Fuse6

Perfect day for our last ride this season

Never thought about the mouth guard. That maybe an issue. More for talking trail side then eating or drinking. My hearing isn't the best and really find difficult to understand someone that is wearing a non modular helmet and trying to talk with there mouth guard on. Is the Oxygen mouth guard a fixed thing, not something you can move several times a day like the Mod 3 or BVS 2 setup? Talking to my dealer yesterday about the Oxygen helmet. He doesn't think it's a Nolan like I speculated in above post. He said the Company Rep was at Barrie show but didn't remember the name who the development was with.

Coolbane have you been to this area Quebec, maybe you know most of this. Map below shows the perimeter of the area you might want to cover for a six day trip. Lots of option to cut shorter if want to spend more time around Mt Valin. Common launch hotels is Hotel Roguemont in St Raymond NW of Quebec City. Have lots of parking and allow you to leave truck there.. If you want fancy place then Four Points by Sheraton is just on N side of Quebec City, lots of people also start from here. A common trip would be day ride from launch hotel up to LSJ. Day trip around LSJ. A day or 2 riding around Mt Valin then pick a route back to the truck depending how much time you have left. If you go to quebecrider.com sub forum Saguenay Lac St Jean you get get lots of info and ride reports to get a good idea of all the options.

The Road flares are great idea. Not familiar with the new ones. Are they waterproof , I'm guessing they self ignite when you pull the cap off?

Carm we rode Mont Laurier north area last weekend. I think you travelled through there last year. Devils Mountain area, Rabaska, St Anne du Lac , Mekoos and N still had ton of snow. Road crossing, parking lots etc were bared off. Mont Laurier , Ferme Neuve , Chute de Phillip towns were places to avoid. They are getting a couple really warm days this week then cooling off . Forecast right now shows Mont Laurier getting 5-10 cm snow on both April 5 and 6. If they received a bit of snow to cover the isolated bare spots it may be an option for your ride. I have no idea if they will groom that week if cold enough or if they stop end of March. Sunday we were riding trails that hadn't been groomed in 3 days on the Quebec grooming map that were still smooth and excellent to ride. ZR Sledhead stayed at the motel east of Mont Laurier. I think it had good trail access but you would need to confirm with him. We stayed at Rabaska Lodge that was great but it has that 30 km of dirt/gravel road that will be a mess after this weeks thaw. It's not bad in winter when froze. I have never drove to Mekoos so not sure what the rode in to there is like in spring. I think it all decent paved road up to St Anne du Lac where that small motel is but have never driven there by truck. As you know Gaspe, Mt Valin and N New Brunswick will have Riding likely but long drive for possible spring conditions. Good luck and hope you find a good area for your final ride.

Below is a picture of the Orange Spot3 gobills mentioned. It's a satellite tracker that has an SOS button in case of emergency. If you saw my New Brunswick post below you can see the type of tracks it leaves that anyone you provide your Spot3 web page log in to can follow you on your trip. Spot3 is old technology now as there is no ability to text in an emergency situation. The dispatch centre will know your location but have no idea what your needs are. INREACH is the new system that anyone wanting tracking and emergency help via satellites so cell coverage is not needed would want to look at. I haven't spend much time researching then inReach but it has texting ability via satellites so you can text home or in case of an emergency communicate with the dispatch centre what the situation is and requirement re medical or logistics required for a rescue. I think the newest inreach may also be used as gps mapping also if you don't already use a gps. Both units you buy the hardware then require yearly subscription fee. Think my Spot3 is $220.00 approx. Haven't looked into the InReach fee plan. Riding solo think everyone should have one, even those riding in groups it would be ideal that someone had one Steve

We travelled to NB this year and spend 5 days riding the north part of the province. Anyone interested Google Northern Odessy. The picture below gives you some idea of how much riding is there. Many of you have ridden the Gaspe and will recognize the top loop from my Spot3 tracker. The Gaspe loop was 1,660 km, 4.5 days of riding starting and finishing from Mont Joli which we did in 2017. Bottom loop is this winter NB trip covering 1,920 km. There is some overlap on this trip. Travelling out to the ocean on the east side was a there and back same trail. Bit in the centre that was run twice on different day loops. Most trails in NB are fast. But majority are always winding and up and down as NB is hilly. Average speed would be comparable to the western Quebec trails around Val'Dor but much more interesting due to the topography and winding through the hills. You have to be engaged when riding fast not just sitting there holding throttle open waiting for. The Big Bang. As Slomo stated there is no speed limit in NB. The message was use common sense. Common sense said you could cruise lots of the trails at high speeds. Our first day of riding was Sunday, we hit some rough trail that day being Sunday and they had a good snowfall on Friday so things weren't groomed perfect. After that we rode another 4 days averaging 400 km a day and never saw a bump. If I only had a choice of one place it would be the Gaspe, can't beat the scenery but we will go back to NB every few years for the great riding.

The Oxygen helmet must have been developed with NOLAN which is an Italian company I believe. When I bought my Spyder 2 years ago bought the Nolan N44 which was sold in a BRP box. Always thought wish could get a snow version of it but didn't see how could ever keep the visor fog free due to the significant larger surface area vs more tradition helmets with the heated perimeter heat strip. Obviously they have develop away to keep visor fog free although I don't know how they are accomplishing this? The field of vision is superior to what the helmets most of us are wearing now. Haven't figured out how attaching the cord to the back is practical when all geared up. So very interested in one but think will wait a year to be sure they function as promoted. Picture below is Nolan motorcycle helmet.

Rabaska Lodge, lodge and food is great, the road from Ferme Neuve is not the greatest. Slow drive especially when it was thawing like Sunday after lunch.

ZR I send a reply to your post Thursday night but obviously with the poor wifi we had at the lodge it never went. Hope your had as great a ride as we did. Rode 1080 km as near perfect trails. Majority of it couple different loops N of St ANNE du Lacs. Couple tours to Devils Mountain. Furthest S we got Chute Saint Phillips. Thin there along the rode. Puggz joined us Friday night for his first Quebec experience, think he was impressed. Perfect weather made it a great trip to wrap up the season

ZR, where are you staying?

Sledder package is $125.00 per person per day includes lodging, breakfast and very good supper. Cottages have kitchen and believe can rent cottage flat rate if don't want the meal plan. Sledder package works well if have a group of guys, simple everyone look after their own bill. Very good place to stay. The cottages aren't super fancy but way better than staying in hotel. Having a wood burning fireplace or stove makes such a better atmosphere. The main lodge is great. Mekoos would be comparable to Rabaska. If travelling with your wife and you want cozy luxury then Village Windigo is the place, just down the trail but is expensive. If wanting hotel in Mont Laurier I like the Comfort Inn. For anyone from Ontario that hasn't rode Quebec before I really like this area and suggest it for your first trip. Seems most people end up in St Zenon for their first time. St Zenon does have some good riding but is busy, not as many day loop options especially if not wanting to do big miles in a day. Mont Laurier and North is easier to get to by truck. Trails are great, winding with lots of hills and topography change. Basically travel from lodge to lodge, experience the wonderful sledding culture that Quebec works so hard at. From Oshawa area figure on 6 hours to Mont Laurier. To drive to the lodges to the north, Rabaska, Club Fontrune, Mekoos, Village Windigo will be approx another hour. Steve

Yes, Riding out of Rabaska Lodge Thursday to Sunday. Taking 3 guys with me that have never ridden Quebec before. Weather looks to ideal.

Thanks for the input guys. Thinking May book Mekoos then make the run north to Barrage Gouin. Like the looks of the cabins at Parent but doesn't work distance wise for the loop I want to do

Thanks for the report, heading that way late this week. Which place you stay at in Parent. Debating between Domaine du Vent or head further north to Baragge Gouinn. Haven't been to either one.