Anyone interested in a ride through the Maritimes this summer 2012? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone interested in a ride through the Maritimes this summer 2012?

getmp3s

getmp3s

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I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a ride through the maritimes this summer 2012. It will probably take 2 weeks - no confirmed dates picked yet. My better half can't handle that amount of riding pillion so the idea is that I leave from Hamilton Ontario, picking up anyone who wants to join me on the ride through Quebec, and then meeting my wife who will fly in to NB where the coastal riding is supposed to be amazing. If time we go check out PEI, etc... and then she fly's home and we ride home. Anyone interested themselves, or think they might know someone who is interested, or if you have some feedback or sugestions that would help me plan my trip - please chime in! Arie.
 
Are you planning to go through US?

I was thinking of doing something similar but still got to looks up roads. Gf on plane, me on bike. haha
 
We're doing one next year. I lived in the Gaspe area and north shore NB for about 7 years so I know the area pretty well. We're not ready this year but if there's anything I can do to help or any questions you might have I might be able to help. I know some must-see spots but you might need a local person to show you how to get there. :)
 
I would not recommend the St. Lawrence/riviere de Loup route. The American route is my preference. Gas prices, food prices, beer prices, no political or cultural hang-ups - need I say more? Oh yeah - the weather is simply nicer!
What would make the St. Lawrence/riviere de Loup route woth it? You've simply never seen Quebec city - so if on that route - don't miss it. Stay a night in the old city - spend the bucks. Also - you really want to see Gaspe - without the aid of a calendar! Since you're there, might as well follow the road all aong the coast through Bathurst etc. The weather can be pretty crappy, so dress for wet-drizzle and cold riding.

My daughter lives in Halifax now, so at some point the wife and I will head down this summer. If the mood fits, she'll fly and I'll ride down, my route will be similar to Air Canada's through the states!

Oh, and along the way, all the McDonalds have WiFi, so I can post the progress to the family when I stop for some java or salad etc. Couldn't do that last century!!
 
2 WEEKS!!!! YIKES! That's a long trip!

Prob will be doing a 4 - 5 day trip.
 
mototrek said:
I would not recommend the St. Lawrence/riviere de Loup route. The American route is my preference. Gas prices, food prices, beer prices, no political or cultural hang-ups - need I say more? Oh yeah - the weather is simply nicer!
What would make the St. Lawrence/riviere de Loup route woth it? You've simply never seen Quebec city - so if on that route - don't miss it. Stay a night in the old city - spend the bucks. Also - you really want to see Gaspe - without the aid of a calendar! Since you're there, might as well follow the road all aong the coast through Bathurst etc. The weather can be pretty crappy, so dress for wet-drizzle and cold riding.Couldn't do that last century!!
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Why not go through Gaspe Bay?

1. YOu are not in the USA

2. Yes there is a difference in Politics and Culture, so I guess some people look at it as hang ups

3. The scenery is stunning without the crowds

4. Lots of places to eat, that does not include MacDOnalds.

Just my two cents worth anyway.
 
frekeyguy said:
2 WEEKS!!!! YIKES! That's a long trip!

Prob will be doing a 4 - 5 day trip.
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It takes at least 2 full days to get there and another 2 to get back.

I'd recommend doing Newfoundland instead of PEI, PEI has nothing special. Make sure u pass thru Bay of Fundy with the recessing tides
 
+1 to NL instead. It's definitely worth the ferry ride across. Of course, you'd have to make sure you're there in the first two weeks of July for 'summer'. Any other time is a crap shoot for weather.
 
stormcat said:
+1 to NL instead. It's definitely worth the ferry ride across. Of course, you'd have to make sure you're there in the first two weeks of July for 'summer'. Any other time is a crap shoot for weather.
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Yep, the weather there is 1mth behind. If u head into the mountains in Cabot Trail, get ready for rain
 
Definitely! I wanted this trip last year but it just wasn't in the cards... I'm in Hamilton as well. We should meet for a ride and discuss.
 
getmp3s said:
I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a ride through the maritimes this summer 2012. It will probably take 2 weeks - no confirmed dates picked yet. My better half can't handle that amount of riding pillion so the idea is that I leave from Hamilton Ontario, picking up anyone who wants to join me on the ride through Quebec, and then meeting my wife who will fly in to NB where the coastal riding is supposed to be amazing. If time we go check out PEI, etc... and then she fly's home and we ride home. Anyone interested themselves, or think they might know someone who is interested, or if you have some feedback or sugestions that would help me plan my trip - please chime in! Arie.
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We did something like this trip last summer 2-up, happy to share route info etc. Took a US route out and Quebec back, good points about both. Cabot trail alone is well worth the trip.
 
I'll be riding from Toronto to Sydney, NS with my girlfriend on my fz6r for a 1-2 week trip in either July or August.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses so far - looks like we'll have lots of resources for route and trip planning when I start working the details. It also looks like a handful of people already have plans to make this trip in July/August and a few others might be interested in planning it together with me.

@ frekeyguy and Dsquintz, your trip is too short for me, I have a bit of work flexibility so I want to pace the trip out a bit more and make stops along the way to see the sights. Our itineraries will be very different but I’d still like to hear about your trip plans.

@ inferno and mototrek, seems we both have the same idea about our other half making their own way down to meet us there so that could work out well for us. Even if we decide to just ride down and then split up once we meet our partners then that’s cool too because at least we’d have the company on the way down and maybe even meet up for the ride back and take a different route home (ie: through the US)

@ boooya, jaygreene24 and alhope34, sounds like you guys are interested in more info and might be willing to do this trip as well so that’s great, lets talk!

So next step is to narrow down who's available, for how long, when and what to do with our "other half’s", lol... Being self-employed allows me some work flexibility so as long as I can get a cell phone signal every now and then and check email from my tablet I should be good to go for 2 weeks, give or take a couple of days. My wife on the other hand gets a flat week and that’s it. So that’s why I came up with the idea that I would ride down leisurely through Quebec and NB (3-4 days) and end up at the Halifax Airport to pick up my wife then spend a week touring NS, NF, PEI, drop her back off at Halifax to fly home and then ride home through the US or whatever route makes sense for another 3-4 days. From reading peoples comments about ideal departure times it looks like the weather is most accommodating at the beginning of July so that works for me – obviously I want to go when it makes most sense from a weather perspective as I’d like to enjoy the riding.

My riding style is within 20% of the speed limit, stamina is about 6-8 hours riding per day, plan to sleep in motels/hotels (not interested in camping), I am 34 years old and ride a BMW F800ST which can roughly go 350km between fill-ups.

So who’s still in? PM me your phone numbers and maybe we’ll plan a brainstorm meeting at Timmies in the next couple of weeks!
 
I agree with the riding style. I'm looking to enjoy the trip and not kill myself getting there with a very tight time constraint. I'm 36, on a 2010 DL650 Vstrom and I usually carry a little extra fuel that puts me over the 400k mark. No ball and chain to tag along (wonder why I don't have one with that comment eh?:D). I'm good with camp or motel. I was thinking to do this trip and get in touch with some local riders to meet up with when I get there. Maybe from ADVrider or even couchsurfing.org. Heard plenty of good things from both. Might be possible to do the ride out together and then split so you guys can tour with the ladies. I might even do NL. I hear the ferry is worth the trip out to the rock.

I'm in Hamilton, on the mountain, Upper Wellington and Stone Church. Maybe we could ride some night this week and discuss.

getmp3s said:
My riding style is within 20% of the speed limit, stamina is about 6-8 hours riding per day, plan to sleep in motels/hotels (not interested in camping), I am 34 years old and ride a BMW F800ST which can roughly go 350km between fill-ups.

So who’s still in? PM me your phone numbers and maybe we’ll plan a brainstorm meeting at Timmies in the next couple of weeks!
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I'm going East this summer, but only for 1 week. I am currently planning on redoing a past trip around Gaspe. I doubt that I will have time to do Cape Breton Island again.
I haven't set the route or the time yet.
 
RichinOville said:
I'm going East this summer, but only for 1 week. I am currently planning on redoing a past trip around Gaspe. I doubt that I will have time to do Cape Breton Island again.
I haven't set the route or the time yet.
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Cape Breton is a must see, lol. If I were to go there, that would be my only reason
The_Cabot_Trail11.jpg


As for OP, if u need a place to stay at the Trail. May I recommend Patrick at Cabot Trail Motorcycle Retreat. I stayed there and it was fun to see. The owner is a motorcycle nut and the yard is tastefully displayed with old motorcycles. Its like a museum. He's also a member of this forum and used to live in Toronto.
http://www.ctmcretreat.com/pictures/
 
Sent a few PMs to the posters looking to do a 5-6 day trip, but posting up here as well in case anyone else is looking for riders to join their trip.
 
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