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1st trip from the Drakkar in Shawinigan


NHTOM
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Two of us arrived Tuesday noontime got our room then headed out for lunch and a quick spin. It was fairly cold about 10F, and the trails were terrific. Hard, flat , fast. Pretty much the way I like em.

After a bite and brew at the Relay Station on 351, we headed east  to the ice fishing village (city) at st anne de la parade. Then looped back on 351 where it parallels Hwy 40 heading west towards trois rivieres. Again all trails were hard hwy like surfaces. Back in to Drakkar after gas up at station just down the street from the motel.

Wednesdays plan was to do a 1 nite saddle bag over to st raymond via Latuque, then down 73 into st ray. Before shoving off I said to Reggie, keep my truck keys here in case it snows, or you want to move it , whatever. As it turned out, it was a good decision.

It was milder wednesday, snow cover was terrific, but softer. Did the 351,360 to St Joseph, then 355 pipeline into Latuque, all good. 3 ft of snow on the ground up there vs 2 ft in Shawinigan. We had lunch in Latuque, then down 73 we went. About 25 miles into it my buddy wasnt in my mirrors. Uh oh. Pulled over, waited,...he aint coming. 3 point turn , back I go. Hes back a mile or so, looks like hes changing a belt. Big problem, secondary spins in his hand, not good. So now its drag it around, hook up rope, off we go back to Latuque we hope. Fun, fun.

We get to where the rail bed(flat trail) ends just west of a big lake. from here on its billy goat hills into Latuque. But, sitting right where the 1st hill starts sits an older gentleman. He speaks in french first, we reply in english, and then he switches to perfect english. He says hes been waiting for us to show up there and he tells us to follow him. He takes us on nearly flat dirt roads and unmarked local trails, stops traffic for us,  right to the Hotel Marineau at the lights on the main drag near the airport. Once again the Quebecers drop everything to baby sit us when things go wrong.  Amazing.

So from the  Marineau Hotel I call Reggie back at the Drakkar asking him if he knows of a driver that might be able to come get our sorry asses. He says sure Ill come get you right now. He drops everything and drives my truck with trailer 90 miles up to Latuque. we load up both sleds and back to Drakkar we go. 

All I can say is we sledders need to support the Reggies of the Motel/Inn world. These folks go way beyond the ordinary to help you any way they can. Can you imagine anyone from a Hotel chain helping you like this?? Wont happen. Need to support these kind of folks whenever possible.

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1 hour ago, NHTOM said:

Two of us arrived Tuesday noontime got our room then headed out for lunch and a quick spin. It was fairly cold about 10F, and the trails were terrific. Hard, flat , fast. Pretty much the way I like em.

After a bite and brew at the Relay Station on 351, we headed east  to the ice fishing village (city) at st anne de la parade. Then looped back on 351 where it parallels Hwy 40 heading west towards trois rivieres. Again all trails were hard hwy like surfaces. Back in to Drakkar after gas up at station just down the street from the motel.

Wednesdays plan was to do a 1 nite saddle bag over to st raymond via Latuque, then down 73 into st ray. Before shoving off I said to Reggie, keep my truck keys here in case it snows, or you want to move it , whatever. As it turned out, it was a good decision.

It was milder wednesday, snow cover was terrific, but softer. Did the 351,360 to St Joseph, then 355 pipeline into Latuque, all good. 3 ft of snow on the ground up there vs 2 ft in Shawinigan. We had lunch in Latuque, then down 73 we went. About 25 miles into it my buddy wasnt in my mirrors. Uh oh. Pulled over, waited,...he aint coming. 3 point turn , back I go. Hes back a mile or so, looks like hes changing a belt. Big problem, secondary spins in his hand, not good. So now its drag it around, hook up rope, off we go back to Latuque we hope. Fun, fun.

We get to where the rail bed(flat trail) ends just west of a big lake. from here on its billy goat hills into Latuque. But, sitting right where the 1st hill starts sits an older gentleman. He speaks in french first, we reply in english, and then he switches to perfect english. He says hes been waiting for us to show up there and he tells us to follow him. He takes us on nearly flat dirt roads and unmarked local trails, stops traffic for us,  right to the Hotel Marineau at the lights on the main drag near the airport. Once again the Quebecers drop everything to baby sit us when things go wrong.  Amazing.

So from the  Marineau Hotel I call Reggie back at the Drakkar asking him if he knows of a driver that might be able to come get our sorry asses. He says sure Ill come get you right now. He drops everything and drives my truck with trailer 90 miles up to Latuque. we load up both sleds and back to Drakkar we go. 

All I can say is we sledders need to support the Reggies of the Motel/Inn world. These folks go way beyond the ordinary to help you any way they can. Can you imagine anyone from a Hotel chain helping you like this?? Wont happen. Need to support these kind of folks whenever possible.

Amen to that!

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Yes I can believe it , and before Reggie, Bernard was there doing the same thing, you are right, this almost never happens any where else, pretty normal for Canadians to go way beyond what any one else would do. That is why I always tip all these folks appropriately. Season to season they never forget who you are.

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57 minutes ago, Snobeeler said:

Great story there. So would it be safe to say the old man waiting for you knew your buddies sled was broke and knew you would be towing back? What a guy!

Oh yeah, for sure. He passed us and saw we were towing, so he waited to bail us out where the hills started. 

Over the years weve had plenty of similar issues and always had the local quebecois save us. Just another reason to ride Quebec.

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