East Coast and Newfoundland in June 3 weeks | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

East Coast and Newfoundland in June 3 weeks

getting close now but worried about the warmth in the first few days ....even way up Rouyn- Noranda its listed at 28. :(

Thought it might stay mid 20s there.
 
Nice tailwind for Saturday - THAT was unexpected....



then we can splat more bugs...:rolleyes: added bug repellent to the list



Leave early and miss the traffic I hope....with the long day might take a shakedown section to the Forks for coffee at 8 am then up to 9 to 400.

Huntsville, NorthBay by slab then the Quebec roads to Rouyn.
 
Huntsville, NorthBay by slab
You can get to Huntsville without ever taking 11 or 400.

I do something like orillia -> 49 -> southwood -> 169 -> 118 -> peninsula -> 141 -> aspdin -> Huntsville. Hwy 592 and Katrine rd run alongside 11 for a bit just north of Huntsville so that's a nice detour too.

Hwy 11 is not a fun road, way too much traffic, at least south of Huntsville. It's not so bad once you get north of Huntsville.

Quebec 101 is a nice road, I took it last summer on my way back from Timmins. Watch out for moose.
 
And he surprised me ...up at 7.30 and now 10.30 in Huntsville ..coffee and brunch at Coffee Cabin. 1/3 of the way ...nice weather and traffic getting lighter. Tailwind makes for easy riding and the SENAs working well. Both of us engrossed in talking books...
All good


Not so bad 500 km - about an hour from the hot tub. Bumpy PQ roads. Kid's at his limit.
I'ts warm

Turned out to be 748 km ....kid has yet to forgive me as he ended up with the Murphy bed but hot tub and very pleasant hosts made up for it.
Kicked back by the lake and chatted....lovely view over the lakefrom my room.
 
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Ugh 30 degrees - Quebec roads and traffic on a long weekend....

Nother Murphy bed ....we would have slept on the grass ...both beat
Host had cold beer and a lovely deck to kick back on..

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Then later strawberry shortcake - hit the spot as the local eatery was closed.

Highly recommended accommodation
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12209206?eluid=1&euid=1fe6fb36-8854-df6e-9982-491111e39b87

A pair of riders could easily base out of here to ride Quebec roads

Been dodging this front behind us - hot air piling up in front of it ...finally here but will be gone by noon - it's light rain anyways

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GoKarting for the kid first tho
http://www.lescircuitsval-va.com

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couple of spins, nice countersteering

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hamming it up
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did he have fun? yup :D

A smile to brighten a gloomy day ....

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Heading over to Shawinigan on a very short day .....hot tub at the end too !! :D
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8943873?guests=2&s=MJ87f2RE

Then make our way to this

visit_secur_route_web_2015.ashx

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/qc/mauricie/visit/secur/secur_route-road.aspx

63 km - very twisty, very scenic but I suspect very slow riding - lots of pics tho if the weather is clear.

YAY - sun coming out - leaving in an hour so sweet timing
 
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Finally out of the worse heat - topped out at 27 today and had a lovely ride to just south of Mauricie National Park via backroads from Val Morin.

Crazy weekend for serious accidents we've come across with vehicle occupants being wheeled out in stretchers while we watched. :(

Doing the Park early after GPS ( and we tried several mapping apps ) failed to find our lodgings....turns out the area is changing house numbers just now - owner finally hooked up at an intersection

Hot tub was welcome - longish day started in light rain but kid had fun on the go-karts and some of the backroads were decent both pavement and twists tho the Mule is not very agile loaded. Sena 20s have worked well except occasionally getting choppy even when in line of sight.

We're both into audio books for the longer stretches. Huge difference in fuel range - the comms let us sort when to stop.

23 forecast today and a mix of sun and clouds, :D
 
Park was an excellent 63 km run ....loads of twists and no cars.....kid had fun ....I play tourist .....we pulled into a little restaurant at the west end of the Park and it promptly started to pour ...sweet timing.

Reasonable prices and tasty.

Pretty heavy rain ...both geared up but skipped changing gloves as it was warm and my mesh dry quickly.

Radar app was very useful ( MyRadar ) and we could see it was a very narrow band.

As soon as we turned north towards Lake Saguenay ( the thing is enormous ) on HWY 155 the skies cleared and nice sun and clouds with a tailwind and decent pavement.

https://goo.gl/maps/9qWVH51payy

Lovely swooping curves and feels remote. Much along a river or lake and lots of bogs and marshes......and deer.

Saw one in the margin down and off the highway, then immediately 3 or 4 crossing the road ahead.

Again later very near a town ( the only town ) - I saw a pickup braking in the opposite lane and a deer tail disappearing into the bush.

No moose..some cops

So nice and warm and sunny, and kid delayers his jacket, opens the panels and the temp drop 15 degrees :D...no rain but grey skies and a cold front .....I cranked on the heated grips and the Scott jacket was comfie.

He had to stop and redo the liners etc in his new Spidi set up. I suspect by the end of the trip he will regret not bringing the heated gloves

Fine day - 325 km plus the 63 in the park. Kicking back in reasonable price downtown Alma hotel. AirBnB in the area seriously booked up or overpriced
 
Ugh ....soggy cold day 10% grey and dry, 60% light rain, 30% rain on the heavy side tho not a deluge - over 8 hours travel = pretty soggy all around.
Minor malfunctions and a missed ferry thanks to bad info from the ferry people.In theory we could have hustled 60 km in 75 minutes to catch it but too cold and tired and there was another at 11 tomorrow. Put us 1/2 day back on schedule....no biggie.

Nothing trip killing...just annoying. Will report on the various issues when I'm a little less tired.

SENA 20s having trouble in the wet - crackling etc....have been invaluable otherwise.
Shure earphones have been superb, stayed in place, solid connections and I can hear the kid on the SENA speakers but listen to music and audio book on the much better fidelity Shures.

First Gear gloves do keep my hands dry but as with other Gortex liner designs - the outer shell is soggy and wet. Was fine with the heated grips tho

Right boot got wet...my fault for not sealing the rain pants over the Airglides properly. Proof of concept left boot was dry.

Scott jacket worked the charm tho once the outer shell got sodden ...putting the Cold Pruf on helped keep the chill off. It was 13 most of the way. Front seals very good on that jacket and the First Gear gauntlet's covered the wrists very well...no leaks. Heated grips tho kept the chill off.

Rain pants were fine other than noted...my own fault.

Kids Oxford Bonedry waterproof gloves were useless once his hands got wet when he removed them.
The liners pull out and there is no way to get them back in place with wet hands ( been there with my First Ascent Gortex gauntlets).
He bought a pair of Scott for $100 in Baie-Comeau - no pull out liner. The First Gear liner does not pull out either ...I can always get my hands in even when my hands are damp tho the liner resists a bit.

Shout out to the motorcycle dealer in Baie-Comeau who tightened kids chain for $20 and in 15 minutes....

Nother shout out to two hotels and Expedia for TD - they cancelled two reservations with no penalty and very very fast response.
The one tonight we were supposed to check in around 8 in Matane after the ferry ....we explained the ferry switched ports and they accepted it was not our fault.

As it turned out the Baie-C Hotel LeCompte we cancelled - we ended up staying at anyway......karma.

We are uncertain how Quebec's population can support the number of poutine joints. :D

Pictures?? surely you jest.....
 
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Decent free breakfast unlike the junk you get in the states. Bacon, eggs ( how you like ), brown toast, home fries and fruit.
Hard to argue for $79 - breakfast for two and a room to dry out in ...:D

Weather won't give up. Still light rain 13 degrees. :( BUt going to 22 and sun on the other side of the St. Lawrence. :D
 
Decent free breakfast unlike the junk you get in the states. Bacon, eggs ( how you like ), brown toast, home fries and fruit.
Hard to argue for $79 - breakfast for two and a room to dry out in ...:D

Weather won't give up. Still light rain 13 degrees. :( BUt going to 22 and sun on the other side of the St. Lawrence. :D
I was lucky, my whole week was beautiful. The drive home was rainy. Couldn't have picked a better week.

I should have the dashcam footage up later.
 
MacDoc, if you are looking for a great place to stay near the Cabot Trail, check out Iona Heights Inn. It's a nice renovated place to get showered and good rest in that area at affordable price.
 
Thanks - uncertain of our schedule ...currently on the ferry and chilly from a wet foot......sun is promised and 22 - heading to Gaspe - bit of a long leg considering we start at 1.30 pm but long daylight too. Dryer in the restroom warmed my wet boot so that helped.

downside of all the Gortex gear is the cooling as the outer layer dries - part merino wool in my sock help but ferry is chilly. At least we can see the horizon.

Ride to Godbout ( 60 km ) was wet and cold ....too bad - some gorgeous sweeps. Maybe 20 bikes on the ferry, Mostly baggers with one other Vstrom.
Girl on the bagger had to be cold, jeans that were already wet and some sort of boots that did not look waterproof.

Was some "interesting" construction stretches ....not long but slick in the rain. Quebec has lousy weight control on its trucks so many roads and even bridges have deep u shaped tire ruts in the pavement ...makes lane changes rather fraught and of course water piles up....generally can stay up on the centre of the lane but geez they need to fix many of their main roads.....tho we were pleasantly surprised by some. Kid got in some good twists and had fun on the go carts. Toughing out the cold wet weather after toughing out the "too hot" weather.....supposedy just right weather today .....get off the low teens and wet :(
 
My First Gear rain gloves are fantastic, best gloves I have ever worn. The normal problem with rain gloves is exactly as your son experienced, they get wet and once you remove your hand there is no way you are getting your hand back in. Not so with the First Gear gloves.

A cheap option would be to just get rain glove covers
http://www.aerostich.com/clothing/gloves/rain-glove-covers/aerostich-triple-digit-covers.html

I have them for my boots as a safety net, though never needed them. They pack small and just give a little extra security when on a trip when rain is not avoidable. My boots are Goretex, along with my jacket and neither have ever let me down.

Safe riding out there and enjoy!
 
ahh..what it's all about pulled in too late last night ....critter nervous ....but thankful for long daylight hours.

Woke up to this at 5 am outside the window ...had no idea when I booked it.

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more but beat ...
 
30 degrees - tail wind most of the day and this to cap it off - from the boardwalk in front of our hotel. Dumb luck again.

[video=youtube;AMVNOlnlln0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMVNOlnlln0[/video]
 
Lazy morning - got a late checkout as rain was to clear around noon and it did with wind behind it.

Just a gorgeous ride to PEI from Moncton - 22 degrees - mixed cloud and sun

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Not a shot taken today ( GF and I had a simliar day ...it's from that trip.

Had a very tasty lunch at L eonhard's Cafe & Restaurant
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaura...urant-Charlottetown_Prince_Edward_Island.html
Hard to find German food anywhere and the schnitzel was excellent.

We decided not to do the ferry as it was $40 each ....geez.

Remember that sweet tail wind??? We now was quartering against us. 13 brutal KM
Coming across that damn bridge was the toughest wind riding I've ever done. Turbulent as all hell - plus of course trucks coming the other way. You could not really surf it as it was so erratic and gusty.

Eased up as we got over the tallest portion.....that section more tiring than the rest of the 400 km day combined. Kid went on ahead faster and I lazed along at 120 ( 110 speed limit ) listening to my book and keeping an eye out for moose.

Off day tomorrow - settled here for a few days ....hot tub and lovely quiet setting. Seeing Independence Day tomorrow. Non-riding day.

Then kid is tidal bore rafting Monday in the morning.
[video=youtube;SR5c8kZT2_U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR5c8kZT2_U[/video]

and the mud slide thing. :rolleyes:
 
Lovely grounds for the rambling AirBnB we are staying at. Perfect summer day here 22 and sunny and for once will wind.

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hot tub was welcome yesterday
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more later - off to brunchand movie
 
My First Gear rain gloves are fantastic, best gloves I have ever worn. The normal problem with rain gloves is exactly as your son experienced, they get wet and once you remove your hand there is no way you are getting your hand back in. Not so with the First Gear gloves.

A cheap option would be to just get rain glove covers
http://www.aerostich.com/clothing/gloves/rain-glove-covers/aerostich-triple-digit-covers.html

I have them for my boots as a safety net, though never needed them. They pack small and just give a little extra security when on a trip when rain is not avoidable. My boots are Goretex, along with my jacket and neither have ever let me down.

Safe riding out there and enjoy!

I have those Aerostich covers and I've worn them over regular non waterproof gloves and the work pretty well. I do have issues with getting the size large over my size large gloves with armored knuckles. They're also very slippery on the controls so I'm thinking of rubberizing the finger tips somehow.
 

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