quick" AKA son of Snohorse. For many a long years we have been waiting until Nick was old enough to have his liscense and come ride with us in Quebec. The time is now. While school may be out in Massachusetts it's in full session here as we are breaking the boy in right and showing him the ropes. I can tell you this he is a natural and the "apple does not fall far from the tree" could not be more true with this boy. He is just like the old man and keeps it fast and hard on the right. Every turn. No problem. NHmoose he is giving your old ride one hell of a run. Loving every minute. Miss you man. Wish you were here. 

So I will give you all a quick rundown on where and what.....

monday Day 1

Left out relais Ice at 8am boy was chomping at the bit to get out there. Trail 3 west.  Was just as I expected mostly utter garbage from the high amount of weekend traffic and warm temps followed by a freeze sunday night. Some of the worst trail I seen all year. But the boy being a moto cross racer and used to SAM trails was in heaven. We kept him in the "rocking chair" and there he will stay this week. So we go west on 3 the to 43 and some other action over there,  Junk. All of it. Utterly terrible. But we push on and go toward St. Come then up toward St Donat. We end up going past Coin Lavinge and find our first grooming. Thank God. We cruise on to Glaciere on decent trail then over and into Real Masse. Great Stay with shit internet. Barrage Gouin is light years ahead of Real with internet service. Sad. Nice day one for  Nick. We pull in with 256 miles. He says "what are we doing?" We said thats it finished for today. He says "huh? We did not get 300 yet." Yup just like dad. 

Tues day 2 

Real Masse to St. Raymond. 

Soon come more info....

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Left Real Masse at 8:30am. 

Fresh groomed and white asphalt. Today was gonna be much different than yesterday. The clubs have had time to catch up from the weekend onslaught. They are catching up on the grooming and things are shaping up. 

We head up and take a perfect 350 east its love. And then to 349 just as sweet. And to 23 again just great. This is awesome. 23 is great all the way to the River in Shawinigan. We cross the River and continue on 23 up and into St. Tite. All good. We cruise on into Lac Aux Sables and stop for a quick top off of gas. We continue on and after Lac Aux Sables 23 is rerouted this year and thus part is bad. Really rough, not groomed in a long time. We soldier on to join the 302/23. It is much better now. We run the 302/23 to 353. 353 is just dreamy. Really nice. We run it up and then right turn down 23 and surprise its perfect. Down to join 3 and go 3 east. Its also in great shape. Been awhile since i been on 3 this far east. Near here. Its looking good and we go. We continue on and take 73 up and to St Raymond. This 73 is in need of some love. Not too great compared to what we saw elsewhere. Up to Gas on 23 next to Roquemont. It's 4:30 too early to stop now. Up 23 and this trail is good too. We go to the Relais and take the Local Orange trail back up toward Rivere a Pierre. This is a real gem. Fresh groomed. I'm thinking the groomer is up here he has to be in front of me. Sure enough just over halfway up he is here taking a break. We sneak on by. Thus trail is in great shape. He is grooming a perfect trail. Hey no problem. We head on up and join 73 then down to Rivere a Pierre. At the road crossing is some action. Flashing lights....SQ and Tansport Quebec directing traffic. Uh oh...

on closer inspection we got a bad accident here. At the road crossing to go to Rivere a Pierre. Car vs Sled. Mazda 3 vs an Apex or Venture, hard to tell from what was left. Car smashed and into the snowbank, sled mangled and in the right lane several hundred feet from crossing, this was some impact. I have learned there were 2 on the sled a man 75 years old has survived, his wife i believe was 80 years old and did not survive. RIP. The SQ were doing the accident reconstruction. We took this opportunity to show Nick the consequences of what can happen. Sad. 

Onward we take a fast 73 railbed back and into Roquemont at 6:15. 

No 300 for the boy again he needs to settle for 260.

Windigo Tomorrow.

 

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19 minutes ago, iceman said:

Left Real Masse at 8:30am. 

Fresh groomed and white asphalt. Today was gonna be much different than yesterday. The clubs have had time to catch up from the weekend onslaught. They are catching up on the grooming and things are shaping up. 

We head up and take a perfect 350 east its love. And then to 349 just as sweet. And to 23 again just great. This is awesome. 23 is great all the way to the River in Shawinigan. We cross the River and continue on 23 up and into St. Tite. All good. We cruise on into Lac Aux Sables and stop for a quick top off of gas. We continue on and after Lac Aux Sables 23 is rerouted this year and thus part is bad. Really rough, not groomed in a long time. We soldier on to join the 302/23. It is much better now. We run the 302/23 to 353. 353 is just dreamy. Really nice. We run it up and then right turn down 23 and surprise its perfect. Down to join 3 and go 3 east. Its also in great shape. Been awhile since i been on 3 this far east. Near here. Its looking good and we go. We continue on and take 73 up and to St Raymond. This 73 is in need of some love. Not too great compared to what we saw elsewhere. Up to Gas on 23 next to Roquemont. It's 4:30 too early to stop now. Up 23 and this trail is good too. We go to the Relais and take the Local Orange trail back up toward Rivere a Pierre. This is a real gem. Fresh groomed. I'm thinking the groomer is up here he has to be in front of me. Sure enough just over halfway up he is here taking a break. We sneak on by. Thus trail is in great shape. He is grooming a perfect trail. Hey no problem. We head on up and join 73 then down to Rivere a Pierre. At the road crossing is some action. Flashing lights....SQ and Tansport Quebec directing traffic. Uh oh...

on closer inspection we got a bad accident here. At the road crossing to go to Rivere a Pierre. Car vs Sled. Mazda 3 vs an Apex or Venture, hard to tell from what was left. Car smashed and into the snowbank, sled mangled and in the right lane several hundred feet from crossing, this was some impact. I have learned there were 2 on the sled a man 75 years old has survived, his wife i believe was 80 years old and did not survive. RIP. The SQ were doing the accident reconstruction. We took this opportunity to show Nick the consequences of what can happen. Sad. 

Onward we take a fast 73 railbed back and into Roquemont at 6:15. 

No 300 for the boy again he needs to settle for 260.

Windigo Tomorrow.

 

We are at Windigo right now enjoying some beverages and a great meal. Trail from 22 here was great a little rough coming in to Windigo but not that bad. What trails are you taking tomorrow? We may cross paths, we are heading south to Le Tuque before cutting across to Saint-Michelle.

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3 minutes ago, Carman said:

We are at Windigo right now enjoying some beverages and a great meal. Trail from 22 here was great a little rough coming in to Windigo but not that bad. What trails are you taking tomorrow? We may cross paths, we are heading south to Le Tuque before cutting across to Saint-Michelle.

73 to Relais 22

i'm leading my apex is the twin to yours.

Edited by iceman
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59 minutes ago, Pipeman said:

 Sounds good iceman I'm assuming the warm weather hasn't hurt much yet, when we came back Saturday It had to be 40° In Shawinigan.  ride safe 

It hurt monday. But now better, i expect things to go down hill i. The coming days unfortunately. Not looking great weather wise.

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8 minutes ago, Trailblazer said:

That young boy is in good hands with you guys, make sure guys before he goes home you get him in the 300 mile club. 

 

Yeah, I think we can manage that. We sure will try.

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Hi Don.  It is horrible to come upon an accident, especially if it is a fatal.  Our prayers are with the family.

Take note Nick.  It is a great exhilarating sport but you always have to be on your toes.  You never know when there is a sled on the other side of the hill or a stop sign was knocked down at the road crossing.  Enjoy the trip guys!

Jack & Sandi

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11 hours ago, NH-Moose said:

Happy to see the old girl back on the QC trails, enjoy, and don't forget to "rip it" Nick!

IMG_3742.JPG

Good Girl, she Just keeps on going.  Hash Tag 182   :)  Enjoy  Nick  !

Edited by momojohnny
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4 hours ago, Carman said:

Sorry I missed you, we rerouted and shortened our day to avoid the rain. I ride the XRS, my buddy Roger has the apex. 

I was looking out. Was wondering why i never saw you guys. 

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Day 3 Wednesday 

pulled out of Roquemont at 9am. 73 north direction La Tuque. Trail is flat and was groomed last night. Seeing some tracks ahead so we got some out ahead of us. Not easy to tell cause like most everyone they seem to be riding right down the center. But I am pretty sure they are headed north. We hammer on. Nick is doing just fine all is good. Maybe 10km from Rivere a Pierre I see a little snow dust. Hello dere, i squeeze her just a bit, just around a sweeper right and there is the first two. They are a group of 4 sleds i see two more further up. The first two get with the program right quick. I'm going so it can be your way or mine. We all get by. The next one fairly simple its the last one that loves the middle. He is clueless that I am on him like white on rice. I swear there is almost enough room to take him on the right. He would not be the first I've passed like that. But not today. I don't want Nick following me past him on the right. Finally he realizes i'm not his group. We get on up. Trail is still showing track headed north. We shall see. 

Trail is really super groomed and very fast. We bang it out and just before the rail line crossing I smelled them before I could see them. We come upon a big gang of locals heading to chalet or something with a bunch of two ups and a few singles. They are no problem and easily wave us by. Then another we pass him too. Now I got fresh trail not a mark on it. Hammer down we cruise on this perfect trail and take it smooth right into Gas in La Tuque. I must say the sides of the roads, gas stops, hotels, and road crossings all are more like late March than late February. Very melty. Ugly. We got lots of places taking a big hit from the meltdown. 

We suffer a casualty at the Gas. The Enduro has lost reverse again. Was serviced specifically for no reverse and they changed relay said it should be good. Well that was a lie. It's not. Not the end but frustrating. We can do without it. 

Couple of candy bars and a gatorade and up 73 we go. Melty as hell through town. Trail to Odanak and beyond just awesome.

We would be amazed how quickly this would change 6 hrs later as we are headed back to La Tuque. (More on that after)

traffic has been light not many headed south yet. It's early they are coming. We encounter a few here and there headed south. At Rapid Blanc it's bare road all the way to bridge and over it. Not crazy far but sucks. I hate getting my sled dirty. Just aint right.

we are running here after Rapid Blanc on the super highway there. And around the corner comes a group of yamaha's. Those of you familiar with this section know its easily 2 groomers wide here. These guys are on the left and pushing it. I aint having it. I move right at em fricking jack asses probably fresh off the beer from relais 22. Morons. Nick goes up the snowbank practically this is ridiculous. I almost turned around to ask them what the issue was. Just stupid. I am all for riding fast but if you need the whole trail to do it, then you suck. 

Ok closer to Relais 22 we see two big groups southbound. Wow some big gangs. Up and into Relais 22 at around 2:30pm. 

Plan was to take the gas and go up 83 for 50 miles then burn it back. Leaving 22 it starts Raining/Snowing/Sleeting all of the above. Oh well. We push on and it's starting then stopping. Trail is big and beautiful. Quebec perfection. We click it off like butter. 

We swing around at a big road to head back. We take a quick break. Phil and I shut down our sleds and right off we hear the 600 SDI is not well. Shaking like crazy and just not right. Now we knew it was rolling the dice taking this "old iron" out on tour. We purposely kept most nights withing easy pickings for the rescue vehicle from Chez Iceman. (Always on standby). We knew this was our farthest point out and sure enough we were gonna pay for our gamble. The boy pulls the plugs and sure seems as PTO side is way lean. Not good. We change plugs as it's all we couId do seeing as I left the spare bomb making materials back at home silly me. Tick Tock. Ok the boy rode close to 700 miles so far to this point. Sled was fully serviced and tge compression was 145/150 respectively. Brand new intake boots and all. You just can only do so much. It's rolling the dice 🎲. Simple as that. 

......to be Continued 

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Day 3 continues 

we fire it back up and its rough. Running but not hitting on both jugs. Oh well it's gonna run till it won't no more. We are 50 miles from Relais 22. So 75 give or take to Windigo(scheduled stop). We head back toward 22. Now it starts the full on smorgasbord of weather. Just lovely. Did I mention the trail is a 10/10. Besides the flat light and weather mix. Slowly but surely we head on back, the weather finally quits and we are moving along. into Relais 22 its 5pm. Decision time 

We all get gas. We decide to pull the plugs again to check. Same thing. PTO side leaned out. Buy two new plugs. Nick puts em in. Owner of 22 is looking at it with us. Says maybe he can bring it to La Tuque with his truck tmmrw. Well we know it's gonna rain. We are not going to Windigo. Not going 25 miles further from any road. 

Its running so it shall. We decide we are going to La Tuque. Its warm and not raining and from there we can sort things out tmmrw. Back down 73 we go. Its 5:30pm. Trail not bad near 22 but farther we go south worse it gets, not the worst but amazing what a few hours and some groups of sleds did to it. Its rough. She has been used and abused. 

We take it a section at a time and don't stop. Its running let's keep moving. The KM click on by and we are back in La Tuque at the gas at 8pm. It made it. Shaking and all but its here. To Hotel Marineau and quick change and some dinner. 

We take stock and a meeting of the minds was called and it has been decided. We will make for Home and it will either make it or we will tow it to where we can come get it by truck if need be. We will load both Ski Doo's and take them to a trusted shop here in Louiseville for proper repairs. Nicks First Quebec run ends Tomorrow. 

He will be back. 

Good news he is in the 300 club with his 368 miles today. 

Demain est un autre jour.

bonne nuit

 

 

 

 

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Love the story telling Don. When I first saw the pic of the old 800, the first thing that came to mind was tic,tic,tic!

Been there too many times. Nothing like a 4stroke

The electronic reverse on the doos suck. Of the 16,000 miles on mine, reverse has worked less then half the miles. And usually fails when you need it most

Edited by Jackstraw
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6 hours ago, Jackstraw said:

Love the story telling Don. When I first saw the pic of the old 800, the first thing that came to mind was tic,tic,tic!

I have to smile at this ! I see Don at the  local library telling skidoo stories during story telling hour to the little kids  and adults alike ! I'm hooked!!

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5 hours ago, PLAYHARD said:

It's all par for the course for the young squire! Different trail conditions. Different weather conditions. Different numb-nuts traffic conditions. Different mechanical conditions. Yep! Sounds like a perfect primer! Well done!

Well said distant rider, who's got years to experience it all when it can be done all in one day.

 

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