Mrs. Iceman and friends.

[iceman]

Well it’s been 2 full seasons since the Mrs. has had any chance to ride. Thanks to Playhard she has had experience on the Vector and loves her some power steering. This weekend she is going right into the big leagues. While she has ridden my Apex before, never for a full day. Go big or go home. I know she can do it and will love it. 

My boss hatched this plan last week, 3 couples ride to St Michel des Saints. Not my preferred destination for sure but let’s do it. My boss and his wife Josee and we got his cousin Danny and wife Lynne. 

Boss Alain .....Grand Touring 1200. Josee Gsx 900 Ace  Danny and Lynne 2 up on a Renegade 800 with the seat jack. 

Caro is on my 13 Apex XTX and me on my 18 XTX. 

Packed up and ready to leave friday night. Short ride to Grand Mere and join the others at Alain’s house not far from the junction on the river where 23 crosses. We can see the junction from the house. Awesome spot here on the river. 

Out of the gate Mrs. is running good. I know she is safe and responsible or i would not give her my sled. I want her to do her thing and at her speed. Night riding is not something she likes. But necessary albeit not so long tonight. 10 minutes in i stop to check on her and she is frosted up bad. Either a bad wire or blown fuse. For shield. I change out her wire we continue on to gas up just before river in Grand Mere. No good still frosty. Ok i will fix it in the morning. We hit the river and run up to Alain and Josee to meet up with everyone. Park the sleds and its time for Jack. He’s got me set up with the big bottle. Nice. Drinks a nice dinner and time for sleep. Mrs Ice has a big ride ahead tmmrw. 

Saturday morning, i change out the blown fuse she is back in the heated shield business but with temps today she won’t need it but she is convinced she will. So happy wife...you know the rest. 

Inside i am secretly praying trails are in good shape for her. Me I would just hammer down and go but I know if it’s rough she gonna hate it. We load up and get ready to leave.

to be continued. 

[iceman]

[MrGutz]

That's great! I can rarely get Mrs GutZ on the trailz let alone ride\drive herself. I even offered to find her a Power Steering equipped sled. 

GutZ

[schooter]

Hope you have good trails 

I will be heading to Le Cabanon on the 15 th with my wife for a long weekend 

[MXZ700RIDER]

Looks like a fun group. Look forward to posts and reports on trails up that way. 

[Florida Snowman]

Have fun Caroline, Don & friends!

Enjoy!

[Phil 1]

Ice that Red white and black Yamaha  is beautiful!!!

[iceman]

Saturday 

We leave the house and jump on the river. Not one of my favorites. Boring. But is fast and brings us up quick. It’s not terrible and temp is great. Off the river and up to 360. Nice trail here surely a good sign. The wife is doing well she is taking her time and we are making good time. The group is awesome. We stop and switch places in line. My girl is a rider. She listens to what I tell her. She is on the right all the time. 360 to Mattawin is excellent. And hardly no traffic yet. Gas at Mattawin and off into the Parc. 360 again does not disappoint. Dreamy. Hard for me to hold back but it’s not that kind of ride this weekend. Need to keep an eye on my chargee. I know tge others are fine, just feeling extra protective of my woman and want to keep her safe. She likes to be last so I let her have the Tailgunner spot for now, but I’m doing purposely minimal mach speed to keep her in my mirror. It’s all good and trail is A1. Up and onto 345 not before stopping to help a guy back on trail with a skandic. He was teetering on the edge. Turns out was My bosses friend and he used to own that skandic. Small world indeed. 345 is magical as well. I’m now where I want to be. Cause if I’m not first, I’m last. My happy place. From here I can watch it all. Mrs Iceman is getting her ski legs now and is getting more comfortable on her Apex. It’s quite a sled if you don’t ride much. Got a bit of a learning curve for sure. She is a fast learner. Maybe 10 km from Cabanon it’s what I expected being saturday. Bit rough but I seen much worse here. Into Cabanon at 1pm lots of sleds but not packed. Surprised plenty of tables. We take lunch and we are good to go. From here it’s only 20km to Vieux Moulin Scie for the night. As we are leaving I see one of the few guys, that make me feel small, it’s Triggerhappy coming out the bar. Asked him if he was lost, we say hello to his gang and exchange intel. They are headed back to Drakkar the way we came. I said you will not be disappointed. He says 23 was perfect. We will go that way back tomorrow. 

From Cabanon to St. Michel the usual snirt and some rocks but they are doing what they can with what they got. I’ve seen it much worse. The Mrs handles it well. Over the mountain into town, gas and snacks for happy hour and off to the Motel. Police at intersection before hotel but they are busy and wave us through.

nice fun day. My first time at Vieux Moulin Scie and I will return. Nice room nothing fancy but clean and great restaurant. Great happy hour with the gang. Everyone is having fun. 

 

Sunday 

breakfast 7:30 then out of there at 9am. Police are at the intersection again. This time we are checked. He runs all the plate numbers. I give them some Team Iceman stickers, (which they loved by the way) and we were off. Everything here was groomed last night. Amazing the difference. Actually had to put one scratcher down on each Apex just to be sure, it was frozen nice. Back to Cabanon. Watching the wife today made me proud. One day and she is got it. She is railing the corner lifting one ski on exit, it was something to see. I was smiling ear to ear in my helmet. Bathroom break for the ladies at Cabanon and then down a perfect 23 awesome trail. Lunch a Cabane Chez Natalie. From there things start to get rough. Closer to Shawinigan the worse it got. I’m embarrassed by the bullshit they are trying to pass off as trails near here, its crap. Back to Alain’s house to say bye to the gang, Caro and I head for home. 25km of pure hell. Sorry excuse for a trail. Osti trail de Vache. Arrive home apologize to the sleds. This club here better step up. Or i will buy my passes elsewhere cause they are a constant disappointment near here. Nice welcome home. Great weekend, cannot wait to take her out again. She can ride for sure. She is not ready for next weeks 8 day run but she will get there in time. I want her to enjoy it, not ruin her by running her 400km. The boss Alain, Josee, Line and Danny, awesome gang. We will ride again. Boss is already plotting him an I in Gaspe in March. Hey gotta do what the boss says right? Until next time.

T-minus 5 days till next run. 8 days to who know where? Time will tell.

 

 

[iceman]

44 minutes ago, Phil 1 said:

Ice that Red white and black Yamaha  is beautiful!!!

Thanks Phil. Best sled I’ve ever had. Front shock system is incredible. The handling is amazing. Flat cornering. It rails the corners. Like no other Apex before it. 

[doo4adoo]

Nice report. Always great when you can get the wife out and enjoy these adventures 

I'm afraid mine wont go. Its to bad as i think the places we go and stay are a real treat

[snowfarmer]

My wife loves that place. Nothing like the breakfast at the Vieux Moulin (dinner too!) Thick cut Texas toast done on a hot stove top, magic! Nice trip.

[iceman]

1 hour ago, snowfarmer said:

My wife loves that place. Nothing like the breakfast at the Vieux Moulin (dinner too!) Thick cut Texas toast done on a hot stove top, magic! Nice trip.

Yeah When my boss made the Reservation I thought it was that place but it was not. It’s in town in St Michel just in back of Le Central. It’s Vieux Moulin Scie. Not the Vieux Moulin. That’s a different place.

[markusvt]

Great pics and nice run.  Always good to get some great stretches of trail without the car drive!

[Teet F8SP]

Nice ride and maybe after this successful ride she will be ready for more.  Maybe try some communicators so you can talk to her and it will make your life easier without having to watch the rear view all the time.  

Thanks for sharing the pics

 

[momojohnny]

Big smiles on the Misses. Might have to get some Team Misses Ice stickers made LOL 

 

 

[iceman]

9 hours ago, momojohnny said:

Big smiles on the Misses. Might have to get some Team Misses Ice stickers made LOL 

 

 

Oh boy let’s not give her any ideas. 

[PLAYHARD]

On 1/28/2018 at 8:16 PM, iceman said:

Watching the wife today made me proud. One day and she is got it. She is railing the corner lifting one ski on exit, it was something to see. I was smiling ear to ear in my helmet.

Woo Hoo!  

[Trailblazer]

On 2018-01-28 at 8:14 AM, iceman said:

It’s not about the ride Ice, it’s about the experience, memories of this experience will never end.

BTW What’s up with the bug eye head lights, me likey.

[PLAYHARD]

11 hours ago, Trailblazer said:

BTW What’s up with the bug eye head lights, me likey.

"Snake" eyes!

 

 

 

[quebec bob]

Great trip, I remember taking my wife the first time on a 250 mile ride, we were not as lucky as you , we were in Northern Maine and it was 40 below, brutal, but she did it, and we enjoyed it, but we are yet to do a big run together like Gaspe.